Th e Sh eph erds* Guide » % 7 



red from it, for several days together, they run 

 greedily to it, and drink more than is beneficial. 

 When, therefore, their fields do not afford what is 

 good and sweet, they should be driven to it once 

 every day, or at farthest once every other day. 

 Putrid stagnant water is worse than none. It is 

 truly poisonous to sheep, and no pains should be 

 spared to free their pastures of it. 



Winter Management. 



The length and severity of our winters cause 

 the great and principal expense, as it respects la- 

 bour, food and shelter, which attend keeping a 

 flock of sheep. During five months, they require 

 constant care in foddering and protecting them 

 from the severity of the season ; in attention to 

 their occasional complaints, and particularly in 

 watching and attending the ewes and their lamias 

 during the lambing season. In Great Britain, it 

 is not uncommon to leave large flocks of sheep to 

 shift for themselv^'s, in bleak exposed situations ; 

 or at least to aflbrd them no other shelter than a 

 hedge, or the southern side of a hill. But such 

 practice is condemned by their best agricuku- 

 ralists, who assure us that sheep will abundantly 

 pay for moderate shelter in the increased quantity 

 and improved quality of their wool ; as well as In 

 the preservation of their health and strength. 



Lord Som.erville gives it as his opinion, that a 



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