CHAPTER XIV. 

 EWE MANAGEMENT. 



In the tending of animals a knowledge of natural 

 laws is an important requisite. Natural laws bear upon 

 all things, however complex, and constructively or de- 

 structively is everything shaped in accordance with them. 

 Domestication negatives to a considerable extent the 

 bent of the sheep. The loss of its free, wide range implies 

 that judgment is required to make the best use of the 

 artificially-imposed conditions. The food may not be 

 exactly to its liking, and the features of the fenced-in 

 land may not be what it would choose of its own accord. 

 The sheep has been civilised just as man has, and it is 

 not expected that the human being can prosper without 

 arrangements are made for his proper feeding, comfort, 

 and health. As the scientific and the medical man aim 

 a.t overcoming the ills of human civilisation, so is it a 

 dictate to the farmers to devote skill in counteracting 

 unsuitable sheep conditions, and making the calling as 

 profitable as may be. Holding sheep imprisoned in the 

 confines of a paddock without bestowing attention to 

 their requirements is not making the best of sheep 

 farming conditions, and it is as futile to expect the 

 animal to respond to inattention as it is to hope for a 

 horse to haul loads without seeing to its feeding and 

 health. 



What -the breeding ewe wants above everything is 

 reasonable treatment and good food. Wild animal life 

 displays devotion to the obligations of maternity, and 

 care is taken to ensure quiet and comfort for the young- 

 bearing female. With the lamb-bearing ewe, living 

 under the artificial conditions of confined areas, it is 



