Essay on Sheep, 83 



second of the sheep-folds that I have mentioned, 

 and are there fed with the best of hay, corn- 

 stalks, turneps, cabbage, or potatoes, and once 

 or twice in a day have a handful of wet 

 bran. This gives them a flush of milk when 

 the lambs drop; for want of which many lambs 

 are lost by inattentive farmers. In this fold the 

 lambs and ewes are kept separate from the rest 

 of the flock, till they amount to about half the 

 number; when those in the first fold will be so 

 far advanced as to require the same treatment, 

 and are so diminished in number as to make 

 any removal unnecessary, the whole stock bcr 

 ing then well fed with the most succulent food 

 that can be procured for them. Whenever the 

 snow is off the ground they should be turned 

 to pasture, with the exception of those whose 

 Iambs are too young to follow them; and even 

 when the snow lays, if not too deep, they 

 should be led out to water; and if you have 

 any cedar, pine, hemlock, or other bushes 

 that rise above the snow, it will be well to 

 beat a path to them, and leave your flocks an 

 hour or two among them. The branches of 

 these trees too should be brought into the fold 

 when the ground is long covered with snow; 

 for the fecdincy on them will contribute much 

 to the health of your flock. Where these can- 



