86 Essay on Sheep. 



., Having brought our flocks through the win- 

 ter, we now come to the most critical season^ 

 that is, tlie latter end of March and the month 

 of April. At this time, the ground being bare, 

 the sheep will refuse to eat their hay, while the 

 scanty pickuig of grass, and its purgative qua- 

 lity will disable them from taking the nourish- 

 ment that is necessary to keep them up. If 

 they fall away, their wool will be injured, the 

 growth of their lambs will be stopped, and even 

 many of the old sheep will be carried off by a 

 dysentery. To provide food for this season is 

 very difficult; turneps and cabbage will rot, and 

 bran they will not eat after having been fed 

 upon it all winter; potatoes, however, and the 

 Swedish turnep called the roota baga, may be 

 usefully applied at this time, and so I think 

 might parsneps and carrots. But as few of us 

 are in the habit of cultivating these plants to 

 the extent which is necessary for the support 

 of a large flock, we must seek resources 

 more within our reach. The first and simplest 

 of these is to leave the second growth of our 

 clover uncut, and to turn the ewes upon it. 

 The young clover will shoot very early in the 

 spring, having been covered by the old crop 

 during the vvinter. This, together with the old 

 grass, which the sheep will be compelled to eat 



