Essay on Sheep, ^1 



without washing, as it is liable in that case to 

 ferment and spoil in hot weather. When the 

 sheep are shorn, if the weather should prove 

 wet and cold, and you have sheds or barns of 

 sufficient size to contain them without crowd- 

 ing, it will be well to house them at night, and 

 to give them salt, which is a stimulant, and 

 will enable them better to bear the sudden 

 chills occasioned by the loss of their fleeces. 

 To this might be advantageously added a little 

 corn or oats. 



Before the sheep are dismissed from the 

 shepherd's hands, they should be carefully ex- 

 amined as to their age, their constitution, and 

 the quality of their wool; the old sheep, those 

 that are weak, ill formed, or ewes that appear 

 to have been bad nurses, or to have lost their 

 lambs from the want of milk, or whose wool is 

 bad, either by being mixed with jar (short 

 hairs), or which are rough on the thighs, should 

 be marked, in order to turn them off, and put 

 in good pastures by themselves, to fat them the 

 sooner. The age of a sheep is distinguished 

 by their front teeth; they have eight in their 

 under, but none in their upper jaw. These 

 are complete at their birth, but they are 

 small and pointed. The second year the two 

 middle teeth are changed for two of consider- 



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