102 Essay o?i Sheep. 



produced, the ewe lambs may be splayed; in 

 Avliich case they give more wool, fatten better, 

 and are said to afford finer meat. This operation 

 cannot be performed conveniently before the 

 lambs are six weeks old, because the ovaria is 

 at an earlier period too small to be easily distin- 

 guished. They are said to suffer so little by 

 this operation, as not to feel any inconvenience 

 from it after the first day. 



The time for weaning the lambs depends 

 upon various circumstances. If the parent ewe 

 js broken mouthed, or so faulty in wool or in 

 shape as to render it desirable to get rid of her, 

 the lamb must be weaned early, so as to admit 

 of her being fatted in season; if she is admitted 

 to the ram as soon as she is disposed to take 

 him, the earlier she ivill fat. If the object is 

 to render the lambs as large as possible, and 

 they are of such a stock as to make the ewes 

 of comparatively less value, it will be best 

 to let the lambs run with them till they wean 

 themselves, because they undoubtedly grow 

 the more rapidly for it. This mode I would 

 therefore recommend when a Merino fiock 

 is to be engrafted upon a common one. But 

 if the ewes arc valuable, it certainly will be 

 best to wean the lambs so early as to give the 

 ewes some respite before they take the ram 



