164 SHEEP. 



cream as makes the best butter : for there is a consider- 

 able diiTerence in the quuiii^' of milk, from cows fed in 

 the same manner. 



SHEEP. 



Among the Tarions animals given by the benevolent^ 

 ])and of Providence for the beneiit of mankind, sheep is 

 one of the most useful. They multiply fast; they are 

 subject to but few diseases in this country ; and they not 

 only supply us with food and clothing, but also afford 

 employment to many persons, in the various branches 

 of woolen manufacture. 



It is highly desirable that our country should be stock- 

 ed with sheep of various kinds, in order to supply it- 

 self with the various sorts, of clothes which are neces- 

 sar}' in different uses. Many questions which were once 

 problematical, observes Mr. Lowell^ are now settled in 

 favour of the merino. — It was doubted whether it would 

 inland oar climate : — It does perfectly. — Whether its wool 

 would not degenerate : — It rather improves. — Whether 

 its meat won id be good for the table ? It is as fine at 

 least as any mutton we have. Whether the wool could 

 be exported to England and sell there at a fair price ? 

 It has been done, and met such a sale as would yield a 

 much greater profit on merino sheep than on the com- 

 mon sheep. 



The farmer should carefully examine the nature of 

 his land ; and having attentively weighed its relative 

 degrees of fertility, and his various sources for suppl}'- 

 ing food, he m-^y then proceed to purchase that breed, 

 which, after mature consideration, he has reason to be- 

 lieve is best calculated for him. The difference of land, 

 v/hence the sheep are to be purchased, ought to be at- 

 tentively weighed ; for with sheep, as with cattle stock, 

 if any breed be brought from a rich to an inferior soil, 

 it must necessarily decrease in value and condition. It 

 may be found equally true, that difl'erent soils are best 

 suited to different breeds of sheep ; and that the soil of- 

 ten serves eventually to produce a difference in sheep. 



That our sheep may be profitably managed, none 

 should be kept for breeders that have not good fleeces. 

 It is the opinion of Mr. Deane that lambs should not 

 come till about the 20th of April, when the grass begins 



