220 THE COMPLETE FARMER 



Store sheep in as equal condition as possible, but not too fat, 

 all the year round. In the grass season they should be kept 

 in dry pastures, in which the grass is short and sweet. Dur- 

 ing ths winter they should have a steady and measured al- 

 lowance of suitable food, and not sometimes be fed profusely, 

 and at other times scantily. 



Mortimer says, ' The farmer should always buy his sheep 

 from a worse land than his own, and they should be big 

 boned, and have a long greisy wool. 



' For the choice of sheep to breed, the ram must be young, 

 and his skin of the same color with his wool ; for the lambs 

 will be of the same color with his skin. Those ewes which 

 have no horns are found to be the best breeders.' 



The farmers of Europe know how to distinguish the age 

 of sheep by their teeth. When a sheep is one shear, as they 

 express it, that is, has been sheared but once, or is in its 

 second year, it has two broad teeth before ; when it is two 

 shear, it will have four ; when three, six ; when four shear, 

 or in its fifth year, it will have eight teeth before. After 

 this, their mouths begin to break. 



' The fdt pastures breed straight, tall sheep, and the barren 

 hills square and short ones. But the best sheep of all are 

 those bred upon new ploughed land, the reason of which may 

 be easily guessed, as such Irnd is commonly the most free 

 from bad grasses. 



' All wet and moist lands are bad for sheep, especially such 

 as are subject to be overflowed, and to have sand and dirt 

 left on them. The salt marshes are an exception from this 

 general rule; for their saltness makes amends for their mois- 

 ture ; any thing salt, by reason of its drying qualities, being 

 of great advantage to sheep. The best time for sheep to 

 yean, which go twenty weeks with lamb, is in April, unless 

 the owner has any forward grass, or turnips. Ewes that 

 are big should be kept but bare ; for it is dangerous for them 

 to be fat at the time of their bringing forth their young. 

 They may be well fed, indeed, like cows, a fortnight before- 

 hand, to put them in heart.' 



M. Buffon says, ' One ram will be sufficient for twenty- 

 five or thirty ewes ; but that he should be remarkable for 

 strength and comeliness ; that those which have no horns 

 are very indifferent ; that the head of a ram should be large 

 and thick, the forehead broad, the eyes large and black, the 

 nose short, the neck thick, the body long, the back and rump 

 broad, the testicles large, and the tail long ; that the best 



