SUMMER BIANAGEMENT. 175 



After the testicles are removed, the operator grasps the 

 tail of the lamb and severs it about one inch from the root. 

 Here the writer may be again condemned for cutting off ap- 

 parently too much of the tail, it being considered a necessary 

 appendage which the God of nature has provided the animal 

 to brush away annoying insects. But the evil consequences 

 of a moderate length of dock, or indeed any at all, he has 

 seen too often manifested, to induce him to swerve from his 

 practice ; humanity, indeed, sanctions it. The sheep which 

 carries a " natural tail," or only half a one, is very certain 

 not to take that care of it, in regard to cleanliness, which it 

 ought ; on the contrary, it is often seen with large accumu- 

 lations of dung attached to it, and presenting anything but 

 a tasteful aspect. But the sheep is not to be blamed for this, 

 for, unlike all other domestic animals, it can and does void 

 its excrement in a lying posture ; and a huge tail will not 

 be removed, on such occasions, without an extraordinary 

 effort. Hence it is, concretions of dung are formed, which 

 attract the maggot-fly, and unless a timely discovery is made 

 by the master, the sheep dies a horrible death. Thus the 

 life of the animal is often jeopardized, and therefore is it not 

 humane to deprive it of so perilous an appendage ? Again, 

 if the old calculation of the farmer be true, that it takes one 

 bushel of corn to fat a swine's tail, it is a problem to deter- 

 mine, how much feed is requisite to keep in " store order" 

 the undivided tail of a sheep. 



At the conclusion of the castration and docking, use is 

 made of the ointment alluded to. It is composed of the 

 following ingredients : say one quart of tar, two lbs. of lard, 

 and after being warmed to a thin liquid, add a gill of spirits 

 of turpentine, and apply it by means of a soft swab to the 

 mutilations, and for one or two inches around them. This is 

 very healing in its effects, prevents inflammation from colds, 

 and, what is of most consequence, is an effectual guard 

 against the attacks of the maggot-fly. None will approach 

 it, so abhorrent is the effluvia of tar or turpentine to all winged 

 insects. 



The lambs are put out of the pound as fast as each has 

 passed the operation, and are disposed to be very quiet, 

 which is quite right, as it checks the discharge of blood. 

 Let them remain about for an hour or more, if the pasture 

 to which they are to be turned is distant, and then they may 

 be moved off, but very slowly. Be careful, before this is 



