WINTER m.vnage:\ient. 245 



perfections respectively. By taking the standard of Veit, as 

 shown in his table, of the live weight of a pure Merino, say 

 88 lbs., and that of a pure Saxon, say 62 lbs. (which is per- 

 haps the comparative weights of the breeds when pure), the 

 Merino, if fed at the rate of 2 1-2 lbs. of hay per 100 lbs. of 

 live weight, consumes 2 ro^jths lbs. daily, and the Saxon 

 1 Troths lbs., a difference, it will be noticed, of nearly 40 

 per cent, less than the Merino. Now, both being supplied 

 with this pro rata of ration daily, the Merino will produce 

 40 per cent, more of wool and flesh, at an expenditure, how- 

 ever, of 40 per cent, more of feed. Thus it is clear that the 

 pound of wool and flesh, in both cases, costs precisely the 

 same. Hence it may be laid down as a rule by which the 

 unwary may learn, that, after knowing the usual average 

 weight of carcase and fleece of a given breed, if he hears 

 of any very extraordinary individual instances of either, 

 generally it may be ascribed to extra feeding, and at a cost 

 accordingly. 



Let not the reader, however, misapprehend the point in 

 question. The breeds of sheep vary much in the quanti- 

 ties of wool they respectively produce, and individuals of a 

 given breed will often outstrip their fellows, although fed in 

 the same fold, in the amount of wool they will yield. But 

 if two are selected of the same breed and of equal weight, 

 and fed precisely alike, and all other circumstances equal, if 

 one shears a heavier fleece than the other, it will be found, 

 on weighing, to lack an equal amount of flesh, which his 

 comrade has acquired at the expense of his covering. This 

 has arisen from the difference in the assimilation of the food 

 — in the one case, more for- the formation of wool than the 

 other. 



IMPORTANCE OF GREEN FOOD. 



The feeding of green food, such as potatoes, apples, hem- 

 lock or pine bows, &c., is strangely disregarded by a large 

 majority of American sheep-growers. This is a prominent 

 point of attention in German management ; indeed, it is thus 

 in every section of the Continent where fine-wooled sheep 

 are cultivated. The sheep, if placed in localities suitable 

 to its general habits, at no period of the year is it so perfectly 

 healthy and thrifty as during the season of pasturage ; and 

 from this the inference should be deduced, that succulent food 

 is the prominent inducing cause. Confinement wholly to dry 



21* 



