APPENDIX. 411 



whicli your letter contains, giving you full liberty to use so much 

 of it as you may deem important. 



We have been engaged in the business fifteen years, and for ten 

 years our flock has averaged about 600, mostly Merinos, or a cross 

 of Merino and Saxony. The average yield in that time exceeds 

 3i lbs., probably not far from 3 lbs. 6 oz. of washed wool. The 

 sheep are usually tagged before they are turned out to grass. 

 We never wash our sheep until the water is warm, nor shear un- 

 til the weather has become warm and dry. Hundreds of valuable 

 sheep are lost every year by too early washing and shearing. 

 If a rain-storm comes on soon after shearing we give them shelter. 



The bucks are let among the ewes about the 5th of December, 

 and v/e think eight to an hundred not too many, but have fre- 

 quently used but five. The lambs begin to drop in May, and 

 generally continue through the month. In April we usually feed 

 the ewes with a little Indian com daily, less than a wine-glassful, 

 to each one. This makes them strong, and the lambs are much 

 more active than when the dam has not been so fed. About the 

 1st of September we take the lambs from the ewes and put them 

 into a field by themselves with a few dry ewes or wethers. They 

 are wintered in a separate flock. 



Shelter we consider indispensable, not so much against cold, 

 as wet and storais. Around our barns we have sheds ; but, as 

 we prefer wintering a portion in the meadows, we make our stacks 

 so that sheds can be constructed there with little trouble. Two 

 stacks are built about 60 feet apart, perhaps further, depending upon 

 the number intended to be fed there. As our prevailing wind is from 

 the west, the stacks are on the north and south side of the shed, 

 and it is open to the east. The shed is usually made of boards 

 kept for the purpose, and is four feet high in the rear and six in 

 front. It is also very important that these shelters be often lit- 

 tered with dry straw, or when that is not at hand, dry muck or 

 swamp earth will answer if put in often. We usually put a 

 stack of straw to each shed. One hundred and fifty are as many 

 as it is prudent to keep in a flock during the winter, though we 

 have kept as many as two hundred. We have used moveable 

 mangers or board racks some, but generally feed upon the ground, 

 and fodder often. 



We have fed peas, oats, and com ; peas we consider the cheap- 

 est food [and Mr. Peters might have added, without fear of con- 

 troversy, the best to promote the growth of a soft and long fila- 

 ment] . Like many others, we have never kept any account of the 

 quantity of grain fed. 



Twelve tons of hay is considered a fair allowance for 100 

 sheep during the winter. We never make any account of straw 

 except as litter. Sheep do best when they have free access to 

 water in winter; although I have seen sheep winter well in 

 fields where they could not get it ; if shut up in yards water is in- 



