protection against this menace the best remedy is a well-trained 

 Scotch collie, or other sheep dog. Fences, well made and high, form a 

 fairly satisfactory barrier, but if these cannot keep out the marauder, 

 a corral, into which the flock is driven every night, is the only pro- 

 tection. 



The lack of fences is another drawback on many farms. Low walls, 

 even if well made, form little obstacles to sheep, and woven wire is 

 ordinarily required. This can, if the walls are well laid, be made to go 

 on top, so as to keep the sheep in, and, to quite an extent, the dogs 

 out, by setting posts down the side of the wall and fastening the 

 fencing to these above the top of the wall. On many farms the ex- 

 pense of this sort of fence would be heavy, because there would be 

 division fences between the different fields. Movable hurdles may 

 often be used when desired to pasture the ewes on rye or other green 

 forage, in the "flushing" season, or when the permanent pasture 

 becomes short in feed, and such hurdles are less expensive than per- 

 manent fences around all fields. 



More losses in the whole countr}' are annually caused by parasites 

 than by dogs, wolves and thieves. The pastures become infected from 

 the droppings of the sheep, and where the surface drainage is poor, or 

 a low pasture receives the drainage of surrounding upland pastures, 

 infection is very probable. Sheep are close grazers and so are more 

 liable to such infection than other kinds of stocks. Drinking water 

 from standing pools in the pasture is another i^rolific source of in- 

 fection. The parasites affecting the alimentary canal are those most 

 dreaded by flock masters, among them being the stomach worm, the 

 liver fluke, the hook worms, gids, etc. By rotation of pastures, using 

 upland, well-drained fields, and allowing only running streams to 

 furnish water supply, serious trouble may be prevented. 



Another class of parasite is deposited in the nostrils by flies, in the 

 larval form, and gradually works up the nasal passages, and some- 

 times into the brain cavity, where it begins to grow. Lime given the 

 sheep causes them to sneeze, thus dislodging these larvse. Holes bored 

 in timbers, with salt deposited in them and the edges smeared with 

 tar, are always used as preventives, the noses of the sheep becoming 

 smeared with tar, the odor of which keeps the fly away from the 

 nostrils. 



All these obstacles can be easily overcome if due care is exercised in 

 watching the flock, changing pastures and keeping up fences, — 

 things which are, after all, but a small part of the flock master's work. 



There is a great demand for pure meats of any description in the 

 country at present, and New England is situated at a considerable 

 distance from the sources of supply. The supply of sheep is at present 

 quite low, and packers have been obliged to kill stock only half fattened, 

 "just warmed up," as the stock yards' expression is, to fill their orders. 

 The demand for mutton is enormous, and a fact which should be sig- 

 nificant to Massachusetts farmers is that the heaviest and most urgent 

 demands come from New England and the Middle Atlantic States. 



It would not be wise to attempt to raise sheep in all sections of 

 Massachusetts and it is not likely that an immediate and complete 

 change would be found possible in any case. However, the dairy 

 business is not as profitable in many sections as formerly, owing to the 

 high cost of feed stuffs, which is not met by a corresponding increase 

 in the price received for their products. Li the hilly sections of the 

 State, where the pastures are rather poor, considered as a range for 

 other animals, sheep would do best. Here flocks could be established, 

 which would do away with the farmer's dependence upon dairying. 



