510 THE COMPLETE GRAZIER. BOOK iv. 



month, when they are cut into fingers. White turnips generally last 

 till Christmas, when swedes commence. The allowance of corn is then 

 gradually increased to half a pound. When on turnips they receive 

 their corn the first thing, then a feed of turnips. During the morning 

 the clover is put in racks, and another feed of turnips in the afternoon. 



Mr. Henry Dudding, of Eiby Grange, a highly successful breeder of 

 Lincolns, thus describes his practice : " My plan is to breed from 350 

 ewes on a 650-acre farm, which will, as a rule, produce all sheep 

 required the year round, bringing into the flock annually 100 of the 

 best young ewes. The remainder are sold to foreign buyers, or fed off 

 with the old draft ewes on turnips, with the addition of cake, corn, 

 and chaff, and are all sold by Christmas up to 30 Ib. a quarter. The 

 greatest attention is paid to the lambs after taking them from the ewes 

 in July. As a rule, they have all got to eat well from the troughs a 

 mixture of linseed-cake, crushed oats and locust-beans, a little bran, 

 malt-combs, and a little cut clover, which make a most healthy 

 mixture, at a cost of under 5 a ton. The most critical time is before 

 getting them on turnips in October without a loss, due especially to 

 the cough which is caused by the throat-worm, and in many cases 

 shrinks them 10s. a head. After the hoggs, as they are now termed, 

 have got well hold of turnips, they improve rapidly without much 

 loss. The great aim in ordinary flocks is to get these sheep fresh 

 or fat for sale in March or April, about a year old. The majority are 

 sold in their wool for grazing on the marshes." This and the two pre- 

 ceding examples are taken from contributions to the " Live Stock 

 Journal." 



The following is a description of the ordinary management for 

 meeting the wants of a Hampshire Down flock on a Hampshire 

 farm. 



The sheep are provided with an endless succession of green fodder 

 and roots throughout the year, and this is aided at the critical period 

 of spring by the water meadows, which constitute an important feature 

 on the farms. In early spring the flock is on roots, and these are 

 seldom pitted, but are left to throw up tops over which the young 

 lambs are allowed to run before their dams. Late in March the water 

 meadows are folded, the lambs still being allowed to run forward. 

 Next follow rye and winter barley, trifolium, vetches, rape, clover, 

 cabbage, and early turnips, which bring us once more to August and 

 die first symptoms of winter feeding. Mangel and cabbage are both 

 relied on during the hot months, and are used as a variation from less 

 nutritious diet. The sheep are, indeed, constantly changed from one 

 food to another, and are generally receiving at least two sorts of natural 

 herbage daily. Cake and corn are liberally given. The ewes get 

 1 Ib. per day, and as the season advances this quantity is gradually 

 transferred from dams to lambs, until the latter receive from 1 Ib. to 

 1 Ib. daily. The favourite dry foods are linseed-cake, dry beans and 

 peas, bran, and malt. 



A Hampshire Down lamb in mid-career is often revelling in ten or 

 eleven changes of food in the course of a long summer day. At early 



