CHAP. in. SHELTERS FOR SHEEP. 523 



quantity and the quality of the wool. It ought particularly to be used 

 in those situations that are liable to produce liver-rot, of which malady 

 it is a preventive. 



We shall conclude this chapter by a few supplementary notes on 

 pasturing, folding, and sheltering sheep. 



In "pasturing" sheep it is a good plan, as with all other stock 

 indeed, to change the " bite," that is, to shift them from one field to 

 another ; the difference in the herbage giving that change which is 

 found beneficial to all stock. Besides, sheep do best on fresh young 

 grass ; therefore, pastures should not be allowed to get rank, but should 

 be grazed down regularly to prevent patchy feeding. When the " bite '' 

 is poor, which is of course usually the case in autumn and winter, the 

 feed is supplemented by turnips, oil-cake, hay, and other foods. The 

 turnips are carted on to the field and spread as uniformly as possible 

 over the surface of a certain part or strip, so that the sheep will manure 

 the land as evenly as can be effected. The turnips are generally cut or 

 sliced into " fingers " by a hand barrow turnip-slicer, or by a slicer 

 attached to the cart. The hay is placed in racks the best kind are on 

 wheels and the oil-cake and other foods in receptacles, made either in 

 these racks or preferably in specially constructed appliances. 



The importance of the provision of shelter for sheep is now commonly 

 recognised. It is true that sheep, unlike other animals of the farm, are 

 provided with heavy fleeces, through which the cold and frost cannot 

 penetrate ; but still there is the fact that cold has an effect even upon 

 sheep, and that while it reduces the benefit done to the animals by abund- 

 ance of food, it influences also in a prejudicial form their health, through 

 the action of the atmosphere charged often with damp as well as cold. 

 Taking the most favourable view as to the capability of sheep even of 

 breeds provided by nature with the best protection against cold it is 

 somewhat difficult to see how, if the indications of science be correct 

 as to the influence of cold upon all live stock, a sheep more than other 

 animals can escape its prejudicial effects. If other animals of the farm 

 lose much of the benefits of the food they get by exposure to cold and 

 wet, it cannot be argued that sheep wholly escape this loss. 



But apart from the reasons given for providing sheep with shelter 

 sheds in winter, there is another which can scarcely be refuted on any 

 ground. This is the injury done to the fleece of the animals by expos- 

 ing them to all weathers. Alternations of damp and dry, of rain, frost, 

 and snow, have a bad effect upon the staple of the wool. This, indeed, 

 is admitted by all who have studied the subject. Another source of 

 deterioration of the fleece is the practice of folding on turnip fields, 

 whereby the fleece comes in contact with the wet soil upon which the 

 animals lie. 



On the other hand, the farmer has to consider sheep as manure- 

 makers and manure-distributors ; and, again, the less cost of feeding the 

 crops on the land where they are grown. Taking all things into con- 

 sideration, the farmer finds that it is most profitable to keep the sheep 

 in the open, except at special times, such as the lambing season ; then, 

 however, he finds the sheep are liable to contract foot-rot, and is glad 



