528 THE COMPLETE GRAZIER. BOOK iv. 



lampblack, and tallow mixed together over a moderate fire, with a small 

 portion of tar to give it a proper consistence, will answer the purpose 

 better. Wool that has been marked with this mixture may easily be 

 cleansed by washing in strong soapsuds. 



It is essential that a distinctive mark should be given to the ewe and 

 Wether lambs, which is easily done by notching one ear of either of them. 

 The same method may be employed, with some variation, to class them 

 at the future stages of their growth. Where a pure as well as a mixed 

 breed of sheep is reared on the same farm, it will become necessar}', in 

 order to avoid mistakes, to distinguish those of the first breed with a 

 mark different from that employed for the sheep of the second. This 

 system might be carried still further, and each sheep branded on the 

 cheek with a separate number ; a judicious breeder would then find it 

 conducive to his interest to keep a register, in which the number of 

 each sheep might be entered, and where also such observations as relate 

 to the coupling and crossing of the breeds, and the experiments he may 

 wish to try upon the animals, should be recorded. A careful breeder, 

 who is solicitous to improve his flocks, will, in such register, notice the 

 defects or other qualities of his sheep, their respective states of health 

 or disease, the nature of their wool, the profit they yield, &c. It will 

 thus be easy to ascertain what individuals it is proper to dispose of each 

 year, as well as those from which it will be advantageous to breed ; and 

 at length the object proposed will be obtained, namely, the improve- 

 ment of the different breeds, and their cultivation to the greatest 

 profit. 



Of late years the custom has arisen especially among pure-bred 

 flocks of marking the sheep with an ear-punch, or by inserting a tag 

 or stud in the ear with a number stamped upon it. A still more recent 

 mode is that of tattooing the ear with distinctive numbers or initials. 

 The great extension of the practice of keeping both private and public 

 registers of flocks has tended to encourage the adoption of better and 

 more effective systems of marking sheep. 



