1050 THE COMPLETE GRAZIER. BOOK xu. 



out at a great sacrifice. Hay and straw, with additional cake or meal, 

 will be of great assistance in tiding over the time of scarcity, but the 

 mainstay should be found in a good store of mangel, and a large breadth 

 of early transplanted thousand-headed kale. Bye, winter oats, vetches, 

 and winter barley, sown as catch-crops immediately after harvest, should 

 be coming in, and when once these are fit to stock the flock master's 

 troubles are lightened. Lambs require fresh, sweet, soft food, but if 

 this is scarce, a few sliced mangel or swedes, if any are left over, may 

 be given in troughs with great advantage. Mangel are particularly 

 valuable now, but care must be exercised in giving them to male-sheep, 

 as they are very likely to produce inflammation of the bladder, by 

 forming crystals, which prevent the urine from passing. They are not 

 so dangerous to ewes, which have a larger urinary passage. The 

 yellow leaves which have sprouted in the mangel clamp should be cut 

 off, as they are the chief source of the danger. If the weather is warm 

 the ticks will become troublesome, and long-woolled sheep are very 

 liable to roll in order to rub themselves, with the result that they may 

 become cast, and are then very soon suffocated. It is therefore 

 necessary to keep close watch over them. 



MAY. 



May is a month when keep is generally plentiful, at any rate towards 

 the end ; the autumn sown catch-crops mentioned last month, as well 

 as crimson clover, or " trifolium," produce bulky food, and grass is 

 usually forward enough for stocking with sheep, as sheep pastures 

 require keeping short, so that there may be a fresh bite constantly. 

 The leys afford rich succulent food, but care must be taken when 

 the sheep are first turned on them that they do not eat too ravenously, 

 or they are very liable to burst. They should be put on with a full 

 stomach, and be allowed to remain not more than half an hour. 

 Dutch or white clover is the richest of all green crops, but is particu- 

 larly liable to produce the condition known as hoven or tympanitis, 

 which is due to a rapid fermentation rather than a digestion of the 

 food, thus causing it to generate more gas than the stomach can hold. 

 Green crops of this sort are very dangerous while frost is on them, and 

 during windy weather. Clover intended for a seed crop should be 

 evenly fed off, not folded, or different parts of the field will make a 

 fresh start at different times. If a crop of Dutch clover, or of alsike, is 

 fed off, so that the crop of seed is what is known as second- cut, the 

 sheep should be off it by the middle of the month. The fly or sheep- 

 maggot will begin to be troublesome in warm, moist weather, and will 

 necessitate careful watching. If towards the middle or end of the 

 month the weather is apparently settled for moderate warmth, washing 

 and shearing should be done. The washing precedes the shearing or 

 cutting by ten to fourteen days; carry out both operations with 

 gentleness, especially the latter. The washing should be very care- 

 fully done, going to the roots of the wool tufts, and aiming at uniform 

 purity. When one part of the fleece is well, and another badly 



