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Pastures of this description, therefore; may he very 

 greatly improved by being stocked in part or wholly 

 with sheep, and the more the pastures have been pre- 

 viously exhausted, or "run out" with other stock, the 

 more immediate and the more apparent the improve- 

 ment. 



My advise to farmers who keep sheep on soft, moist 

 lands, or on rich smooth pastures free from stones, 

 would be to examine their feet frequently and pare the 

 outer edge of the hoof carefully, and so often as to 

 keep it nearly even with the bottom of middle, by 

 taking off only a little at a time. Similar advice will 

 apply to those who keep their sheep enclosed and 

 constantly bedded during the winter; while with a 

 wide range and stony pastures in summer they will 

 take care of their own feet, and very rarely be troubled 

 with foot-rot or any other disease of the foot." 



We find these practical and intelligent men agree 

 that sheep are better for a pasture than any other 

 kind of stock. But Mr. Fox of New Ipswich, and 

 Mr. Wyman of Fitchburg, advise keeping sheep and 

 cattle together in the pasture. One reason is they can 

 keep more stock in this way, as the sheep will eat 

 grasses, plants and bushes which the cattle refuse. 

 Another reason is, the sheep will have a wider range of 

 pasture, and thus gratify its strong love for a great 

 variety of food, and perhaps another and more impor- 

 tant reason, is, that the sheep by its habit of continual- 

 ly cropping the tender shoots of brakes, and bushes 

 (even where the be.st grasses are abundant,) must ex- 

 haust and eradicate them. 



" We cannot afford to keep sheep just for their wool," 

 says one sheepraiser, and this idea seemed to be fully 



