90 THE SHEEP. 



Sheep as in the case of the finer breeds. In a few days 

 after being washed they are shorn. After the middle of 

 July, or about three months from the birth, the lambs are 

 separated from the mothers. This is done simply by re- 

 moving them to another part of the farm. In a short time 

 they forget one another, and the milk of the dam ceases to 

 be secreted. It was formerly the universal practice to milk 

 the ewes for six or seven weeks, or even more, after the 

 lambs were weaned. This practice is now considerably dis- 

 used in the districts where the management of Sheep is the 

 best understood, it being found that the profit from the milk 

 is rarely compensated by the disturbance of the flock, and 

 the exhaustion of the ewes previous to the perilous season 

 of winter. 



The lambs on being weaned become, in the language of 

 farmers, hoggets or hogs. The wether hogs may then be 

 disposed of, and such of the ewe hogs as are not to be re- 

 tained for the purpose of supplying the place of the old ewes, 

 which, after having borne lambs for three or four years, are 

 to be disposed of. After the lambs are weaned, such of the 

 ewes as have borne the proper number of lambs are selected, 

 and sold in the course of the autumn. When the young 

 Sheep are not disposed of in the first year, they are kept 

 until the second year, and sometimes until the third or fourth 

 years. Their treatment while on the farm is the same as 

 that of the ewes. 



A practice exists in the case of these mountain Sheep, the 

 utility of which is proved by long experience, of anointing 

 the skins previous to the months of winter. The substances 

 generally used are tar and butter, prepared by boiling the 

 butter and tar together. The proportions used vary in dif- 

 ferent districts. In some places, six pounds of butter, and 

 one gallon of tar, are used for twenty Sheep, and in others 

 the quantity of tar is larger. The period of smearing is the 

 end of October or beginning of November. The method is 

 to separate the wool by the finger, and spread the ointment 



