212 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 



All this would be infinitely " more nice than wise," in any part of the 

 United States. Variations of dry fodder are well enough, but hundreds 

 and thousands of Nortiiern flocks receive nothing but ordinary hay, con- 

 sisting mainly of Timothy, ( P/ihiim, pnitcn.scj some Red and White Clo- 

 ver, ( Tnfolitjm pratcnse ct rvjiensj and frequently a sprinkling of June oi 

 Spear grass, ( Poa jfratcnsis,) during the entire winter. Others receive an 

 occasional fodder of corn-stalks and straw — and some farmers give a daily 

 Peed of grain through the winter. Where hay is the principal feed, it may 

 ne well, where it is convenient, to give corn-stalks (or "blades") eveiy 

 .'ifth or sixth i'tieA, or even once a day. Or the daily feed, not of hay, might 

 »lternate between blades, pea-straw, straw of the cereal grains, &:c. Should 

 any other fodder besides hay be the principal one, as, for example, corn 

 olades or pea-haulm, each of the other fodders might be alternated in the 

 same way. It is mainly, in my judgment, a question of convenience with 

 the flock-master, provided a j^ropcr supply of palatable mttriment within o 

 proper cottipass, is civen. Hay, clover, properly cured pea-haulm, and corn- 

 blades are palatable to the sheep, and each contain the necessary supply 

 of nutriment in the quantity which the sheep can readily take into its stom 

 dch. Consequently, fiom either of these, the sheep can derive its entire 

 subsistence. The same remarks may, possibly, apply to greenish cut oat 

 and barley straw; but it would not, I apprehend, be economical or alto- 

 gether safe to vovfvc any kind of sheep to the straw of the cereal grains 

 unless some of those little hardy varieties of sheep which would be of no 

 value in this country. Experiment will readily show the flock-master 

 what kinds of fjod are palatable and agree with the health of his flock. 

 The following exceedingly valuable Table, prepared by Eoussingault, will 

 o-ive the value of various kinds of feed in comparison with ordinary natu- 

 vJ\ meadow hay, as a>certained by himself. Von Thaer, Block, and other 

 distiuf^uished Agricultural Chemists. The results are obtained by chemi- 

 cal analysis, and by actual experiments in feeding. The amount of nitro- 

 gen ;n 100 parts is made the chemical test of value, as it shows the quan 

 tity of fibrin, albumen, and casein, (by multiplying by 6.3.) The experi. 

 mental result is obtained by weighing the animal and the feed, and giving 

 him enough of each to maintain him iti good condilion. 



