SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 249 



that had been already infected die ; but the number of those that are lost soon begins to ba 

 materially diminished. It is, therefore sufficiently plain that the rot depends u))oii, or ii 

 caused by, the existence of moisture. A rainy season and a tenacious soil are fniiti'ul or 

 UM'vitable sources of it The mischief is effected with almost incredible rapidity.'' 



Mr. Youatt liere gives variouis instances to prove that i-ot is engendered 

 in a few houro and even minutes. * He farther says : 



'• It ii an old observation that all pasture that is suspected to be unsound, the sheep should 

 he folded early in the evening, before the first dews begiu to lall, and should not be released 

 from the fold until the dew is partly evaporated 



Then the mode of prevention — that with which the farmer will have most to do, for the 

 sheep having become once decidedly rotten, neither medicine nor management will havn 

 much power iu arresting the evil — consists in alterijig the character of as much of the dan 

 gerous ground as he can, and keeping his sheep from those jiastures which defy all hifl 



attempts to improve them If all unnecessary moisture is removed fiom the soil, or 



if the access of air is cut off" by the flooding of the pasture, no poisonous gas has existence, 

 and the sheep continue sound 



The account of the treatment of rot must, to a considerable extent, be veiy unsatis- 

 factoiy. " 



Mr. Youatt proceeds to recommend the sale of sheep to the hutchet 

 when they are found to be rotted ! Rot hastens for a short period the 

 accumulation of fat. Bakewell — a man whose name is associated with 

 the exhibition of prodigious abihties in the improvement of stock, but, in 

 my mind tarnished also by an equal exhibition of selfishness and absolute 

 meanness — displayed a characteristic sagacity in purposely rotting his 

 sheep to avail himself of the above circumstance ! t It is with pain I 

 make the following quotation from Youatt — the only thing of such a char- 

 acter I remember to have noticed in his voluminous works : 



• It is one of the characters of the rot to hasten, and that to a stiange degree, the accu- 

 mulation of flesh and fat. Let not the farmer, however, push this experiment too fiir. I,e1 

 him carefully overlook every sheep daily, and dispose of those which cease to make pro 

 gress, or which seem beginning to retrograde. It has already been staled that the meat of 

 the rotted sheep, in the early stage of the disease, ix not like that of the sovnd one; it \a 

 pale and not so finn; but it is not unwholesome (!) and it is coveted by certain epicures, 

 •rA«, perhaps, are not altogether aware of the real state of the animal (! !) All this it 

 matter of calculation, and must be left to the owner of the sheep ; except that, if the breed 

 is not ol very considerable value, and the disease has not proceeded to emaciation or other 

 fearful symptoms, the first loss will probably be the least; and if the owner can get any- 

 diing like a tolerable price lor them, the sooner they aie sent to the butcher, or congtuned 

 at home, the better. Supposing, however, that their apjtearance is beginning to tell tales 

 about them, and they are too far gone to be disposed of in the market or consumed at home, 

 are they to be abandoned to their fate ? No : far from it. " 



Conceding to Mr. Youatt the whole benefit of that saving clause ab lut 

 " consumption at home," the above sentence is one which I could well 

 wish stricken from his valuable work. Ihe sale of the meat of diseased 

 animals, for human consumption, is abhorrent to decency and propriety, 

 and there is not a respectable American family which would not revolt at 

 the idea of either selling or consuming such meat. 



Of the treatment of rot, Mr. Youatt continues : 



" If it is suited to the convenience of the farmer, and such ground were at all within bit 

 w^ach, the sheep should be sent to a salt-marsh in preference to the best pasture on the best 

 farm. There it will feed on the salt incrusted on the herbage, and pervading the pores uf 

 every blade of grass. A he«lthy salt-marsh permits not the sheep to become rotten vvhicfa 

 graze ufion it ; and if the disease is not considerably advanced, it cures those which are gent 

 npon it with the rot. . . . Are there any indications of fever — heated mouth, heaving 

 fianks, or failing appetite ? Is the general inflammation beginning to hav 3 a determination 

 to that part on which the disease usually expends it« chiefest virulence .' Is there vcllow 



• Youatt, p. 453. 



t So Mv both Spooner and YonaX 



