ON THE FOOD OF SHEEP. 53 



Q. What are the best leaves ? 



A. The leaves of elder (1), birch (2), yoke elm (3), 

 ash (4), poplar (5), willow (6), &c. They may be 

 procured from almost all kinds of shrubs and trees.* 



Q. What are the best kinds of hay for sheep ? 



A. Salt marsh, because of the salt it contains : the 

 hay of dry pastures, where the water never stands, 

 is also very good, because it is fine, delicate and 

 agreeable to cattle. Hay made before it is too ripe, 

 and is only a little withered, is the most agreeable to 

 sheep. 



Q. What is the worst kind of hay ? 



A. Low marshy meadows produce coarse grass, 

 which is harsh and disagreeable to sheep : the herb- 

 age, which grows on the sides of lakes and rivers, 

 marsh rushes, reeds, &c. are still worse for hay : 

 that, which is got when too ripe, or is too much made, 

 or has lost its sap, affords little nourishment : the hay 

 which has been wet while making, loses its colour 

 and its good qualities ; it does not keep, and is subject 

 to heat and rot in the hay loft. The hay, which re- 

 ceives a bad smell from stables, or which has been 

 wet or is mouldy, disgusts sheep. Such as is musty 

 is very injurious to them, and gives them disorders 



(1) Betula alnus, L. (4) Fraxinus excelsior. I. 



(2) Betula alba, L. (5) Populi, L. 



(3) Carpinus betulus, L. (6) Salices, L. 



* In countries, which grow wood, and produce but little grain, and of 

 course straw, leaves are carefully collected, as soon as they fall, and are 

 dried rapidly in the sun or behind an oven, and are housed for the win- 

 ter : the straw is thereby saved for the large animals,. .Hazard. 



