BREEDING OF SHEEP. 65 



CHAPTER VIII. 



ON THE BREEDING OF SHEEP AND THEIR IMPROVEMENT. 



Q. \Vhat precautions should be taken to draw 

 good profit from the breeding of sheep ? 



A. The ram should not be put to the ewes, 

 until the season is most favourable for coupling, and 

 best calculated for giving the lambs a good growth. 

 Rams and ewes, the most proper to improve the 

 breed, should be selected, and the rams should be 

 separated from the ewes, when it is apprehended that 

 the coupling may take place too early. 



Q. What is the best time for the coupling of sheep, 

 and most suitable for the growth of the lambs ? 



A. The time is not every where the same ; it de- 

 pends upon the cold in winter, and on the heat in 

 summer, in the different countries, where sheep are 

 kept 



Q. What rules should be observed in different 

 countries, in regard to the time of coupling. 



A. The severer the winter, the longer should the 

 time of coupling be delayed. It ought not to be al- 

 lowed in the northern departments (of France) until 

 September or October, that the lambs may not come 

 until February or March, lest they should be expos- 

 ed to extreme cold, which would retard their growth, 

 from bad food, if they came earlier. On the contrary, 

 in countries, where the winters are mild, and the sum- 

 mers are very warm, it is proper to advance the coup- 

 ling, by putting the rams to the ewes in June, or Ju- 

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