ON WETHERS. 95 



neither too hot nor too cold : great heat may make 

 the wound mortify ; too great cold might hinder it 

 from healing. After the operation, the bag is to be 

 rubbed with hogs' lard ; the lambs should be kept 

 still for two or three days, and be better fed than 

 usual. 



Q. Is there no other method of making wethers ? 



A. There are two others ; one is to tie the bag 

 above the testicles tight with a piece of twine. The 

 ligature is continued for eight days, when the bag is 

 cut off below it. This operation is performed only, 

 when the animal is eighteen months or two years 

 old. The other method is by grasping the bag 

 above the testicles and twisting it : the testicles are 

 afterwards forced up into the belly, and a ligature 

 is made above the bag to prevent the testicles from 

 again descending, and is thus left for several days : 

 this operation is performed on rams, three months 

 before killing them. 



Q. What are castrated ewes ? 



A. Castrated ewes are ewes from which the ovary 

 has been taken, at an early age, to prevent them from 

 breeding : on account of this kind of castration, they 

 are called brebis chartrices, castrated ewes ; but it is 

 better, says our author, to call them female wethers, 

 because they are in the state of common wethers. 



Q. For what purpose, do they castrate ewes ? 



A. To make them as useful as wethers, in the wool 

 they produce, and in the quality of the flesh. 



Q. At what age are they so made ? 



A. They wait until the ewe lambs are six weeks 



