124 THE DOMESTIC SHEEP. 



for success in this line. And in such instances as where 

 extensive flocks are owned by one master, and a special 

 flock for breeding rains for home use is kept, it is decidedly 

 desirable to employ, permanently if possible, at least one 

 shepherd who is capable of taking charge of this ram breed- 

 ing flock, and of choosing out of it the rams best suited for 

 the use of the general flocks, as may need to be selected 

 year by year. 



INFLUENCE OF SOILS ON THE HEALTH 

 OF SHEEP. 



It goes without saying that only healthy sheep can be 

 profitable to the shepherd. It may not be that the death 

 rate is excessive, the meue weakness of the system, for 

 want of the vigorous action of the vital functions, is suffi- 

 cient to cause a low state of health, first to be noticed in the 

 failure of the fleece, and the subjection of the flock to fre- 

 quent attacks of illness. Some diseases, such as myelitis, 

 for instance, which is known by old-fashioned shepherds as 

 rickets (paralysis of the hind parts, and sometimes of the 

 brain) of which the most prominent symptom is that com- 

 monly known as staggers, when the sheep ntn about evi- 

 dently blind to a varying degree, so that they stumble over 

 every obstacle in their way, or wander aimlessly about, 

 finally dying of simple exhaustion, and others of the same 

 nature due to the disturbance of the functions of the brain, 

 and all due to want of natural vigor, all those are found to 

 be most prevalent on certain kinds of soils, and do not exist 

 on others. 



Of course, we understand that the nature of the soil 

 regulates, and very seriously affects, the actual composition 

 of the herbage of cultivated crops grown. Thus we know 

 that clover for instance has a largely varying proportion 

 of lime and potash in its composition, in some cases having 

 a largely increased quantity of one of these, and in others 

 a great deficiency. And if so, it must follow that other 

 kinds of herbage must be affected in the same way. Thus 

 we know that on some soils the ash of clover has easy fif- 

 teen per cent of potash in it, while on other soils there is 

 fifty per cent; while the lime varies in the inverse propor- 

 tion of from forty to only twenty-five per cent. And it is 



