152 THE FARMER'S 



ed among shepherds, which is, that it is occasion- 

 ed by a chillness in the back of the animal, on ac- 

 count of its being exposed to the winds, and the 

 sleety showers of winter. These cause it to ac- 

 quire a kind of numbness and torpidity, which, if 

 often repeated, are apt to terminate in an affection 

 to giddiness, and finally in a water in the head. 



That this disease is occasioned solely by a chill- 

 ness in the back, appears from j the following 

 facts. 



1 . It is always most general after a windy and 

 sleety winter. 



2. It is always most destructive on farms that 

 are ill-sheltered, and on which the sheep are most" 

 exposed to those blasts and showers. 



3. It preys only on sheep rising their first year, 

 the wool of whom seperates above, leaving the 

 back quite exposed to the wet and to the cold. 



4. If a piece of cloth or hide is sewed to the 

 wool, so as to cover the back, such a sheep will 

 not be affected with the disease. The experi- 

 ment is a safe, a cheap, and an easy one; and, ex- 

 clusive of its good effects in preventing the fatal 

 disease under consideration, it is the most benefi- 

 cial to a young sheep that is not over high in con- 

 dition, and adninisters the most to its comfort du- 

 ring the winter, of any other that I know. It 

 keeps the wool from opening, and the sheep al- 

 ways dry and warm in the back, which, exposed 

 to cold, either in man or beast, it is well known, 

 affects the vitals materially. When thus shielded 

 the young sheep will feed straight in the wind, on 

 the worst days, without injury, and, indeed, with- 

 out much regarding the weather. This covering 

 ^eepB them from the rain, prevents them firom 



