No. 216.] 155 



use would enrich large portions of land, instead of one field. The 

 portion of all barn-yards where the manure is heaped, should be 

 covered over, so as to prevent rain from coming in contact with it. 

 Stock will do well under cover, x)pen at the sides: on such heaps, 

 4| feet in thickness, their liquid will be ample to keep it in a state 

 of decomposition and fermentation. Such manure will be found of 

 great benefit to clay soils, rendering them porous and incohesive. 



The care of sheep, its habits and origin, is likewise a matter of 

 great importance. The sheep, in its geographical distribution, is an 

 inhabitant of every part of the known world, from the frigid to the 

 torrid zone. In his natural state, he was a strong, muscular animal, 

 inhabiting by choice high and almost inaccessible mountains, and 

 covered by a thick coat of hair, which by long domestication has 

 gradually been converted into wool: or, in other words, the animal 

 had two kinds of coveiing, a soft, wooly substance near the skin, 

 and a long hairy covering projecting over it. Cultivation has caused 

 the hair to decrease, and wool increase to its present perfection, 

 affording abundant materials for the personal comforts of man. There 

 are numerous breeds, produced principally by climatic influences; the 

 chief distinction between them is the different lengths attained by 

 the wool; they are commonly, therefore, divided into two kinds, the 

 short-wooled and long-wooled sheep. The most famous among the 

 long-wooled variety, is the improved Dishley; and among the short- 

 wooled, the South Down and Cheviot. It is singular that the sheep 

 and ox should be so similar to each other in their general structure 

 as they are. The bones of the sheep, in their formation, direction, 

 number and arrangement, are almost exactly like the ox. The vis- 

 ceral parts are not dissimilar, and the number of stomachs is the 

 same. Sheep bear crowding together better than any other domes- 

 tic animal, for the reason that the dense covering of wool prevents 

 an unusual expenditure of caloric; they therefore, under those cir- 

 cumstances, remain cool when other animals would suffer extremely, 

 and are less liable to infection, and would not contract diseases of 

 a cutaneous character, if they were not allowed an opportunity to 

 rub their wool off. The diseases to which they are liable, though 

 many, may be attributed solely to general treatment, climate and 

 forage. On high ground and congenial pastures, no animal enjoys bet- 

 ter health. Place them on low grounds, feed them on laxative or 

 binding food, deny them suflScient exercise, or disturb them frequent- 

 ly, and you produce various and almost incurable diseases, such as 

 rot, diarrhoea, staggers, dropsy, scab, &c., &c,, &c. 



