1871. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



241 



SHEEP HUSBANDRY. 



o MUCH was said a few 

 years ago in relation to 

 this branch of New Eng- 

 land farming, and so 

 great a revolution in it 

 suddenly took place, that 

 those persons who are not 

 engaged in it may sup- 

 pose that the culture of 

 sheep has been nearly 

 abandoned. Such, how- 

 ever, is not the case. 

 Some 30,000,000 to 40,- 

 000,000 of sheep are still in the country, and 

 a fair portion of them in the New England 

 States. The interest in their culture is still 

 an important one in Maine, Vermont and 

 New Hampshire. 



The light hay crop of last summer may in- 

 duce some to resort to a poorer quality of 

 fodder for the sheep. Empty scaffolds, and 

 decreasing bays may suggest this. The policy 

 would be a poor one, and ought to lead to 

 the question. 

 What is the effect of Food on the ■Wool ? 

 The character of the food has much to do 

 not only in the production of good sheep and 

 good lambs, but also in the production of 

 wool. A leading object in raising wool should 

 be to keep the siaple even through its entire 

 length, and this can be done only by feeding 

 regularly both in quality and quantity. If 

 sheep have been fed upon sweet, nutritious 

 hay, with occasional feeds of grain and roots, 

 and then followed for many weeks by hay of 

 a poor quality and the roots and grain denied 

 them, an inequality in the wool will be pro- 

 duced, — the upper part of the staple will be 

 light, and the lower part much thicker ; in this 

 case the top part of the staple will break off 

 in working it up. So it is impossible to pro- 

 duce good wool upon pastures abounding.only 

 in coarse, wild grasses. Good bred sheep 

 should never be turned upon such lands, for 

 whatever the care of breeding may be, the 

 coarseness of the feed will produce inferior 

 wool. 



In common with many other animals — in- 

 cluding man himself — there is always exuding 

 from the skin of the sheep an oily substance 

 called yolk, or gum, especially designed by 

 nature to protect the animal from too much 

 moisture, and to soften the wool. This oil 



is feebly supplied by old sheep and those fed 

 on meadow hay or other coarse fodder, and 

 is more abundant in vigorous and well-fed 

 sheep. This is an important secretion, and 

 can only be supplied by generous keeping and 

 proper care. If these are lacking, the secre- 

 tions will not take place in sufficient quantity, 

 and sheep, lambs and wool will be seriously 

 affected ; especially is this the case, when 

 sudden changes occur from good feed to bad. 

 Great care, however, should be observed, that 

 not too much of this oil is excited, as it then 

 wastes the powers of the sheep, and becomes 

 expensive to the manufacturer to remove it. 



Wool is composed of the best flesh-produc- 

 ing substances found in the vegetable king- 

 dom. The animal has no power to change 

 the character of those substances, and the com- 

 position of the same kind of grass is materially 

 varied by the soil upon which it is grown ; 

 hence the character of the soil has much to do 

 with modifying the character of wool. 



It has long been known that wool raised 

 upon calcareous or limy soils is dry and harsh, 

 while that raised upon argillaceous, or clayey 

 soils, is soft and mellow ; cultivation will ma- 

 terially modify this fact. 



The black-faced, heath breed, raised. upon 

 the uncultivated moors of England, produce 

 a short, coarse, harsh wool ; but this is greatly 

 improved when the same breed is raised where 

 the land is cultivated, though the soil is the 

 same, a fence only separating the two. On 

 the other hand, if the highest bred long wooled 

 sheep are allowed to run upon the moors, the 

 wool quickly degenerates, and soon becomes 

 wild and harsh, like the low bred type. 



We may learn from these facts that the 

 food of the sheep modifies the character of the 

 wool, and that we cannot have good wool 

 from poor feed. The higher the type of 

 sheep, the higher must be the character of the 

 wool. We cannot escape this law. If we 

 give poor feed, we shall have poor wool and 

 light fleeces; if good feed, large animals, 

 large lambs, good wool and a generous quan- 

 tity. ^ 



OFFICERS OF AG'L SOCIETIES. 



Grafton County, N. H.—Pres., J. F. Keyes, of 

 Ashland: Ex. Com., B. M. Tenney, Groton ; S. P.. 

 Ford, Lisbon, and A. W. Putnam, Havorhill ; Treaa., 

 C. M. Whittier, Plymouth; Sec, 8. D. Baker, Rumney. 



West Somerset, Me. — Pres., S. "W. Tinkham; Sec.,. 

 and Treaa., A. W. Moore. 



East Wilton, Me. — Pres., Maj. Loren Adams;. 

 Sec, M. L. Bunker. 



