258 



THE ILLINOIS FJlI^ISIEII. 



The latter is a stock of sheep which have 

 been bred from our earliest importations 

 by Messrs. Humphrey and Jarvis, as 

 far back as 1802. Probably but few of 

 those importations have been kept pure. 

 They have been crossed with others, and 

 a few years ago, when the Saxony fever 

 ran high, most of the fine flocks were 

 crossed with them to the great detri- 

 ment of the country and also to the 

 pecuniary interest of their owners. 



There is also a diversity of opinion as 

 to which is the best, the French or 

 Spanish. Both have their admirers, 

 and I suppose that circumstances and 

 locality, will govern to a great extent 

 without deciding between them. In 

 Central Illinois and South, where they 

 can be herded upon grass the most of 

 the year, and corn can be grown the 

 cheapest and in great abundance, at a 

 low price, I think the French will al- 

 ways prove to be the most profitable. 

 They are of large size, of strong vigor- 

 ous constitution good feeders, and come 

 to maturity at an early age, and shear 

 very heavy fleeces of a fine quality. — 

 The ewes being strong, make excellent 

 breeders; the lambs come strong and 

 healthy, and are but little trouble to 

 raise. The wethers make good mutton, 

 will fatten readily in large flocks, and 

 will fall but little behind the mutton 

 sheep in weight; and when the wool and 

 mutton are taken into account, they will 

 prove to be a profitable breed for the 

 farmer. 



The Spanish being of a smaller breed 

 and being kept more expressly for wool 

 growing, are probably the best sheep for 

 Northern latitudes. In such localities 

 grain is usually at a high price and but 

 little is fed to stock sheep; — hay is the 

 principal feed; and what mutton is sold 

 is generally taken from the pastures 

 after getting fat upon grass. They are 

 also of strong constitutions, shear heavy 

 fleeces of a splended quality of wool, 

 which is usually very gummy, more so 

 than any other brand; and consequently 

 their wool will lose more in cleaning 

 than that of any other breed of Sheep. 

 But as long as manufacturers will send 

 out Agents who will pay as much for 

 gum as wool, it will be well enough to 

 let them have as much of it as possible ! 

 The Spanish, being of less size, will also 

 bear short keeping better than the 

 French. But no person should calculate 

 to keep more than he can feed and do it 

 well. 



Every farmer commencing the busi- 

 ness, should be careful in the selection 

 of a flock. Either of the above breeds 

 will pay a good profit, if well tuken care 

 of. And I will remark here, that every 

 farmer that intends to try the raising of 

 Stock must give them the care and at- 

 tention that they require or he had bet- 

 ter let the business alone. 



It is the custom of every flock master, 

 or should be, to sell the poorest of his 

 flock, which would consist of different 

 ages, form and size. 



But for beginners it will be much bet- 

 ter policy to buy young sheep all of the 

 same age, and of good form and size and 

 of an even fleece, even if a much higher 

 price is paid, than to take a flock of old 

 and young and of an uneven quality of 

 wool, at a much lower figure. 



Winter Management or Sheep. — 

 Whenever grass begins to fail, the Sheep 

 should receive a little grain once a day. 

 It is bad economy to let them begin to 

 run down at the beginning of Avinter. — 

 They should always be kept in good con- 

 dition, for it is an impossibility to get a 

 heavy fleece of wool from a poor sheep. 

 And it should be borne in mind, that wool 

 is only growing while the sheep are in a 

 thriving condition. They require one 

 quai-t of corn per head a day, with the 

 fodder, or if fed hay or run upon good 

 grass pastures, they will not require 

 so much. It is always necessary to 

 keep the lambs by themselves; when they 

 are weaned they should be turned into 

 meadows and have plenty of running 

 water. They should be taken fi'om their 

 mothers at about five months old. It is 

 a difficult matter to learn them to eat 

 corn. 



The best mode I have found for win- 

 tering lambs, is this : I plant a portion 

 of my corn adjoining my grassland, and 

 when it becomes necessary to feed, I 

 turn them into both grass and corn, for 

 a week or two. They should only be 

 allowed to run in the corn about one 

 hour each day, until they all get used 

 to the food. After that they can be al- 

 lowed perfect liberty to run upon either 

 fields. They do much better in this 

 than when fed, and will not waste 

 Sheep eat corn in a dif 

 from other stock. As 

 fast as they shell it from the cob, they 

 pick up the loose kernels before shelHng 

 any more. They will eat a little more 

 by this mode of feeding; but the extra 

 amount of wool they will shear, and the 

 extra growth they will acquire, will rich- 

 ly pay the difference. Yearlings should 

 be kept and fed by themselves. Their 

 teeth are weak and they will not get their 

 share if fed with older stock. 



The buck should not be allowed to 

 run with the breeding ewes through the 

 winter. They often strike them with 

 their horns, and cause them to lose 

 tlieir lambs. They . can be kept by 

 themselves, or turned with the weathers. 



In Central Illinois sheep are frequent 

 ly fed in flocks as high as 1000 or 1,500; 

 but I do not think that over 500 or 800 

 should be kept together; they should be 

 fed at regular hours, and should always 

 be fed an hour before sundown, so that 



way, 



any more corn 



ferent manner 



they can eat before dark. They do not 

 like to feed after night. They should 

 never receive more than they will eat 

 tolerably clean. 



The shepherd should always watch his 

 flock closely, and when he sees that any 

 one is not doing well from any cause, 

 should remove it to the hospital. It is 

 always necessary to have some place 

 where such sheep can be properly taken 

 care of. Ewes should be bred in No- 

 vember, the time of gestation is five 

 months; and the common practice of 

 turning the rams into the flock and let- 

 ting them run promiscuously throughit, 

 is wrong. Several rams running in the 

 same flock excite each other to unneces* 

 sary activity, besides injuring each other 

 by constant blows. It is every point of 

 view bad husbandry, and is distructive 

 to every thing like careful and judicious 

 breeding. 



Every wool grower should have con- 

 venient yards and pens for handling his 

 s heep. ^The breeding ewes should be 

 brought into the yard once a day, and 

 one or two strong rams well approved 

 turned into the flock, and such ewes as 

 are ready to breed can be taken out and 

 bred to such rams as are best calculated 

 to impart to their progeny the improve- 

 ment that are desired to be obtained. A 

 different mark should be put upon the 

 ewes for the several rams that are used. 

 By this mode every ram can be thorough- 

 ly tested as a breeder, and in no other 

 way where there is more than one ram 

 used, can any man have that knowledge 

 and pedigree of his flock that every 

 breeder should have. 



Ewes should have their lambs about 

 the commencement of grass; and then as 

 the grass and milk increases the lamb 

 will also have agejand strength to receive 

 it. Particular attention should be given 

 to the ewes at this time. It frequently 

 happens that they have more milk than 

 the lamb can take for a few days, while 

 young, and unless the ewe is milked, her 

 udder will swell and inflame and she 

 will refuse to let her lamb suck. The 

 consequence will be the lamb will die, 

 the mother, perhaps, will lose her wool, 

 if not her life, and be destroyed at a 

 breeder. Whenever a strong healthy 

 ewe loses her lamb, she should receive 

 another, either a twin, or one taken from 

 a weekly sheep. It is generally neces- 

 sary in such cases to shut them up in a 

 small pen for a few days, by themselves. 

 Another mode is to skin the dead one 

 and tie the skin on the lamb you wish 

 the ewe to take. I never knew this to 

 fail when done in time. Lambs should 

 be castrated and marked at about ten 

 days old. They do much better at that 

 age, than older, and should not be driven 

 far or fast enough to heat them before 

 the operation. 



Ewes and lambs should be herded by 



