304 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA. 



ing the sheep as well as possible, and to let the 

 land rest for two years will be quite sure to 

 make the land clean, ready for a new flock. 

 But there are certain objections to this course. 

 First, he gets out of touch with the sheep in- 

 dustry, and' that is bad. Then he begins to 

 devote his land to other purposes and it. is 

 harder to again start with a flock. And there 

 is the very real and practical difficulty that it 

 is impossible to be sure that the new 'flock is 

 free from the enemies that led to the discarding 

 of the old one. 



To the help of the shepherd comes this in- 

 spiring fact. All lambs are bom healthy, abso- 

 lutely free of all parasites or germs of para- 

 sites. There is in the placenta of the mother 

 the magic mantle that shields the world from 

 destruction. Though, her own body may be 

 devoured by evil parasites this membrane shel- 

 ters within it the young untainted, to be the 

 hope of a regenerated young thing, a renewal 

 of primal health and vigor. 



Fortunately the shepherd may take advan- 

 tage of this fact to start anew with . a clean 

 flock, even though his ewes are tainted. Infec- 

 tion will not come from the mother's milk, un- 

 less in rare instances from the fouling of her 

 udder. If she has a clean bed there is small 

 risk of that. If she is scouring she should not 

 be put in the company of ewes devoted to this 

 purpose. 



These ewes should be bred as early as prac- 

 ticable,' so that their lambs will come if pos- 

 sible in November, December or January. That 



