882 SHEEP -RAISING, 



raising of sheep. Rolling land is more desirable than flat, and if it 

 be quite hilly it is not a material objection. Low, marshy spots, 

 where aquatic plants grow, should by all mean's be thoroughly 

 drained. Soils which abound in potash are exceedingly unfavorable 

 for the raising of sheep. It is stated on good authority that even 

 turnips raised on such land sometimes affect the sheep injuriously, 

 producing disease under which they waste away, become watery 

 about the eyes, fall in about the flanks, and assume a generally un- 

 healthy appearance. The geological formation underlying lands is 

 of great importance in this regard. Sheep flourish best on sand- 

 stone or limestone soils. The Leicester and Shropshire breeds in 

 England are raised on sandstone soils ; the Lincoln, on limestone, 

 as also the Cotswold, the Southdown, and other famous breeds ; while 

 in our own country the American merino breed, the finest of all our 

 sheep,,is raised on the limestone hills of Vermont. In what we have 

 said about marshy land, there should be an exception made in favor 

 of the saline marshes near the sea coast, as the salt herbage acts 

 as a specific against some parasitic diseases. Our Middle States are, 

 as a general rule, well adapted to sheep husbandry, and the same is 

 true of most of the States of the great West. 



Care in Selection of Pasturage. 



* In the selection of pasturage, the utmost care should be ob- 

 served. In the same pasture two kinds of grass may grow, one very 

 beneficial and the other exceedingly detrimental to sheep. Grass 

 should contain, in order to furnish the proper nutrition, a sufficient 

 amount of sulphur and nitrogen to supply the constituents of wool, 

 one hundred pounds of which contain seventeen pounds of nitrogen 

 and five pounds of sulphur. Grass should also have potash in it, to 

 supply the spapy and oily substance denominated yolk, which 

 adheres'to the fleece, and whose abundance is a test of the good 

 quality 6f the wool. When the wool is dry, it is of a poor quality, 

 and the sheep's health is affected. The ash of the flesh and blood 

 of a sheep, analyzed, present the following elements, which will con- 

 stitute a basis for calculating the necessary constituents of food : — 



Blood. Flesh. 



Phosphate of soda 16.77 45.10 



Chloride of sodium 59.84 ) akqa 



Chloride of potassium , ' 6.12 



Sulphate of soda 3.85 trace. 



Phosphate of magnesia 4.19 ) 



Oxide and phosphate of iron 8.28 > 6.84 



Sulphate' of lime 1.45 ) 



100.00. 97.88 



