APPEtroix. 413 



profitable, 'being taore hardy and better adapted to our cHmate 

 than any other breed of sheep. 



I have had a few of the Cotswdld breed, but was glad to get 

 rid of them as soon as possible, oji account of their being very ten- 

 der, and the wool of little value ; also, their requiring more food for 

 the same quantity of mutton than the South Downs, 

 ' You wished to know my practice of wintering sheep. I endeavor 

 to have them in good, con(£tion at the commencement of winter, 

 which I do by feeding them with grain when the pasture begins 

 to fail, as I think there is much lost by neglecting them at this 

 Season ^the year. [Mr. Haight never uttered a truer thing.] 

 It cannWbe too firmly impressed on the mind of every farmer that 

 it is more easy to keep an animal in good condition, and requires 

 less food' to do it, by not allowing it to fall away, than to restore it 

 after once becoming poor. [Here is another important truth.] 



It is of great importance to protect them from the cold winds 

 and storms, particularly rain. I keep them in flocks not exceed- 

 ing fifty, and a less number is preferable. I give Jhem free access 

 to, water, and feed them morning and night withJiay, which was 

 lightly salted when put up, and some kind of vegetables in the 

 middle of the day. Potatoes, in my opinion, are preferable' to any 

 other. I salt them frequently in the pasturing season, and keep 

 their noses thoroughly tarred from the first of July to the first of 

 October. 



You wished to know how large a flock I keep. I have only 

 about thirty South Downs, and two hundred and fifty Saxons ; 

 the former will yield from three and a half to four pounds of wool 

 a head, and the last clip was worth thirty-seven and a half cents 

 per pound. 



You also wished me to inform you of my mode of fattening 

 them, and at what age I turn them off to the butcher. I am not 

 able to answer, these inquiries, having kept them so short a time, 

 but I think they will do to turn off" at two years old. 



I weighed some of my lambs at three months and a half old ; 

 the twins weighed from seventy to eighty pounds each, and one 

 single lamb one hundred and one. 



, I have my ewes to Iamb about the middle of April, and gener- 

 ally raise two lambs from each ewe. They are excellent nursers, 

 and produce very fine lambs for market. 



I feed my ewes a Uttle grain for three or four weeks before 

 lambing, so as to have them in good condition for yeaning, and 

 afterward commence feeding them with vegetables and with oat 

 meal and wheat bran mixed with a little water, which I increase 

 as the lambs increase-in size. 



35* 



