228 SHEEP INDUSTRY OF THE UNITED STATES 



that the intermixture of sires and dams with their own progeny, or even 

 that of animals derived from the same parentage, would occasion de 

 generation in flne-wooled sheep. Under this conviction the Saxon 

 breeders ofcen bought from other flocks rams which they substituted 

 for those of their own, and land proprietors bound their tenants by a 

 clause in their leases to renew every year a certain number of rams. 

 The undistinguished mixture of the same flock, which took place in 

 Sweden, France, and every part of Germany, demonstrated in a decisive 

 measure that it was needless to procure other rams while any one pos- 

 sessed those of good qualities. The facts observed coincided with those 

 known of Spain, where the animals bred among each other for ages 

 without distinction of parentage. The mode of feeding, care, and treat- 

 ment is given from the observation of Lasteyrie. 



The usual food given the sheep during winter consisted of hay, after- 

 math, trefoil, and oats or rye straw. The hay was distributed twice 

 or three times in the course of the day, and in greater or smaller quan- 

 tities, as it was more or less substantial. Those who had no hay sub- 

 stituted for it peas haulm, vetches, or lentils. Care was taken to cut 

 the latter kind of fodder before maturity, that it might be more nutri- 

 tious and that the fall of leaf should be prevented, which would other- 

 wise take place for want of moisture. Some farmers made amends for 

 want of hay by the use of cakes from oleaginous grain, by bran and 

 crushed corn, or sometimes meal. They mixed the cakes and meal in 

 vessels filled with water, which were placed in the sheep-houses, and 

 the residuum at the bottom of these vessels was given to the sheep. 

 This method contributed to preserve them in good health at a season 

 when it was difficult to procure fresh food. Grain given in this manner 

 was found to be more nutritious, particularly if the meal had been mixed 

 in hot water. This food was best adapted to the lambs; when given 

 to sheep about 6 or 7 pounds of meal were allotted to a hundred. When 

 there was a want of provender or the snow was of long continuance, 

 corn was given to the sheep, but as this was expensive it was generally 

 very soon replaced by roots of different kinds, such as beets, turnips, 

 carrots, and more especially potatoes. This method, hardly adopted at 

 all in France, was strongly recommended to owners of flocks. It was 

 well known that the dry food on which sheep were obliged to live dur- 

 ing a bad season often occasioned disorders, for which reason the Eng- 

 lish farmer cultivated turnips largely as Ids winter resource. Thus he 

 was enabled to keep a larger stock than he otherwise could, a provi- 

 sion of roots being added to his ordinary fodder. The Saxon wethers 

 and the ewes without lambs had no food but hay or other inferior sort 

 the best being reserved for the ewe mothers, the rams, and the lambs! 

 During winter the flocks were taken into the fields or woods, when the 

 season permitted. Breeders who had no winter pasturage kept their 

 flocks in the sheep-houses from the beginning of November till April 

 but care was taken that they moved about in the courts every day and 



