142 BUES LAMBING. 



away. This is the only safe position in which to place a 

 breeding ewe for the operation, when near to lambing, unless 

 it be on her feet — and tagging on the feet is excessively 

 inconvenient. If a ewe is handled with violence, there -is 

 danger of so changing the position of the foetus in the womb 

 as to render its presentation at birth more or less irregular 

 and dangerous. But if the operation is performed as last 

 described, and the catching and handling are done with 

 proper care, there is no danger whatever. 



BuES. — Pastures containing dry weeds of the previous 

 year, which bear burs or prickles liable to get into the fleece, 

 should be carefully looked over before sheep are turned on 

 them in the spring, and all such weeds brought together and 

 burned. The common Burdock {Arctium lappa,) the large 

 and small Hounds-tongue, or Tory-weed ( Gynoglosmm offici- 

 nale et Virginicum ;*) and the wUd Bur-marigold, Beggar- 

 ticks, or Cuckold, {JBiolens frondosa,) are peculiarly injurious 

 to wool. The damage that a large quantity of them would do 

 to half a dozen fleeces, would exceed the cost of exterminating 

 them from a large field. The dry prickles of thistles are also 

 hurtful to wool, and they render it excessively disagreeable 

 to wash and shear the sheep. They readily snap off in the 

 fleece, when sheep are grazing about and among them in 

 early sjiring. * 



Lambing. — It used to be the aim of flock-masters in the 

 Northern States, to have their lambs yeaned from about the 

 1st to the 15th of May — particularly when Saxon and grade 

 Saxon sheep were in vogue. Small flocks with abundant 

 range would grow up their lambs, born even at this season, 

 large and strong enough to winter well ; but in the case of 

 large flocks they were not sure, or very likely to do so, except 

 under highly favorable circumstances. The least scarcity of 

 good fall feed told very destructively on them — and if there 

 were those which were dropped as late as June, they 

 generally perished before the close of winter. 



From the 15th of April to the 15th of May is now the 

 preferred yeaning season among a majority of Northern 

 flock-masters. Some, however, have it commence as early 



* The first named variety grows at the roots of stamps and by the sides of decaying 

 logs^ etc,, along road-sides, and in new cleared and other fields — the other grows more 

 particularly in woods and thickets. The last variety has finer stems, and its burs are 

 considerably smaller, but I think more difficult to remove fl-om wool. 



