34 Domestic ANIMALS. 
“These are of various forms, 'Fig. 25 gives the common 
box rack in the most general use in the North. It is ten feet 
long, two and a half wide, the lower boards a foot wide, the 
upper ones about ten inches, the two about nine inches apart, 
Box Rack. 
and the corner posts three by three, or three'and a half by two 
and a half inches. The boards are spiked on these posts by 
large flat-headed nails wrought for the purpose, and thé lower 
edges of the upper boards and the upper edges of the lower 
ones are rounded so they shall not wear the wool off from the 
sheep’s necks. The lower boards and the opening for the 
heads should be two or three inches narrower for lambs. If 
made of light wood, as they should be, a man standing in the 
inside and middle of one of these racks, can easily carry it 
about—an important desideratum. Unless over-fed, sheep 
waste very little hay in them.” 
An improvement upon the common box rack has holes eight 
inches wide, nine inches high, and about eighteen inches apart, 
instead of the continuous opening represented in the foregoing 
cut; but it is a little more expensive. 
3. Feeding.—“In Germany great stress is laid on variety 
m the winter fodder, and elaborate systems of feeding are 
given. Variations of dry fodder are well enough, but hundreds 
and thousands of Northern flocks receive nothing but ordinary 
hay, consisting mainly of timothy (Phleum pratense), some red 
and white clover (Trifolium pratense et repens), and frequently 
a sprinkling of June or spear-grass (Poa pratensis), during the 
entire winter. Others receive an occasional fodder of corn- 
stalks and straw, and some farmers give a daily feed of grain 
