Breeds of Sheep best adapted to different Localities. 445 



It will be here proper to make some observations on a matter 

 connected with sheep farming, which is only practised in the 

 north of England and Scotland, viz. smearing, which is the name 

 given for rubbing on the skin of sheep an ointment formed of 

 tar and reasty butter, oil, or the foots of oil. The tar that 

 should be used for this purpose comes from America, and 

 is called " roany," being of a fat unctuous nature of the con- 

 sistence of very thick molasses ; although, for naval and general 

 purposes, Baltic tar obtains a very superior price to this descrip- 

 tion of American tar, we have known instances where American 

 roany tar has obtained double the price of the Baltic species 

 when required for sheep-smearing. The usual proportions are 

 8 lbs. of tar of the kind described and 6 lbs. of butter, well mixed 

 together and formed into a fluid ointment ; which being prepared, 

 the smearer commences operations by dividing and opening the 

 fleece of a sheep along the back, laying the skin bare — when 

 bared, he dips his forefinger in a pot containing the ointment, 

 and by drawing it along the skin of the animal from the head 

 to the tail, a portion of the mixture becomes attached to the 

 skin ; this being finished, he proceeds to open the fleece in the 

 same manner on the part next the place first operated on ; and so 

 on until the whole of one side of the sheep is finished, when he 

 commences on the other side : the cost averages from 4%d. to 6d. 

 per sheep. The practice has been much decried, amongst others 

 by f the Ettrick Shepherd," who states that, if the sheep are kept 

 supplied with a sufficiency of food, smearing is unnecessary. That 

 an abundance of food will in some degree counteract the ill effects 

 of severe cold is perfectly correct, but I know that the neglecting 

 to smear sheep in mountainous districts has been attended with 

 the worst results to both animals and fleece. 



The ill effect of smearing is that it stains the wool, but not so 

 much as is generally imagined, if the operation is carefully per- 

 formed in the manner previously described and properly com- 

 pounded. 



Mild weather, about the latter end of October and the begin- 

 ning of November, should be chosen for smearing, as the sheep 

 suffer very much if cold weather sets in before the wool has risen 

 from the skin. When the wool has risen from the skin after 

 smearing the animal does not suffer — a fortnight generally elapses 

 prior to this taking place. 



Having now reviewed at some length the different characteris- 

 tics of the principal breeds of sheep, I will proceed to re- 

 capitulate briefly their adaptation to various situations as regards 

 climate, soil, and food. It would be ridiculous to suppose that 

 one of the large Lincoln, improved Cotswold, or, as they are now 

 frequently termed, Oxford sheep, could compete with Down sheep 



