324 



Diseases of Sheep. 



furrow or line down the throat, under the belly, and between the 

 fore and hind legs ; at the same time examine carefully for the 

 affected parts, and dress them. 



Three pounds of the ointment are sufficient for a score of large 

 sheep, and two pounds and a half for hoggets or sheep in low con- 

 dition."^ 



Highly useful as this preparation is for the cure of so trouble- 

 some a complaint, and much as it is recommended, yet there is 

 scarcely a farmer that has used it without the loss of sheep from 

 its injudicious application. October and March are the proper 

 months for dressing when the weather is dry ; nor should it be de- 

 layed to a later season. In hot weather the absorbent vessels carry 

 it too quickly into the system, and the sheep become salivated, and 

 also in the winter, from lying on the cold and wet ground. I 

 was once persuaded by a veterinary surgeon to dress 300 lambs in 

 August : although I was very careful in not applying more than 

 2 lbs. of the ointment per score, yet, for two months, I had to 

 regret my folly, having, in that time, lost 62. I mentioned this to a 

 cattle-dealer at Cambridge, who said I must have laid it on too 

 strong, for that he had just dressed 50, and saw no fear of his ; 

 but when I met him about a fortnight after, the tale was altered, 

 and 15 had died. Instances of losses from applying the ointment 

 in the winter months are too common to need any caution from me. 

 It is highly dangerous to use it on ewes before or after lambing, 

 nor is it safe at any time to anoint sheep that are poor or weak ; 

 but the following infusion will answer the purpose when it is im- 

 proper to use the mercurial ointment : — 



Boil half-a-pound of tobacco in two gallons of water until re- 

 duced to one; strain and then add half-a-pint of spirit of turpen- 

 tine, and half a pound of flowers of sulphur : on the application 

 of this mixture the scabs should be broken, and every affected 

 part well searched and dressed. As this decoction, as well as 

 the ointment, stains the wool and disfigures the sheep imme- 

 diately after they are shorn, I generally use the lotion (Appendix 



* I have found, in my own experience, half the quantity to be suffi- 

 cient. — J.W. Childers. 



We have many remedies for the scab (or shab), which by great care 

 and unremitting attention will cure it. Of late, in the neighbourhood of 

 Newbury, a new remedy has been introduced for it by a person v/ho travels 

 from farm to farm dipping sheep for the ticks. He applies other ingredients 

 with his mixture, and dips them the same as for the ticks, which is a great 

 saving of time and expense, and much better for the sheep than the plan of 

 continually catching them to dress them ; and if it should succeed in future, 

 as I understand it has already done, it is likely to supersede every other 

 remedy. — W. Humfrey. 



The chief ingredient in this remedy is probably corrosive sublimate. — 

 The Author. 



