Diseases of Sheep. 



Tameness and docility of temper are qualities of great value, 

 because a sheep of quiet disposition is more inclined to improve 

 in condition. On a similar principle, the breeding farmer will not 

 only consider the quality of his pasturage, but the temperature of 

 his situation. Where the farm is bleak and exposed, it is essen- 

 tial to inquire into the hardiness of the stock which he places on it. 



A shearling ram is usually preferred to an older sheep, it 

 being considered that he is more active, and begets a more vigor- 

 ous produce. When the rams have been unnaturally forced from 

 an early age, this principle is a correct one ; but, where no arti- 

 ficial means have been used, the full strength of nature is not 

 fully developed until they attain their second year ; and pro- 

 creation before maturity is almost universally regarded as debili- 

 tating to the parent of either sex, while the value of the off- 

 spring is by no means insured by it. A remarkable proof of this 

 may be found in the stinted proportions of all the East Indian 

 tribes, where marriage generally takes place at the early age of 

 fourteen. Who that has injudiciously allov/ed his ewe-hoggets 

 to breed, has not seen this truth strikingly illustrated ? 



While the ram is with the flock, in order to insure a good fall 

 of twins it is necessary to keep the sheep well and on extra 

 food. It is an excellent practice to withdrav/ the rams from the 

 ewes once a- day, and to give to each a pint of split beans. The 

 period of gestation with the ewe is about 152 days. It is peculiar 

 to the sheep to be very accurate in its period of gestation, so that in 

 a thousand ewes the probability is that four-fifths of them, will 

 not vary above a few days."' 



The farmer must be guided, as to the time when he admits the 

 tups, by the provision that he has made for the ewes after lamb- 

 ing. If that provision is scanty, he will find the lambs stunted in 

 their growth. It will also be prudent to begin the riding season 

 not only at such a period as may consist with a good supply of 

 nutritious feed, but with a view to the climate. Although, in the 

 southern districts, the depth of winter may be considered to occur 

 in January, yet there are many places which, being comparatively 

 sheltered or exposed, may be said to be two or three weeks 

 earlier or later than other districts ; and, as we ascend northward, 

 the difference of a very few degrees of latitude will be found to 

 vary the season yet more. 



These combined considerations seem to point to the month of 

 March as most favourable for the lambs ; and, except in very rich 



* M. Tessier, in his Memoir read before the Academie Royale des Sciences, 

 gives a very satisfactory illustration of this. In 912 ewes the shortest period 

 was 146 days, and the longest 157 days, or, reckoning 5 months, 7 days 

 over and 5 under. — W. Youatt. 



