520 = 254 
Practical Agriculture. 
placed in troughs, giving them also a change on dry pasture for 
a few hours every day, sometimes half a pint of beans each per 
day. After the ram is removed, the ewes are changed to a dry 
pasture, with a fold of tares or other similar forage, and 
managed as a store flock, without being too highly kept — the 
object being to keep great numbers and eat the ground bare. 
The travelling consequent upon daily removal to fresh food 
is a very beneficial exercise, insuring a healthy offspring. The 
lambs fall in November and December. Owing to the mildness 
of the climate in that part of England, it is not generally 
necessary to resort to the lambing-yard. A shifting fold is 
used, removed to dry ground each day ; a shed being requisite 
for weakly lambs, in case of very wet and stormy weather. 
Italian rye-grass (sown on a portion of the wheat stubble) 
receives the ewes and lamb ; but they also range over the 
Avheat stubble at night, and on young clover by day, to avoid 
injuring the clover plant, and to have a good layer for the lambs. 
The ewes are kept thus till the lambs are four or five weeks 
old. At one month old the male lambs are castrated by cutting 
and searing, which is found to be safer and to give a more 
fleshy lamb when arrived at maturity, than the plan of drawing 
when the lamb is a week or ten days old. 
The lambs, being a month old, are taken with their dams t( 
root-feeding, for the sake of keeping up the condition of th( 
ewes, which are being simultaneously fattened. The roots an 
cut and given in troughs, and the lambs feed in advance of anc 
separate from the ewes, — a lamb-gate being provided for the 
purpose, having a space between the bars to allow lambs to pass 
without being wide enough for the ewes. As soon as it is ligh 
in the morning, the shepherd gives hay to both lambs anc 
ewes, and then fills the troughs with cut roots, passing the lambs 
portion twice through the cutter, reducing the slices into bits th< 
size of dice. Next, he gives oilcake and peas in covered troughs 
the allowance being as much as they will eat. 'To preven 
waste, the oilcake is broken fine — the size of horse-beans — si, 
that the lambs do not take up large pieces and drop them besid M 
the troughs. To induce the young animals to eat cake and peaiJ 
it is sometimes necessary to mix a portion of common salll 
The ewes next receive their portion of oilcake, without peas'' 
beginning with \ lb. per day^ — half in the morning, half befor. 
the bait of roots at night. After two or three weeks of thi 
food, the cake is gradually increased up to 1 lb. each per dayii 
and towards the end of the fattening process, half a pint ol 
beans is added. This renders the flesh more firm ; the gresii 
objection to ewes being fattened while suckling being that the 
are mostly deficient in firmness and quality of meat. i| 
