Pastoral Husbandry. 
113 = 447 
I; lbs in the autumn, and many are kept in the south of 
tgland to produce lambs to be fattened under cover, and sold 
■ut Christmas in London and other markets. 
laving remarked upon the qualities of some of the principal Management 
beds of sheep, I will proceed to describe the management of °f ^'^^ep on a 
s'ep on a light-land farm, consisting wholly or principally of ^'jf^Jf^TJ^^j^ 
a ble land. 
\. large breeding flock is here usually kept, and, in addition 
t(the keep furnished by the clover or sainfoin and artificial 
gsses in rotation, various fodder crops, such as winter and 
sjtng vetches, rye, rape, cabbages, mustard, as well as an 
a'ndant supply of roots for winter consumption, are provided 
f( the maintenance of the flocks. The rotation adopted is 
eiier four, five, or six course, the former being the most com- 
VDi, thus : wheat, roots or green crop, barley, seeds. Where 
iti specially desired to increase the supply of green food, the 
Sfls are kept doAvn the second year until the beginning of 
Ji e, and then broken up for rape, or some other green crop, to 
b<!aten off by sheep folded on the land, in time to sow wheat. 
Ifnore corn be desired, barley may succeed the wheat crop, 
ni;ing it a six-course rotation. 
he ewe flock is kept young, all those ewes above three or 
io' years old being drawn out everv year, and either sold to 
pi luce another crop of lambs elsewhere, or fattened. In a ram- 
biiding flock, ewes of special excellence are kept as long as 
th- will breed. 
he time of putting the ram with the ewes varies with the 
lo lity and the prospect of early spring food. In the south of 
E:land, August and September are usual months. In the 
m lands, October ; and in the north, November. On those 
fa is where rams are bred for annual sale, they are usually 
diiped early, so as to give them a good start. It is better that 
e^i5 going to the ram should be, though not fat, in an improving 
colition, a supply of succulent food at this period having also 
a vourable influence on the number of lambs yeaned, therefore 
m y farmers put their ewes on rape. Great care is taken to 
obin rams of good form, substance, and wool, as one ram is 
se iceable for fifty or more ewes. A good price for a suitable 
on IS not grudged, as the sale averages just quoted plainly show. 
In regular breeding flock the practice of using a ram of another 
diinct breed is rarely adopted, as the progeny of such a ram, 
th(gh valuable for fattening, would be undesirable for breeding 
puioses. In the autumn and early winter the ewes are run on 
th' lover or stubbles, receiving an occasional fold of rape, or 
turnips, or mangold tops with chaff and a little cotton-cake, 
> often follow the feeding sheep, clearing up all their 
