On the Breeding, Feeding, S^-c. of Sheep. 
363 
pensity to fatten of paramount importance. Having drawn the 
ewes for the rams, the next point to be considered is, which is the 
best method — To turn the rams loose amongst the ewes in the com- 
mon way, or put them in stocks for the rams. I invariably adopt 
the latter, as I get far fe.ver " guest " or barren ewes bv this than I 
should by the former practice. It very frequently happens that 
rams are put loose with the ewes when they are much too fat ; 
many are therefore very idle, and will not tup an ewe unless under 
favourable circumstances ; thev may sers e some ; and jump others, 
and if they cannot succeed after two or three trials, will leave the 
ewe entirely and go to another; she misses this time, and perhaps 
also when she returns again. When ewes are served in stocks, the 
shepherd of course sees that all is done right. The general opinion 
is, that once ser^'ing an ewe is sufficient for her to be inlambed : ex- 
perience has convinced me that twice is much more safe, and I will 
adduce an instance of it, which led me to the custom v.hich I 
always adopt, of having all my ewes served at least twice by the 
rams. On the 17ih of October, 1S35, I put 31 ewes to a diffe- 
rent rams ; '22 of them were tupped twice each, a few hours 
elapsing between, and at the usual time when they would have 
returned, had they not been inlambed, only one did return. The 
remaining 9 ewes were tupped by the same rams onlv once each, 
and 5 of them returned or went over again. From this it would 
appear, that out of 100 ewes serv ed t\\"ice, 95 v. ould be inlambed ; 
while out of 100 served only once, 45 only would be inlambed; 
showing a decided preference for stocking the ewes, and ha^-ing 
them tupped twice. I have been accustomed for manv years to 
set down dailv everv ev.-e that went to the ram, and find that thev 
return, if not inlambed, at from fourteen to eighteen days after- 
wards ; scarcely any come again before fourteen davs, and very 
rarely any later than eighteen days. I found by observations made 
in the lambing seasons of 1831 and 1832, that my ewes went with 
lamb as follows, and I was enabled to come to a certainty upon 
this point, as I always number mv ewes, also my voung lambs, 
and set down every day the ewes as they take the ram : — 
Weel;s. Days. 
The longest time any ewe went with a ram lamb was 22 4 
The shortest time ' . . . . 210 
The longest time any one went with an ewe lamb was 22 2 
The shortest time • . . . . 20 4 
This proves the general opinion to be correct, that animals go with 
young longer with males than females, but the difference is very 
trill in sr. 
It is the custom in manv parts of the country to dross ewes with 
mercurial ointment in the autumn, whether they are affected with 
VOL. VI. 2 c 
