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inanufaclory. Spanifh fleeces are indeed finer, 
and fome of their wool is generally neceiTiry to 
work up with our own; but the weight of a Spa- 
nifli fleece ftands in no degree of competition 
with one of Lincolnlhire or Warwicklhire, 
Like all other ruminant animals, Sheep are 
defbitute of upper fore- teeth; but they have 
eight in tiie louver jaw: tv,'o of thefe teeth drop, 
and are replaced at the age of two years; four of 
them at that of three years; and the mouth is 
full at the age of four years. Some Sheep, how- 
ever, there are in England, to which lliepherds 
give the appellation of leather-mouthed cattle, 
becaufe they never change their teeth ; and they 
are generally fuppofed to grov/ old fooner than 
the refl:, 
. Sheep produce one or two lambs at a time; and 
fometimes three or four. The firft lamb of an 
ewe is generallv lefs valuable than thofe of a fe- 
cond or third produfcion ; and the third is always 
deemed the bed. The time of geftation is five 
months; and, if houfed, they will bring forth at 
any feafon of the year. 
The woolly Sheep, fuch as thofe of this king- 
dom, are found only in Europe, and fome of the 
temperate Afiatic provinces. When tranfported 
into v;armer countries, their wool degenerates into 
hair, and their flefli affumes a different flavour. 
In extreme cold countries, they feem equally help- 
lefs and ftrange; and though rhey fubfiPc both in 
Guinea and Greenland, they do not appear to be 
indigenous to either. 
Rams fometimes live fifteen years, and begin to 
procreate at the age of one year. When two of 
thcfc animals meet, they fometimes engage very 
fiercely, butting each other with their heads and 
horns. Wlien caftrated, they are called weathers ; 
and then they become larger and fatter, at the 
fame tim.e that their flefli acquires an additional 
flavour. 
Ewes are laid to live ten years; but they fel- 
dom attain that age: and it is remarkable that 
every ev/e knows her own lamb in the largeft 
flocks, where a fpeftator could not diftinguifli one 
from another 
Sheep will thrive on almoft any pafturage; and 
for that realbn they are by many preferred to the 
larger cattle. 
The farmer fliould always purchafe his Sheep 
from a foil inferior to his ov/nj and the marks by 
which their goodnefs may be known, confift in 
the largenefs of their bones; as well as the length, 
oilinefs, and clofe twiftof their wool: thefe Sheep 
always bear the fineft fleeces, and are the irioft 
faleable in the markets. 
Rich fat paftures breed ftraight, tall Sheep; 
barren hills and downs, fquare fhort ones; woods 
and mountains, tall and flender Sheep; but new 
ploughed land and dry grounds breed the very 
beft. On the contrary, all wet and moid lands 
are improper for Sheep ; efpecially fuch as are fub- 
jeft to be overflowed, and to be covered with fand 
and dirt. Salt marfhes, however, are an excep- 
tion to this general rule; for their faltnefs amply 
counterbalances the ill cfiefts of their moifture; 
and they are generally confidered as the mofl; de- 
fireable of all others for the breeding of thefe ani- 
mals. 
Feeding Sheep with turnips is one of the mofl 
beneficial plans adopted by farmers: independent 
of the manure they leave on the ground, thefe 
roots fatten them v/ith the greateft expedition; 
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and therefore the mofl approved methods of ufing 
them cannot fail of proving acceptable to the rea- 
der. 
Tlie commiOn way of turning a flock of Sheep 
into a field of turnips, in fome places, is very dis- 
advantageous; for they will thus deftroy as many 
in a fortnight as v;ould have fiipported them for 
a whole winter. But each of the three fubfequent 
methods has it's peculiar advantages. 
The firfl: confifls in dividing the land by hur- 
dles, and allowing the Sheep to over-run fuch a 
portion only at a time as they can eat in one day; 
and fo advancing the hurdles farther into the 
ground daily till the whole is confumed. This 
mode is infinitely better than allowing them the 
range of the whole field at once; though even in 
this way they never eat the turnips clean; but, 
fcooping out their middles, leave the bottoms and 
outfides in the ground: thefe remains are to be 
pulled up with iron hooks, and laid again before 
the Sheep; but they are generally fo covered with 
dirt, that only a very fmall portion of them wili 
be eaten. 
The fecond method direfts the enclofing tiie 
Sheep in hurdles, as in the former; but, in this, as 
many turnips are daily pulled up as the Sheep 
can eat in one day; and the hurdles are daily re- 
moved over the ground whence the roots have 
been pulled up: by this mjcans there is no wafl:ej 
and lefs expence; for one perfon may in tv/o hours 
pull up as many turnips as the remnants alone 
would employ a labourer for a whole day. 
The third method con fills in pulling up the 
turnips, and removing them to fome other fitua- 
tion v/here manure is wanted, fpreading them on 
a frefli place every day; and by that means the 
Sheep v^'ill eat up both roots and leaves without; 
any wafle. This plan is fometirnes the mioft ad- 
vantageous of any: but in fuch matters the difcre- 
tion and experience of the farmer will perhaps be 
the fafefc direftory. 
^ To compofe a flock,' fays Buffbn, ' from 
which a reafonable profit may be cxpcfted, Sheep 
and weathers mufl: be purchaied of about eighteen 
months, or two years old; and one fliepherd, if 
careful, and aflifted by a good dog, may take care 
of an hundred. In leading them out to paRure, 
he fliould go before them, and accufl:om them to 
know his voice ; to follow him without flopping, 
or ftraying among the corn, woods, or fallow- 
lands, v/here they would do damage. The places 
that befi: agree with then-i are downs, and fmall 
eminences : low, v/et, and marfliy grounds, fliould 
be avoided. 
* In dry and high grounds, efpecially if the 
herbage abound in wild thyme, and other odori- 
ferous plants, the mutton is of a much finer qua- 
lity than that which is fed in moift valleys and 
low plains; unlefs thofe valleys are iandy, and 
near the fea; the herbage then being fprinkled 
with fait, the Sheep fed in fuch fituations are fu- 
perior to all others. The ewes alfo fed in thetrij, 
yield more milk, and of a better flavour. 
' Sheep are remarkably fond of fait, and no- 
thing is more flilutary for them when given in 
moderation ; and in fomiC places it is cuftomary 
to put into the Sheep-cot a bag of fait, or a faline 
ftone, which they all eagerly lick one after ano- 
ther. 
' Every year, thofe which begin to grow old 
fliould be fcparated from the flock, for the pur- 
pofe of fattening, becaufe then a difi'erent ma- 
nagement; 
