201 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE A HD COTTAGE GARDENER . 
[ March 5, 1885. 
THE BREEDING FLOCK. 
ABORTION. 
Out of a flock of sixty ewes in lamb there have been twenty-eight 
cases of abortion within three weeks. The sheep were upon grass 
till shortly before Christmas, when they were put upon Turnips, all 
of them apparently being in a healthy condition. The first case of 
abortion happened towards the end of January, and although they 
were removed from the Turnips they continue to lamb prematurely. 
Such was the gist of a letter recently sent to us by a correspon¬ 
dent, and the occurrence of so bad a case renders it desirable that the 
fullest and latest information of the cause of this evil and its remedy 
should be placed before our readers. We may as well say at once 
that, judging solely from the statement contained in the letter, we 
consider the cause of abortion in our correspondent’s flock to be 
unwholesome food, for that is what a diet consisting solely of Turnips 
undoubtedly is for ewes in lamb, especially at that late period of 
gestation when so much of the nutriment derived from the food is 
absorbed by the foetus. There would probably have been no losses 
from abortion had the ewes been given a pound each of dry food 
daily from the time they were first put upon Turnips. The dry food 
should consist of a mixture of crushed oats, bran, pea and bean meal, 
and chopped hay. Many, perhaps most, flockmasters would substi¬ 
tute cake for the meal, but in these hard times we avoid heavy bills 
for cake. In addition to this the flock should have been taken from 
the Turnips at night to a dry pasture, or, better still, a well-littered 
fold with well-filled cribs of Oat straw or hay. 
In his recent report on abortion in ewes to the Council of the 
Royal Agricultural Society Professor Axe says, “ So far as I am now 
capable of forming an opinion of the origin of the disease two factors 
appear to me to have been specially concerned—viz., long-continued 
exposure to wet, and the exclusive or too free use of roots as an 
article of food. The first-named cause appears not only to have 
operated directly by lowering the temperature of the body and sup¬ 
pressing the function of the skin as an eliminating organ ; but indi¬ 
rectly also (1) by exciting and maintaining a painful ulceration of 
the feet (foot-rot), and extensive inflammations of the skin of the 
legs and belly, thus entailing acute and protracted suffering and 
weakness ; (2) by rendering the soil so deep, heavy, and slippery 
that ewes advanced in pregnancy have suffered great fatigue and 
constitutional disturbance, while the well-nigh water-logged condition 
of the land has compelled them to occupy the standing posture for 
long periods together, and by thus depriving them of rest had led in 
numerous instances to a state of exhaustion altogether inconsistent 
with the retention and maturation of the foetus. 
“ The mortality and loss has undoubtedly in all cases been seriously 
aggravated by the influence of the discharges from the sick on the 
more healthy portion of the flock, and in some outbreaks there has 
been reason to suspect that such accidental causes as over-driving 
and fright have played an active part in producing the mishap. As 
the breeding season is now commencing it may be advantageous to 
the members of your Society if, pending a detailed report of my 
investigation, I briefly point out what I consider desirable for the 
better management of the ewe flock in relation to the subject in 
question. In this connection it is important to remark that the 
practice of winter feeding, more or less general in this country, con¬ 
demns the breeding ewes to subsist exclusively on roots during the 
most trying months of the year, and over a period when the demands 
of pregnancy call for a liberal and sustaining diet ; nor is it in this 
alone that the worst feature of our winter feeding exists. 
“ The custom of restricting the diet of the ewe to the filth-laden 
‘ shells, or residue of roots left after the folding of hogs, is even still 
more to be condemned, not only as a fruitful cause of abortion, but 
of other diseases even more serious and fatal. As a matter of pre¬ 
caution, then, I would say for the immediate guidance of your Society, 
that while as a matter of expediency it may be allowable to continue 
to fold ewes after hogs as is generally practised, it is at the same 
time indispensable to the health and vigour of the flock that a fair 
amount of fresh roots be also given, as well as wholesome dry food, 
in quantities according to the nature of the season. From the time 
ewes are placed on Turnips to the time when they lamb down, I am 
of opinion that wholesome dry food is imperatively demanded, and 
that disregard of this rule of diet exposes both parent and progeny 
to many fatal disorders. I would also advise that salt be kept con¬ 
stantly in the fold, so as to be accessible at all times. When the 
lair is bad the flock should be removed to higher and drier ground' 
The practice adopted by many of our best sheep farmers of changing 
the fold for the open pasture once or twice a week cannot be too 
highly estimated as a means of maintaining a healthy condition of 
body and warding off disease.” 
We have no need to advance opinions in support of our views, 
practical results by far too numerous to quote are at hand. One 
flockmaster declares exultingly that out of a flock of 400 ewes he has 
only lost three. “ The ewes,” said he, “ have not had a single 
Turnip during the winter, and they were never more healthy.” Yet 
he did not object to a moderate quantity of Turnips with mixed dry 
food. Another, instead of Turnips or Swedes prefers Ox Cabbages, 
which form the chief article of diet for his sheep in winter, Mangolds 
being used when the Cabbages are finished. He, too, gave mixed 
dry food, sometimes pulping the Cabbage with it. With gentle treat¬ 
ment we must therefore have careful judicious feeding, tolerably dry 
firm beds—preferably a yard or fold with fresh littered straw daily— 
and the risk of losses from abortion will then be reduced to a mini¬ 
mum. Ewes that have suffered from abortion should not be let breed 
again, but should be fattened and sold. 
WORK ON THE HOME! FARM. 
Horse and Hand Lalour .—Tbe sowing of artificial manure upon 
autumn-sown corn, grass land, including Rye grass and Clover, and other 
seeds is finished, manure is also mixed and put up in bags in readiness for 
the sowing of spring corn and roots, and the planting of Potatoes. This is 
a matter to which we give close personal attention, and the men are not 
left alone till the mixing is finished, the various mixtures put into bags, 
and the correct number of bags put aside for each field or meadow, with a 
label, on which is written the name of the field, with the weight and 
number of the bags. This is also entered in the manure book, so that we 
can at any time see at a glance what is the value and quantity of manure 
used for each crop. Now is the time to apply surface-dressings of half- 
inch bones to grass land at the rate of half a ton per acre. This is an 
expensive dressing, but it is one for the future as well as for the present, 
imparting fertility to the land for several years. It is a good plan to do a 
certain number of acres yearly till the whole of the grass land is done, so 
as to spread the expense over several years. Ploughing and carting 
faggots and hop poles has furnished full employment for the horses. New 
hop poles are being prepared for use by having the sharpened ends, which 
are put in soil, first of all steeped for about seven hours in creosote, kept 
hot in a tank by means of a furnace beneath it. It is important to procure 
the creosote from a sure source, much of it being so shamefully adulterated 
as to be worthless. 
Live Stock .—Cows are now fast calving, and much extra care and 
attention must be given to them. Cows kept solely for stock-breeding 
have the calves left with them as long as they require milk ; but dairy 
cows are taken from the calves at the third or fourth day after the birth 
of the calf. For awhile the calf is allowed to suck twice daily, and for 
strong calves this is sufficient, or at any rate it answers fairly well. But 
delicate or weakly calves are liable to suffer from attacks of indigestion 
and diarrhoea, owing to such long fasts and the rapidity with which it 
crams itself with the too-long-delayed meal. As a matter of precaution 
all delicate calves should have a moderate mid-day allowance of milk, as 
well as a full supply at morning and night. This extra meal strengthens 
the animal, and staves off diarrhoea. When diarrhoea occurs prompt 
measures must be taken to check it, or the animal may become so much 
exhausted that it cannot recover. First clear the stomach of irritating 
food and acrid discharges by giving a dose of 1 to 2 ozs. of castor oil, and 
twenty to forty drops of laudanum according to the size and strength of 
the animal. See that it is kept in a clean, airy, warm building, and give 
forty drops each of laudanum and sulphuric ether in a little water three 
times daily should the indigestion continue. At intervals of three, hours 
4 to 5 ozs. of new milk, diluted with an equal bulk of lime water, is also 
recommended. 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
Camden Square, London. 
Lat. 51°32'40 'N.; Long. 0° 8' 0" W.; Altitude, 111 feet 
DATE. 
9 A.M. 
IN THE DAY. 
0 
PS 
1885. 
February. 
Barome¬ 
ter at 328 
and Sea 
Level 
Hygrome¬ 
ter. 
Direction 
of Wind. 
1 
| Temp, of 
Soil at 
1 foot. 
Shade Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Temperature. 
Dry. 
Wet. 
Max. 
Min. 
In 
sun. 
On 
grass. 
Inches. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
In. 
Sunday .22 
29.875 
38.8 
37.8 
S. 
38.0 
45.8 
29.8 
48.1 
25.7 
0.053 
Monday. 23 
30.020 
42.6 
41.9 
S.E. 
38.6 
51.4 
33.2 
74.4 
26.7 
— 
Tuesday.24 
29.798 
46.8 
42.4 
S.E. 
39.8 
56.2 
42.4 
79.2 
34.6 
0.073 
Wednesday .. 25 
29.9J2 
47.6 
47.2 
S. 
41.0 
52.8 
45.4 
59.3 
37.5 
0.106 
Thursday .... 26 
30.1X1 
46.7 
44.8 
s. 
41.8 
51.1 
42.4 
67.4 
35.7 
0.164 
Friday.27 
29.856 
48.8 
48.8 
s. 
42.8 
52.4 
46.2 
59.8 
4321 
0.048 
Saturday .... 28 
29.943 
46.8 
45.9 
S.E. 
43.4 
53.2 
44.8 
62.2 
39.1 
— 
29.929 
45.4 
43.8 
40.8 
51.8 
40.6 
64.1 
34.6 
0.444 
RE U ARKS. 
22nd.—Damp and drizzly day ; moonlight night. 
23rd.—Dull early ; fine bright day. 
24th.—Fine and bright. 
25th.—Wet morning; line afternoon and evening. 
26th.—Cloudy, with occasional spots of rain. 
27tli.—Wet morning; fair afternoon, with a little snn. 
28th.—Dull and damp; bright for a short time In afternoon. 
Alt hough there was a little frost early on the 22nd, the rest of the week was extremely 
mild, and the average temperature of the week about equal to that usual in the middle of 
April—G. J. SYMONS. 
