602 
MANUAL OF MODERN FARRIERY 
FATTENING. 
Various methods have been adopted to force the feeding 
of sheep; among these may be particularly mentioned oil¬ 
cake, in addition to the ordinary food, half a cake being 
given daily. But hay, bran, chaff, and corn have all a ten¬ 
dency to fatten, and of the latter two or three pounds may 
be given daily, with advantage. The cake, corn, and chaff 
should be given in troughs, and the hay in racks, which 
may be placed over the troughs as a roof to keep the cake 
from being soaked with rain. Boiled potatoes are also a 
food which sheep are fond of, and well adapted for feeding 
them. From eighteen to twenty pounds of turnips are 
required daily for each sheep. Barleymeal has also been 
successfully used in feeding, as well as pease and beans 
and meal made from them. These last two are the most 
nutritious of all food; and it will be found advan¬ 
tageous to have a piece of rich land for the final stages oi 
feeding. 
On the subject of fattening there has been considerable 
diversity of opinion, but much depends upon the particular 
locality; for what may answer well in one place, may not 
prove effectual in another. 
CHAPTER VII. 
DIFFERENT BREEDS OF SHEEP. 
The introduction of the Merino sheep has done much to 
improve the different breeds of British sheep. And in 
