VETERINARY JURISPRUDENCE. 
7 45 
shepherd of plaintiff, that I113 master was killing the sheep for the bene¬ 
fit of his own land. The lambs were close-folded at the time, which 
always caused a bad cough. The land was very clayey. 
His Lordship .—There is clay on one side of the road and chalk on the 
other, for I happen to know the district. 
Witness continued.—The only fodder they had at night was oat straw, 
which was the worst thing they could have to eat. He complained to 
the shepherd about this, but Mr. Stevens was not at home; he came to 
Mr. Horsey’s after him. Plaintiff said the sheep had the same complaint 
as those last year, to which witness replied, “ Then the year before it 
was not your fault; but this year I can prove that they were sound and 
honest sheep. 5 ’ He asked witness to take them away, to which he 
(witness) answered that it was no use, when Mr. Stevens walked away, 
and said no more then. Witness also told the shepherd that the sheep 
ought to have some hay, but the man said his master would not allow 
him to give them any of it from the stack. Witness went to the farm 
two or three times; the last time there was only a boy with them. 
They had then eaten the turnips all up. He should think the lambs 
were then not worth more than 13s. or 14s. per head; he thought the 
loss of so many of the lambs and their bad condition was owing to bad 
management, as he had described. 
Cross-examined.—Those that died the year before had “the marsh 
disease,” or had got worms in the throat. They were in bad condition when 
Mr. Stevens took them, and therefore their deaths were caused by no fault 
of his. When he first saw the lambs of Mr. Rigden’s they were on the 
common, and they then looked capitally. Had not examined any of the 
carcases, but was told that they had got worms in them . 
Mr. Henry Ridgen, the defendant, stated that he farmed about 900 
acres of land, near Romney Marsh, in Kent. Had during the last 
twenty years had plenty of lambs. Never bred less than 1000 or 1200 
every year. The marsh (near where he lived) would not do for lambs 
in the winter, and he was in the habit of putting them out at different 
farmers. The lambs sent to Mr. Stevens were good, sound, and healthy 
lambs. Other lambs of the same kind were sent to as many as fifteen 
or sixteen different people. The others came back in excellent condi¬ 
tion. The loss in each case did not exceed more than three per cent., 
which was very low indeed. He had seen the 180 lambs at Godstone on 
their way to Mr. Stevens’s, and they then appeared in good condition. 
On the 24th of January he had seen the lambs on the common, when 
he told the shepherd that the lambs were starved, as if they had worms 
they would cough; to which Mr. Stevens answered that they coughed 
at night and not in the day. He told Mr. Stevens that as the lambs 
were of no use to him in their present state, he had better keep them 
himself. On the 23d of February defendant and a Mr. Bates from 
Romney Marsh went again to Mr. Stevens, and saw the lambs were 
very closely folded, and complained to the shepherd, who said he had 
told his master so, but he would not buy any more hurdles. That mode 
of treatment, in his opinion, was highly improper. The reason he did 
not take the lambs away then was, because he had no room for them at 
home. He did not see the lambs again until they came home in April 
following. They were in such a weakly state that some died in coming 
home, and the others (about 117) were the worst he ever saw in his life. 
They had evidently been starved. The lambs sent to the other places 
came home perfectly well. Some died after they came from Mr. 
Stevens’s; he had examined them after death, and found that not one 
was afflicted with worms; indeed, there was no other sign than that of 
