APRIL 40 THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 2B7 
RURAL PRIZE ESSAY.— Class VIII. 
SHEEP.—THE BEST BREEDS AND HOW BEST TO 
FEED AND CARE FOR THEM. 
ELIAS HAND. 
No class of farm stock yields a better inte¬ 
rest on the outlay than a flock of sheep intelli¬ 
gently cared for, and there are few farms 
which would not be directly benefited by the 
intioduction of them. They are easily manag¬ 
ed, are first-rate fertilizing machines, good 
farm scavengers and yielders of two harvests 
annually. While the best results will be ob¬ 
tained on rolling uplands, they will thrive in 
low-lying districts, provided these be dry. The 
breeds that chiefly interest the average farmer 
are the Leicester, Cotswold, South Down, 
Shropshire, and Merino. 
BREEDS. 
The Leicester for early maturity excels 
all others, provided it gets what it likes. It is 
nothing uncommon for a shearling wether ta 
weigh *2:50 pounds. The meat, however, is too 
fat. The ewes are not prolific, and are rather 
scanty milkers. The lambs are delicate for 
the first month, but. once started, they make 
very rapid growth. The sheep yields a heavy 
fleece of coarse, long wool, commanding a low 
price. 
The Cotswold is the oldest authentic Eng¬ 
lish breed. The ewes average one-and-one- 
fourth lamb a year, are fairly good mothers, 
and great eaters. CotswohLs bold their wool 
weM and for a longer time than the Leiccsters. 
Their wool in quantity, quality, and price is 
much on a par with the Leicester. As mutton 
sheep, they are a little inferior to the Leices- 
ters in weight aud rapidity of maturiug; but 
distinctly superior to them in the quality of 
their meat. They are liable to suffer fiom 
rapid changesiu temperature, and, like the Lei- 
cesters, they will not thrive in large flocks; 
there should not bo more than 35 to 30 in one 
“ bunch.” 
The South Down, England's favorite mut¬ 
ton, is a breed difficult to overpraise. A flock 
will yield one-and-one-half lamb per ewe, the 
lambs coming strong, lively, aud able to look 
out for themselves. The ewes are excellent 
mothers and excellent milkers, yielding enough 
for two iambs. The South Down maintains a 
regularity or evenness of flesh better than any 
other breed, while iu hardiness and capacity 
to adapt itself to circumstances it is not sur¬ 
passed. It yields a fair-sized fleece of very 
fine, medium-long wool, which commands at 
least second-best price. Although a medium¬ 
sized sheep, the shearling wethers, properly 
cared for, weigh 100 pounds, aud the mutton 
will bring one ceut, per pound more than that 
of the long-wools. A larger flock can also be 
pastured together, for these sheep, though in¬ 
cessant eaters, are much livelier iu motion 
aud better foragers than the Leiccsters and 
Cotswolds. 
The Shropshire Down is a reliable breed¬ 
er and good mother, will average one-and- 
one-half lamb a year, and yields a close, 
heavy fleece of medium-long wool of fairly 
flue texture. It is a larger, leggier sheep than 
the South Down, but lias not such good fore¬ 
quarters. When extreme excellence of both 
meat and fleece is uot so much a desideratum 
as weight of both, then the Shropshire will 
lead the South Down. 
The Merino, as a wool-bearing sheep, stands 
pre-eminent ass well for the fineness as the felt¬ 
ing quality of its wool, which is likely always 
to command relatively a high price. As a 
mutton sheep it is nowhere, being small aud 
maturing slowly, while the mutton has a 
wooly, greasy flavor. It is best fitted for the 
great flocks of the Western ranches, where, 
on account of the cheapness of the laud, 
sheep can be bred at a profit for the value 
of the wool alone. A cross of a Cotswold 
on a Merino, is a sheep of considerable merit, 
haviug a carcass much heavier than that of 
the Merino, and yielding an exeellont fleece of 
combing wool, with n notable improvement iu 
the quality of the mutton. 
The common American ewe is usually a 
mixture of the loug and short wool breeds, 
aud among such sheep it is quite possible to 
pick out the nucleus of a flock, well wooled, 
roomy, and of good size, aud by crossing these 
for three generations with thoroughbred 
sires the result would be a flock of sufficiently 
fixed type for ull useful purposes. 
In sheep husbandry on lands of considerable 
value, meat should be the principal, and wool 
a secondary consideration. Combine the two 
if possible; but if they conflict, hold to the 
meat; there is an unlimited demand for it. 
The present outlook and the future prospect 
for wool and mutton promise the greatest pro¬ 
fit from medium animals, such as the pure 
Downs, or such animals as will be obtained by 
the crossing of Down sires on heavier mothers, 
and it is my decided opinion that the South 
Down will be found the most profitable for 
these purposes. An exception, however, should 
be made in favor of the long-wools where a 
specialty is made of selling early lambs weigh¬ 
ing 40 pounds when three months old. and for 
which $10 each may he obtained in the great 
cities; for, although a new-born South Down 
lamb is as heavy as any other, yet the Leices¬ 
ter or Cotswold lamb will outweigh it at the 
age of three months. For my part, I prefer to 
sell the male lambs as shearling wethers, and 
to keep the choicest females for breeding pur¬ 
poses; it is out of this latter class that gaps 
and imperfections in the flock are to be filled 
up and remedied. 
winter management. 
The shed should stand upon land naturally 
dry, or rendered so by draining, and face the 
south. Good ventilation is indispensable. It 
should open into a yard, and if I he exposure is a 
bleak one, a close board fence eight feet high 
will be needed. The door between the shed and 
yard ought to be wide, to avoid crowding the 
sheep, and free communication between the 
two should always be permitted, except in very 
severe storms. Sheep are unharmed by intense 
dry cold, but cold r mis are injurious. The 
hay-racks aud grain-troughs should be in tbe 
shed, so that the manure can be kept under 
cover as much as possible; shed and yard should 
be kept well bedded. When wethers consti¬ 
tute a portion of the flock, they should be kept 
separate from the ewes. 
Well cured clover hay is the best fodder, 
and maybe taken as the standard. Timothy, 
Red Top, and the meadow grasses are all 
readily eaten by sheep, but there is more 
waste with them than with clover. Pea 
straw is excellent fodder, much liked by 
sheep. Of fodder crops to be cut green and 
then cured, like hay. nothing beats peas aud 
oats sowed together. Every sheep - raiser 
should strive to grow a certain quantity of 
roots—either sugar beets or Swedes; no food, 
or combination of foods, has such a marked 
effect upon the well-being of a flock. To ewes, 
however, during the period of gestation, they 
should be fed sparingly—about five pounds 
daily; but after lamhing, they may be fed 
liberally. The ration of Swedes iu England for 
a full sized sheep, fed upon Swedes solely, is 
from 20 to 24 pounds daily. Roots should be 
sliced or. still better, pulped by a root-cutter, 
and in cold weather they should be taken 
from the cellar, cut, and fed at once to avoid 
freezing. Should ensilage fulfill the hopes of 
its advocates, it would form a valuable ad¬ 
junct in wintering sheep, and might supersede 
roots Whether roots are fed or not, a little 
grain should be giveu daily; from half-a- 
pound to a pound per head, of oats, corn, 
peas, or bran. The cost of this ration will be 
repaid in the enhanced value of the manure 
alone. There is no necessity for giving sheep 
grouud grain; but when sliced roots are fed, 
the ration of bran nr ground grain may be 
conveniently spread over, or slightly mixed 
with the roots to be given at mid-day. Hay 
is to be fed morning aud evening at such 
hours as to allow the sheep to do their eating 
in day-light. Punctuality in feed lag should be 
strictly observed, and as far as possible, the 
feed should bo given by the same attendant. 
The most convenient way of feeding is to 
turn all the occupants of the shed into the 
yard, shut the door, fill the racks or troughs 
equally, aud thou admit the animals. The 
“philosophy” of this will be appreciated by 
any one who attempts to distribute a pailful 
of grain iu a trough with, say, 20 sheep crowd¬ 
ing around him. Water must be supplied at 
least once a day. aud they should have free 
access to salt. A little tar occasionally mixed 
with their drinking water, is very wholesome. 
Take note of the feeding capacity of the indi¬ 
vidual sbeqpi and put a black mark against 
slow, mincing eaters, aud timid or untame- 
able ones. 
As the lambing season approaches, about 
the beginning of April, keep together only the 
ewes expected to lamb; go over these individu¬ 
ally,and with a pair of shears dip away all long 
or dirty wool which may be on or around the 
udder. Around the sides of the shed put np 
three or four temporary pens of sufficient, sizo 
to comfortably accommodate a sheep and two 
lambs. These can be made of empty barrels, 
with a heavy stone in the bottom of each to 
secure steadiness. When a ewe lambs, put 
mother aud lamb iu one of those pens for a 
couple of days, or until the lamb shows that it 
can find its mother, and its food readily,and see 
that it gets it. When it can do this, place the 
mother and lamb iu a separate part of the 
shed, which will ba receiving coustaut access¬ 
ions from the little pens. Some young sheep 
refuse to let their lambs suck, and iu such 
eases the ewe must be held until ^tho 
lamb does so. Start the milk to see that 
she has milk and that the teats are open. 
If she has no milk, of course she can’t raise a 
lamb, and the fault will usually be her own¬ 
er’s, who has fed her too scantily. The feed 
now must be a little more liberal. If there are 
no roots, feed bran, which is next best 
for inducing a flow of milk, and it is bet¬ 
ter if first scalded and then cooled. 
Lambs may be castrated, docked and 
marked, when three weeks old. These 
operations should be performed in favor¬ 
able weather, and should there be any 
danger of flies, a little tar should be applied 
to the wounds. 
summer management. 
Before turning tbe flock to pasture, each 
sheep should be well trimmed and tagged 
about the tail aud rump, and the closer this 
is done the better. As a slight guide to 
the amount of pasturage required, it may 
be stated that about six sheep will eat as much 
as one cow, the proportion depending, of 
course, on the size of the sheep and cow. They 
will also eat much that cattle would reject, in 
the shape of weeds, etc. Finer grasses gi ow 
where sheep have pastured; their close crop¬ 
ping induces lateral growth, and the gentle 
pressure of their feet consolidates the soil 
without poaching it,and a flue sward is formed. 
When just turned to grass, sheep will eat 
greedily, and as this has a relaxing effect, it 
is well to continue giving them a little dry 
grain for a few days, which will counteract 
this tendency. This is one of the strong 
points in favor of feeding roots to sheep dur¬ 
ing Winter, or even the latter part of that 
season, for they will then pass from hay to 
grass without such a ravenous desire for the 
latter. If only a limited supply of roots is on 
hand, they should be reserved for feeding till 
towards the opening of Spriug. When sheep 
are on pasture.they should have sufficient of it. 
Access to water they must have, and salt 
should be given them at least occasionally. 
This should uot be throwu on tbe ground to be 
licked up with quantities of earth; it should 
be given in a trough. The care-taker when 
he visits them, should take a little grain with 
him to keep them familiar. For the dog 
nuisance it is difficult to provide a remedy; 
the proper one would be such a dog-tax as 
would secure the annihilation of all curs and 
mongrels. Bells bung around the necks of a 
few of the sheep are a partial protection, but 
the hardened sbeep-killer ,l cares for none of 
these things,” and is impervious to any argu¬ 
ment short of a shot-gun. If the flock is 
trained to come to the barn at night, they 
will be safe. 
Lambs may be weaned when from four to 
five months old. They and their mothers 
should be separated, an l placed in lots out of 
sight of each other, and along with the young 
things should be put three or four wethers or 
dry ewes to keep them tame. They should 
have good pasture and a little grain daily, 
whereas the ewes should lie temporarily 
stinted for the purpose of drying up their 
milk. Shearing time will, however, have 
arrived ere this, when the flock should first be 
passed in review and dirty locks of wool be 
cut off; then the sheep should be washed, aud 
iu four or five days, or as soon as the wool is 
dry, they may be sheared. 
Just ns loug as wool buyers discriminate 
against unwashed wool to the extent of one- 
third of the weight of a fleece, it will pay to 
wash the sheep as the weight is not lessened 
to that extent in washing the wool. Sheep- 
washing is not such a dreadful undertaking as 
many imagine; four men—two in the water 
and two to hand the sheep from the pen—will 
easily wash 50 sheep in a forenoon. The pool 
should be deep enough to take the sheep off 
its feet, and have a shelviug, gravelly bank 
where the dripping animal can regain the 
land. Washed sheep should be sheared on 
grass to keep the wool clean, the accessories 
being a peu to inclose the sheep, and a rough 
table on which to roll np the wool. Notice 
should be taken of the quantity aud quality of 
the wool of individual sheep for future guid¬ 
ance. If “ ticks” are uumerous on sheep 
or lambs, they are very harmful, and both 
should be dipped immediately or soon after 
shearing in a preparation which will destroy 
the pests—a decoction of tobuceo with a little 
sulphur added is as good as anything. The 
lambs should be sheared iu August. This is 
un innovation on the custom of this country, 
but it will be found to have a good effect on 
their growth, and before the arrival of Win. 
ter they will have acquired a fresh fleece quite 
sufficient to protect them. 
The ram should be removed from tbe flock 
in August, and returned at such time as may¬ 
be suitable for the advent of the lambs at the 
desired period. Particular attention should 
be paid to the securing of a thoroughbred 
ram possessing good qualities, as upon bis ex¬ 
cellence will largely depend the future value 
of the flock, and he should be changed every 
two years to avoid in-and-in breeding. 
Finally, sheep management involves the recog¬ 
nition of a number of details, each one of 
which may in itself be comparatively trivial, 
bu'; the performance or neglect of which con¬ 
stitutes the difference between a flock success¬ 
fully, or disastrously managed. 
In renovating worn-out lauds sheep may play 
a very important part, provided green crops 
are grown on the lands, to be consumed there¬ 
on by sheep inclosed on plot after plot by mov. 
able burdlps; for as they feed they enrich the 
soil with their well scattered droppings. Roots 
can never form as important a factor in sheep¬ 
raising and crop rotation here as in England, 
where a large proportion of the acreage of each 
farm is devoted to turnips, to be fed off on the 
land by sheep, together with some grain. 
Thus sheep are fattened and the laud is ma¬ 
nured aud prepared for wheat or barley. 
This cannot be done here, for even if roots 
could be grown as successfully as in England, 
they wonld be frozen fast in the ground just 
at the time they would be most wanted. But 
though roots cannot, green fodder crops can 
be grown, and it is to these, in connection with 
sheep, that the farmer should trust for the 
restoration of the fertility of much of his land. 
It must be understood, however, that this 
plan is simply a means to an end. that end 
being the capacity of the land to grow clover. 
Land that will grow good crops of clover will 
grow, or can be made to grow, anything. 
Suppose, for instance, the case of a man who, 
in the Fall, has six acres of land too poor to 
hear seeding down, aud who is without manure 
sufficient to put it in such condition, and who 
is also possessed of 5 > sheep: let him plow up 
that land, put it in as good shape as 
posible, and sow thickly with winter 
rye, and let him provide himself during Win¬ 
ter with 100 rods of hurdles—less or more— 
which he can make himself, if need be. It 
will be extraordinarily poor land which will 
not yield a crop of rye sufficient for his pur¬ 
pose. In Spring, when the rye is about five 
inches high—which should be early in May— 
let him inclose with his hurdles half an acre, 
and turn in his sheep; in addition to the rye, 
he must feed daily half a pound of grain per 
bead, to enrich the manure, and for this he 
will be well repaid by the extra flesh put 
upon his sheep as well as by the fertilization 
of his land. The best food for this purpose is 
one which contains a lartje proportion of oil 
for fattening, and also of nitrogen. An excel¬ 
lent ration would be a quarter of a pound 
each, of linseed oil-cake aud bran. Each day 
he should move his sheep to a fresh half-acre, 
by resetting the hurdles, a task which need 
not occupy over half an hour. In this way 
he will go over the whole six acres in 12 days, 
and by the time the last half acre is fed off, 
the first will be ready to be repastured. The 
rye, being cropped before the seed panicle 
Is formed, will grow rapidly after each succes¬ 
sive cropping, the more so as it is receiving 
coustant accessions of manure. 
Six acres of well rooted winter rye, with 
the aoove-mentioned amount of grain, will 
support, in good condition, a flock of 50 sheep, 
and the laud will be left in such an improved 
condition that it mav be sowed in the Fall to 
wheat and seeded to grass, with clover added 
in the Spring, and with every prospect of good 
results. Should the land, however, be so 
utterly worn out that even a moderate crop of 
rye cannot be looked for, then it must be sown 
in the Spring very thickly with oats or peas, 
or peas aud oats mixed (two bushels of the 
former and one of the latter), which will pro¬ 
duce at least some small growth, and these are 
to be supplemented by similar fodder crops 
growu for the purpose on the other parts of 
the farm, aud brought by wagon to the worn- 
out field, and there fed in racks, with the grain 
ration added. 
There are several other green crops which 
may be growu in the same manner, such as 
vetches, millet and rape, all of which will 
bear successive croppings, care being taken 
that they are not eaten down to the bare 
ground. All lands, therefore, which will bear 
moderate crops of such cereals, may be highly 
fertilized by feeding them off upon the land 
on which they grow. 
Houghton Farm, Orange Co., N. Y. 
Ctletanj. 
BOOK NOTICES. 
Man a Creative First Cause. Rowland 
G. Hazard, LL. D. Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 
Two discourses delivered by the author, at 
Concord, Mass. 
Health in the Household; or, Hygienic 
Cookery. By Susanna "IV. Dodds, M D. 
I’rice, $2. Fowler & Wells, Publishers, 753 
Broadway, New York. The author is evi¬ 
dently enthusiastic in her work; she desires to 
teach her housekeeping readers tbe principles 
