318 
THOMAS WALLEY. 
diffusion of fresh blood is a good thing in more senses than one, 
and he who neglects Nature's demands in this respect must be 
prepared to pay the penalty. A plan adopted by Mr. Fletcher 
Menzies is, I think, an exceedingly simple and good one. It is 
based on the well-known fact that sheep depastured on large 
tracts of land do not wander very far a-field, but coniine them¬ 
selves to comparatively limited areas; and consists in shifting the 
rams to fresh tracts every two or three years; thus, given three 
rams placed at three different points one year, they are so inter¬ 
changed in location each succeeding year that at the end of the 
third year each section of the flock has been served by a different 
ram. 
Exhaustion of Males .—In no case should a ram be asked to 
do more than he is capable of doing in this respect, for if he is 
overtaxed the breeder must be prepared for the consequences in 
the shape of uncertain crops and weakly lambs. 
Exposure to cold and wet is both a predisposing and exciting 
cause of disease ; and of all the different kinds of cold, that de¬ 
pendent upon east winds is the most depressing to animals, 
and the most inimical to the growth of vegetables : of the east 
wind it may be said, that 
Desiccate itself, 
It shrivels up and dries the membranes, 
Drives back the stream of blood 
And blanches hand and cheek 
Of all who are exposed 
Unto its baneful power. 
Extended is its influence 
E’en to vegetation. The young 
Green shoots in one short night 
A.re withered, crisped and browned, 
Till not a semblance lives 
Of their identity. 
Yes, this is one of the banes of the flockmaster and the most 
disheartening of foes to the shepherd who has in the early spring 
been watching the growth of the ynung grass in some specially 
favored spot and has been calculating what a nice bite he will 
shortly have for his lambs and ewes ; but, too often in one short 
night his hopes are dissipated, and in place of seeing his lambs 
