184 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
SAXON RAM —(Copied from Youatt.) 
SHEEP HUSBANDRY. 
At the fifth Agricultural Meeting, held in this city, the 
subject of sheep husbandry was under discussion. We 
give, from our notes, the remarks of Dr. Beekman of 
Columbia county, President of the State Ag. Socity. 
Dr. Beeicman, in reply to the call made upon him by 
Mr. Nott, proceeded to give his views on sheep husband-; 
ry—views deduced from his management of considerable! 
flocks, in connection with other farming, for a series of j 
years. In giving his views on those subjects, said the| 
President, the last speaker commenced by observing that' 
in some things he might be pronounced heterodox; but 
he has given us a clear and succinct history of his prac-j 
tice, and in most of his remarks I thought him orthodox, j 
His heterodoxy, if I may apply that term to a difference 
in practice on these matters, may, in my opinion, be | 
found in two or three points. First, he turns his sheep 
into woody pastures—I mine into open ones; because ij 
had learned that one blade of grass grown in the sun has 
the nutrition in it of five grown in the shade. Second, ! 
he keeps his buck with the sheep during the entire year 
—I mine only during the month of December; because 
my experience has taught me that lambs coming in May 
give the least trouble, and to me are the most profitable. 
I have endeavored to obtain them at an earlier season; 
but although I have tried warm sheds and succulent food, 
success has not induced me to repeat the effort—on the 
contrary, the practice has been attended with unnecessa¬ 
ry expense, and some losses in lambs. But the qualities 
of our sheep, and of course their constitutions, are differ¬ 
ent; his are the South-down, which are hardy—mine the 
Saxon, which are of more tender constitutions. Third, 
he shears his sheep early—I mine late. And, while on! 
the subject of shearing, permit me to say that is of great 
importance to the farmer to employ none but the best 
shearers; for if he does, they will leave twice as much 
wool on the sheep as will pay for the shearing. I have 
made several experiments towards ascertaining this fact 
—both in having some of my own re-sheared, and caus¬ 
ing others to do it; and in several instances they have 
been enabled to obtain, at a second shearing, from four to 
eight ounces of additional wool. 
My sheep, (said Mr. B.,) while running in the pas¬ 
tures in summer, are sorted as to size, sex and condition. 
I find it an advantage for them to be uniform in all these, 
and to have the flocks as small as is consistent with their 
number and the size of the yards and farm. Our farmers 
"will find it much to their profit to keep as many sheep 
without crowding as their farms can well support. Even 
the grain farms are much benefitled by this practice, and 
experience has taught that by this practice they can raise 
more grain in consequence, as sheep manure is of great 
service in enriching their farms. This truth has been 
strikingly illustrated in my neighborhood, where a farm¬ 
er who was slow to adopt this practice, ultimately be¬ 
came aware of its correctness, and a test of ten years’ ex¬ 
perience has taught him that upon the same tract of land 
in that time he has nearly doubled his product, as he has 
certainly his estate. On a grain farm tolerably adapted 
j to grass, it is perfectly easy to keep one sheep per acre; 
and upon what is called a grass farm, where the raising 
of grain is a secondary object, two sheep can be kept per 
'acre. When shelter is provided for them in winter, 
which ought always to be the case, I find that one hun- 
jdred sheep, if they are moderately littered, will make 
j forty loads of manure. No quality of it can be finer; and 
a poor, worn-out clay pasture lot, not too profusely cov¬ 
ered with it and summer fallowed, will give, the suc¬ 
ceeding season, a good crop of wheat. I find if I put on 
too much of this kind of manure to the acre, it yields too 
much straw in proportion to the grain. It is likewise 
most excellent to renovate old meadows, and as a ma¬ 
nure ranks much higher than common barn-yard. The 
summer run of sheep, likewise, is essentially beneficial 
to a succeeding crop of grain on a fallow; and no farmer 
who has in view his own profit and the improvement of 
his farm, can so easily effect his purpose with any other 
kind of stock. I have already recommended sheep to be 
sheltered in winter. I must say that it is not only useful 
against storms, but against cold and the winds. To guard 
effectually against these, as soon as the snow falls, I 
have it thrown up and piled against the side ot the hov¬ 
els, as high as it can easily be done, as I find it renders 
the shed much warmer. For sheep in poor condition, 
warmth in winter is essential; and if they can be entire¬ 
ly sheltered from all the winds, it will prevent much 
mortality among them. Fat sheep do not feel the cold so 
sensibly, but all will run for shelter in a storm, if it can 
be obtained. Another subject as regards sheep husband¬ 
ry I will touch upon, and that is, watering them in win¬ 
ter when fed on hay. An opinion used formerly to pre¬ 
vail, that sheep did not require to be watered in the win¬ 
ter—that if they could'get at snow it would be sufficient. 
This, I am satisfied by the best of all possible authorities 
(experience,) is wrong. They require it twice a day, 
as regularly as any other animal. I will relate this fact. 
I confined about one hundred wethers in a lot, where 
they were t© be kept for the winter; they had shelter and 
hay for food, but could not obtain water, except as it fell 
in rains. I noticed, after being so confined a few weeks, 
that they lessened in flesh. In a week’s time more 1 
