148 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
THE CULTIVATOR-FEB. 1835. 
TO IMPROVE THE SOIL ANI) THE MIND. 
WINTERING SHEEP. 
In December flocks of sheep require a little of our time and atten¬ 
tion ; if these are bestowed, with subsequent ordinary care, sheep 
will commonly pass through the winter with trifling- loss and much 
to our advantage. For want of attention in the commencement of 
winter I have seen large flocks nearly lost during its course, which 
might have been saved with a little previous care. But when it did 
occur, you could not convince their owners that it was their bad 
management, as they had made up their minds to impute it solely to 
their bad luck. It is always the best policy for the farmer to have 
his sheep in good condition when they begin the winter, and then 
they are sure to go well through it. If however they are permitted 
to enter it poor and light—good provender and a regular supply of 
it, which is the best that can then be done, although it may save the 
lives of some, will not carry them prosperously through it. The 
foundation of our loss of sheep in winter is laid during the season of 
pasturing, for the experience of every farmer will teach him that on¬ 
ly give them enough to eat during the summer, the natural effect 
will be that they will put on flesh ; and a sheep in good condition is 
easily and safely wintered, whilst it is a most difficult job to carry a 
poor sheep safe through the winter. It is wrong to permit them to 
ramble over the fields later than about the first of December, because 
at that time there is little nutriment in the scanty herbage on which 
they feed, and the blade of grass had better remain on the stem to 
protect it during the frosts and winds of winter, and prepare it for 
an early and vigorous growth in the spring; besides, as the supply 
to the animal is small, and innutritious, there is great danger that 
there will be a falling off in its flesh, which it can illy spare, and 
which to its subsequent existence it is so necessary it should now 
retain. I have frequently thought that an open December, which 
is often wished for by the farmer to save his winter supply of hay, is 
more prejudicial to his sheep, when they ramble over the fields, and 
to his own interest, than he is generally aware of. It would cer¬ 
tainly comport more with real economy, if he were to bring up his 
sheep by the 10th or at farthest the 15th of this month, into winter 
quarters, even if the weather should remain warm and the ground 
uncovered ; for if they lose flesh at this time, they cannot regain it 
until spring, and the mortality which sometimes costs almost entire 
flocks is imputable in a measure to this cause. 
Sheep in winter should have sheds; the preservation of their 
health requires this indulgence, and nature prompts to it. Let me 
ask, if they have the choice, do they remain in the open air in a 
storm? No, they as instinctively run to their covering as a man 
does to his house, and if they do not require it quite as much, they 
appear quite as well for the shelter. For a flock of poor sheep a 
protection from the weather is all important. Those in good condi¬ 
tion do not as much want it, as they have a better coat both of flesh 
and wool; but for them it is likewise useful, and a good farmer will 
not omit to give all the requisite shelter. In those countries in Eu¬ 
rope which grow large quantities of the finest wool, they find it in¬ 
dispensable to the attainment of their object, that is fine wool, that 
their sheep are sheltered from storms both summer and winter, 
and they have made their arrangements accordingly, for they herd 
them every night and narrowly watch the indications of the weather 
during the day. They say that rain and snow give a hardness and 
coarseness to the wool which they can obviate by a sufficiency of 
shelter. But to our subject; as soon as sheep are brought in to the 
yard for winter, the different kinds of lambs, ewes, and wethers 
should be carefully separated and kept apart. It is important thal 
those in one yard should be as nearly of a size as practicable ; for by 
being so, there are no strong ones among them, to drive the weaker 
from their provender. All will then feed alike and do well. The 
flocks ought likewise to be as small as we can conveniently make 
them. It is an invariable rule that a small flock does much better 
than a large one, even if both, according to their number, are fed 
equally well. If the flocks in each yard can be reduced to between 
fifty and one hundred, so much the better; and it is a great deside¬ 
ratum to make them as few as fifty if it can in any way be effected 
It is also necessary to have a separate yard for old and poor sheep, 
and if there are any in the flock that do not subsequently do well 
they 8hould.be removed into what is commonly called the hospital. 
These hospital sheep, by being few in number, having a good warm 
shed, a sheaf of oats, or a few screenings from under the fanning 
mill, once a day, will soon begin to improve. I have had my hospi¬ 
tal sheep in a better condition with this care by spring than any 
other flock, and I must say that for the last three seasons, my sheep 
were in better condition when I turned them out of my yards in the 
spring, than when I put them there in the beginning of winter. 
Sheep ought to be rather sparingly than sumptuously fed, three times 
a day, and out of racks, to prevent them from running over and 
trampling on the hay. As soon as one is seen in any of the flocks 
to become thin, it ought to be removed at once into the hospital 
where it will be better fed. If you neglect to do this it will soon be 
too late, and you will suffer loss; for a sheep once reduced to a cer¬ 
tain point cannot be recovered. It is of service to give them a feed¬ 
ing of straw, or pine tops, if you please ; for it invigorates their health 
and makes a change in their food. They ought all to be daily wa¬ 
tered, and if your hay has not been salted, to have a lick of salt ac- 
casionally. The opinion that sheep do not want water is erroneous ; 
repeated observation has convinced me that it is almost as indispen¬ 
sable to their welfare as their food, and the sooner farmers get rid 
of this notion the better for both their interests and understanding. 
I have tried the experiment of keeping sheep without water in con¬ 
formity with this improper custom so often and thoroughly, that I 
have come to the conclusion that the only safe rule is the opposite 
one. I could repeat the several occasions when I have acted upon 
this plan for my own information, were it necessary, but I only add 
that the result in my hands was invariable, that is, my sheep grew 
thin, as it was, that they immediately improved when I adopted an 
opposite practice. With this care you will save all your sheep ; or 
not lose more of them than you would of the same number of horses 
and cattle. They will have no disease among them. I have often 
thought of an observation, made to me by an experienced wool- 
grower from whom I once asked for information of the diseases of 
sheep; he answered, “ What have you to do with the diseases of 
sheep? take care of them and you wdl have no need for remedies.” 
This observation struck me as strange at the time, but subsequent 
experience has amply confirmed it. And now, what will the farmer 
gain by keeping his sheep well ? In the first place, he will save his 
hay, a fat sheep will not eat so much as a poor one ; he will save all 
his grain—sheep in good condition do not require any. In the next 
place, he will save all his sheep—he will have more and better lambs 
in the spring, besides several ounces more of wool to each sheep; 
and what is better than all the rest, he will in the end save himself 
loss and anxiety. The saving will at least be from one-eighth to 
one-fourth of the value of his flock, and all this attending to a ne¬ 
cessary work in due season. A. 
UNFERMENTED MANURES. 
We are decidedly in favor of applying manures, in farm culture, 
in an unfermented, or partially fermented state whenever it can be 
conveniently done, for the reason, that the manure of the farm yard, 
when thus applied, goes twice as far in enriching the soil, as it will 
if not applied till after it has become completely rotted. The gases 
which rise from the fermenting mass, and which are dissipated by 
the winds,—and the liquids which flow from the dung, are as much 
the food of plants, as the black carbonaceous matter which remains 
after fermentation. Besides, the very process of fermentation, after 
the manure is buried in the field, imparts a genial warmth to the soil, 
and renders it porous and more permeable to the salutary influence 
of the sun and atmosphere. But there is one important point which 
should by no means be lost sight of:— long manure should never be 
applied directly to the small grains , or crops which are cultivated exclu¬ 
sively for their seeds,—but to hoed crops, and such as are cultivated more 
particularly on account of their stems, stalks or roots. The matters 
first given off in fermentation seem particularly adapted to cause a 
rank growth of stalk, which is rather inauspicious to a great product 
of perfect seed. The cow that takes on flesh rapidly cannot at the 
same time be a good milker, because the food which she takes cannot 
be converted both into flesh and into milk. The luxuriant growing 
fruit tree, with straight upright branches, will not give a heavy bur¬ 
den of fruit—because the food required to nourish and mature the 
fruit, is converted into wood; and hence artificial means are adopt¬ 
ed to check the growth of wood, by transplanting, training the limbs 
horizontally, ring-barking, grafting on dwarf stocks, &c. to induce 
early bearing, or an increase of fruit. So with farm crops, cultivat¬ 
ed for their seeds—a too luxuriant growth of stock lessens the quan¬ 
tity, and depreciates the quality of the seed. The gases which es- 
