SHEEP FARMING. 
A Woman’s Side Of It. 
A good deal is being written and said lately about 
sheep raising in New England; about its rocky hill¬ 
sides being especially adapted to sheep and lambs, but 
while all this about the natural condition of the 
country is very true, yet there is something to be 
said about experience and the natural ability of the 
person if he succeeds in this, as well as in any other 
industry. Although real knowledge only comes from 
experience, yet we can all learn much from each other 
in regard to raising sheep, as well as other live stock. 
Much depends on the size and breed of your sheep. 
THe large breeds are much more profitable, as a sheep 
must weigh at least 60 pounds before he is marketable, 
and the younger he is when he reaches that size the 
.more profitable he is to his owner. So the first thing 
is to select your breed, 
and the next one to look 
after your fences. The 
little girl in the class in 
mental arithmetic, who 
was asked, “If there 
were seven sheep in the 
pasture and one jumped 
out, how many were 
left?” and answered, 
“None,” was surely a 
farmer’s daughter, and 
knew well that where 
one sheep went the 
others would follow, and 
if her youthful wisdom 
had gone far enough, 
she might have • added 
that the first thing neces¬ 
sary for pleasant and 
profitable sheep farming 
was good fences. Unruly 
sheep are the hardest of 
all animals to control. 
To be sure, anyone that 
can throw a stone can 
drive the m anywhere; 
but even the small boy 
who delights in throwing 
stones, grows weary of 
the sport when he is 
obliged to exercise his 
art continually to keep 
the sheep out of mischief. 
THe old pasture walls 
in New England are very 
poor fences for sheep. 
They form one of the 
greatest drawbacks to 
the industry, but they are very easily made sheep- 
proof if they are properly strung with barbed wire. 
Many of the old stone walls are “balance walls,” ready 
to lose their equilibrium the moment any weight is 
put upon them, and are usually not more than three 
feet high; but one single strand of barbed wire, 
placed about six inches out from the wall, and a 
little below its level, will stop the sheep from going 
over, for sheep do not incline to jump, rather climb 
up instead, and as soon as their fore-feet meet with 
an obstacle, like the wire, they fall back and will soon 
give up all attempts to get out. This single strand is 
of more service than two strands would be strung 
over the wall as is usually done to stop cattle from 
''getting out. Another excellent plan, if sheep are un¬ 
usually unruly, is to “poke” them, the same as cattle 
are poked, and this used in connection with the wire 
will soon break them of the jumping habit. 
I do not consider it a good plan to try to unite two 
strange flocks, as they will not readily run together; 
it is a far better plan to buy one flock, wont them to 
your pasture, and depend upon them for natural in¬ 
crease. A flock of 50 sheep kept in connection with 
a few good cows makes ideal stock for the small 
farmer, or for the man who has but few hands to help 
at milking time. The sheep will bring in two cash re¬ 
turns yearly, the wool and the lambs; while the cows 
return a monthly check that helps bear the everyday 
expenses. Sheep, properly fenced, are no trouble eight 
months of the year, and but little care during the four 
Winter months except at lambing time; then they 
must be carefully watched and tended, as the very 
young lamb is easily chilled, and unless it suckles at 
once it will soon die. And as January and February 
lambs bring the highest prices they ought to be 
dropped at that time of the year. Many times new- 
horn lambs have been' brought into the house ap¬ 
parently lifeless on a zero morning, but by quickly 
placing them in a warm bath, just warm enough to 
bear one’s naked elbow in, and holding the lambs in 
it, with their heads out of water, the body completely 
submerged, in many cases they will soon revive; then 
laying them on a warm -blanket and rubbing till dry 
will cause the little creatures soon to be up looking 
for nourishment, which usually means a bottle, as a 
ewe will seldom own a lamb that has been batbed. 
Although it means a good deal of work, yet it is much 
better to raise a few cosset lambs than greatly to re¬ 
duce your profits by losses that quick care would pre¬ 
vent. A good cosset lamb usually weighs several 
pounds more than those in the flock. One year I 
raised by hand three lambs; at four months “John” 
weighed 97 pounds, “Nan” S5 and “Mary” SO pounds. 
They were great pets with the whole family. John 
was taught to draw a cart like a goat, and would 
draw my three-year-old son around the neighborhood, 
with his little sister as driver. He was a very gentle 
and useful pet, and Nan and Mary became ancestors 
of a long line of profitable sheep. Care must be 
taken not to feed the young lambs too much, that is 
at first, but in a few days they will be able to eat all 
they wish, and will grow finely. I have used a calf 
meal porridge with the best results after a lamb was 
a month old in place of all milk. The cosset lamb is 
the very nicest pet a child can have, and if wonted 
with calves will never be any trouble; and any fence 
that will hold cows will hold sheep bred from cow- 
raised cossets. - 
Another trouble at lambing time is that young ewes 
are inclined to disown their young; this must not 
be allowed, for if they disown their first lambs they 
will ever after do the same. You must septrafe the 
wilful young mother from the flock and tie hci so that 
she will be obliged to stand for the lamb to suckle, 
or hold her still, if 
necessary, several times 
a day. I have bothered 
with them sometimes for 
a week before the y 
would suddenly decide 
to become the best of 
mothers. The care of 
sheep is pleasant work 
for a woman, and one 
that she can undertake 
with but small capital at 
first, and work up to a 
profitable business. S^e 
can care for them en¬ 
tirely herself and not 
find the . work either 
dirty or disagreeable, if 
she has a natural love 
for animals; and she 
will soon learn the 
meaning of those words: 
“My sheep know my 
voice,” for they will 
come at her call, but flee 
from the voice of the 
stranger. Again, sheep 
are profitable, if kept 
with cows on these 
rough pasture hills, for 
after the June feed is 
gone cows can no longer ( 
do well if left upon them, 
and nearly all farmers 
turn their cows on their 
fields that are to be 
broken up afterwards, 
and commence feeding 
for milk in midsummer; 
but the sheep will keep fat and will rear fine lambs 
on the tender grass they find in the “brush” that is 
menace to the New England pasture lands. 
We read much of the forcing feeding of lambs for 
early markets; this is all right, but the average hard¬ 
working farmer has not the means for doing this, hut 
he can begin to realize profits, in July or August, from 
his lambs that have never had any extra care in feed¬ 
ing, that will go a long way in keeping the mortgage 
off the farm; although the butcher will pay him but 
seven cents a pound and sell it out to him, later, at 
25, if he prefers to buy from him, rather than dress 
it off for himself. They will get along without any 
feed from the farmer, but a few quarts of corn fed 
daily in the feeding trough in the pasture will add 
greatly to their growth and also increase the profits. 
A generous supply of oats and corn must be fed in 
the Winter, and plenty of fresh water given to them 
each day. Coarse hay is eaten eagerly, sheep seem- 
CONTENTMENT IN THE SHEEP PASTURE. Fig. 497. 
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