40 
Elijah Perrin’s Statement. 
“We are feeding our breeding ewes this winter at the rate of four 
quarts of oats, and the same amount of potatoes, for twenty-five sheep, 
per day. We give them good shelter and what hay and water they will 
eat and drink, and usually feed them from racks made expressly for that 
« 
purpose. In the summer we let them have a good pasture, where they 
have free access to pure, fresh water. 
“We salt them twice a week. We tag them all in the spring, before 
turning them out to grass; and wash them well five or six days before 
shearing. After the fleeces are taken off we wash or dip them, lambs and 
all, in a solution of tobacco, which rids them entirely of ticks. 
“ In the winter, sheep should have a warm, dry place, in which ta 
shelter themselves from storms. Cold, sleety rains are much more in¬ 
jurious than the coldest winter weather, as they will sometimes remain 
wet for a number of days. Sheep when well housed during the winter 
will shear more wool, of a better quality, and require much less feed 
than those which are exposed to the inclemency of the weather. They 
should not be shorn until the season is sufficiently advanced to prevent 
their suffering from cold; and in all cases of storms, immediately after 
they have been shorn, they should be taken up and sheltered. 
“In regard to the different breeds of sheep, probably, for mutton 
alone, the South Downs, or some other coarse wooled breeds, would be 
preferable; but all things considered, I prefer the Spanish or French 
Merinos, as they are not so much inferior for mutton as they are superior 
for wool, and I think they can be kept with less expense, especially the 
Spanish. For breeding purposes, they should be from two to six years 
old, heavy quartered, round in the rib, broad in the chest, low in the 
brisket, legs short and rather large, neck thick, nose broad, wool thick,, 
long and fine. Such sheep, so far as my observation extends, keep the 
easiest—shear the heaviest fleeces—are least liable to disease, and conse¬ 
quently are the most profitable. 
“ I think it very essential that breeding ewes should be fed through 
the winter with some kind of culinary roots; potatoes, carrots, turnips or 
something of the kind, as it assists them very much in raising their 
young. It seems to be their nature to require something green as the;y 
will seldom eat much dry food when they can get to the ground. 
Elijah Perrin.” 
N 
