SALVING OF SHEEP. 
warrants us in believing that hillssheep could 
be maintained in condition, and that without 
smearing, though some application at stated 
times seems necessary to destroy the vermin on 
sheep. Indeed, we are convinced, that were this 
plan but partially adopted at first, it would soon 
show the practicability of maintaining finer 
woolled sheep upon our mountain-pastures, and 
of their superseding the coarse-woolled variety 
altogether. 
“But until these changes are effected, and 
they will be some day we have no doubt, smear- 
ing, we suppose, must be persevered in; and the 
question that most concerns us in the mean sea- 
son is, what is the best sort of salve for sheep, 
that is to say, what sort of salve will best pro- 
tect sheep from the chilling effects of rain and 
snow,—which will most easily destroy the vermin 
on sheep,—and which will best encourage the 
growth of wool, and at the same time preserve 
it in a soft state, and free from all stain? To 
ascertain these important points, the Highland 
and Agricultural Society has offered a premium 
for the best account of a comparative trial of 
two kinds of salve,—first, one made of crude 
white arsenic, butter, soap, turpentine, &c.; and, 
second, another of white tar, which is common 
tar, deprived of its colouring matter, and cocoa- 
nut oil, mixed in the proportion of common tar 
and butter. We believe that favourable accounts 
- of the safe application of both these salves have 
been received by the Society. For our parts, 
we have so utter an antipathy to the use of 
arsenic, in any shape, about a farm-steading,— 
and the precautions advised to be adopted in the 
use of it, to prevent its entering the eyes, ears, 
and mouth of sheep, show there is danger in 
using it,—that we would not use it, nor advise 
any one to use it, on any account, however bene- 
ficial its effects may be proved to have been; 
and besides, we are not satisfied, on the common 
sense view of the thing, that the application of 
any mineral substance can be beneficial to wool, 
however it may preserve or even improve its 
natural colour. With regard to the white tar- 
salve, we have heard from extensive store-mas- 
ters, that though it keeps the wool free of dis- 
coloration, and in this respect is superior to the 
common tar, the wool gives a very light clip 
wherever it is used.” 
“All the European tars, especially that from 
Norway,” says Mr. Hogg of Stobohope, “have been 
remarkable for their blackness, strength, and 
drossiness. This last adjunct is not discernible 
till the finer and more soluble part of the tar 
has, along with the greasy part of the mixture, 
and by the heat of the animal’s body, been dif- 
fused round the carcass. It then appears in a 
clammy, clotted condition among the wool, where 
it rests till spring. The heat of the season now 
dries it into a mouldering state; and it is prin- 
cipally this tarry dreg which gives that zone of 
pollution to the fleece for which tarry wool is so 
much hated. But this dirty sediment, though 
detestable in its final consequences, is the main 
material which closes the wool, and keeps it firm 
and compact round the animal in the greatest 
tempest, When the American tar began to be 
used, it was whiter, milder, and softer, not so 
searching for the constitution, and far more free 
from sediment than that from the north of 
Europe; but just as the store-master was about 
to make this tar the basis of a smearing com- 
position, the country was all at once inundated 
with white new salves, sundry of them contain- 
ing no ingredient which could be serviceable 
either for sheep or wool. The materials of others 
were purposely kept a secret, the inventor per- 
suading himself he would make a fortune by the 
discovery; but, alas! they have scarcely main- 
tained a character for one year. Yet there is 
no want of a new supply; for, like the many- 
headed hydra, no sooner is one dismissed as use- 
less, than another starts up in its place, generally 
with some epithet in its designation expressive 
of superiority. * * * Except with the exces- 
sively parsimonious or careless store-master, the 
new, white, cold mixtures never can come into 
use as salves for smearing. With the former, 
the cheapness of the materials and the facility 
with which they can be applied, will, no doubt, 
be an inducement for their continuation; with 
the latter, that natural apathy or sluggishness, 
which disposes to neglect other improvements, 
will also induce him to disregard this; but by 
the judicious, the active, and the anxious store- 
master, they cannot be long employed in the 
form in which they are at this time presented. 
Every one of them, without exception, is desti- 
tute of any ingredient, or at least contains it in 
very small quantity, which is calculated to close 
the fleece previous to the setting in of winter; 
and the principal benefit derived from smearing 
is keeping the animal warm and comfortable 
during the rigours of that season. To make this 
more obvious to the inattentive farmer, I may 
observe that nature does a great deal in furnish- 
ing the animal with wool preparatory to the 
setting in of winter. It grows in that direction, 
and in the appropriate quantity, where the 
wearer needs it most for defence and clothing ; 
and each pile of wool, as it grows (at least in a 
thriving sheep), is anointed with an unctuous 
oily secretion, which holds every fibre of wool 
in its place and beside its fellows. This natural 
cement is sufficient to throw aside the rains and 
mists which, through summer, visit all alpine 
pastures; but, for the snow drift, incessant rains, 
and tempests of winter, it is insufficient as a de- 
fence ; and the artificial unguent, composed and 
applied by man, comes to its assistance. This 
extinguishes the natural oil; and, by impercep- 
tible advances, at least if a sheep is rightly 
smeared, creeps to the top of every pile of wood ; 
and, if it have not some tenacity in its composi- 
tion, it is good for nothing—nay, it is worse ; it 
