aaa 
part of the ribs, and all the back, from the tail 
to the back of the neck. The best plan is to se- 
lect a sheep from the flock, of an average size, 
and measure the quantity of cloth required for 
it. When the cloth has been applied to the ani- 
mal, and its proper dimensions ascertained, the 
parts should then be marked to which the dif- 
ferent straps and strings are to be sewed to hold 
it in its proper place. A strap must then be 
fixed to one of the front corners, in a diagonal 
direction, soas to pass beneath the throat, and 
sewed to the other corner after it is put on, in 
the same way as the other straps which are in- 
intended to pass through beneath the legs ; 
these must be sewed only at the one end, till the 
covering be put upon the sheep, and then the 
other end can be sewed so as to make the brat fit. 
These straps should be of some soft material, 
that they may not chafe or injure the skin when 
the sheep isin motion. If, when made, the brats 
are dipped in coal tar, it will enable them the 
better to resist the wet, and prevent them rot- 
ting. If taken care of, they will answer the end 
for five seasons. They ought to be made early 
in summer, in order that the tar may be dried 
before the time of using them arrives in Novem- 
ber. They ought not to remain on the sheep 
any longer than the beginning or middle of April, 
according to the state of the weather and the 
condition of the flock at the time. We recom- 
mend that considerable care should be bestowed 
in attaching the strings to the proper places in 
the one first made, so that it may fit well, as it 
is to serve as a pattern to make the others by. 
A person who is accustomed to the use of the 
needle will make one in five minutes, and it may 
be put on in less than other five. A brat of wool- 
len cloth with the string will not cost more than 
5d. ; and one of the flaxen ones about 3$d.; but 
the former will last longer and answer the 
end better. In order to prevent them being 
stolen, and to enable the shepherd to distinguish 
the flock under his charge, they should be all 
marked with the buisting iron dipped in white 
paint. Some days before the brats are put on 
| for the winter, the sheep must be poured with 
some one or other of the bathing mixtures to 
destroy vermin. Some days after this process, 
when the wool has regained its usual appearance, 
the brats should be put on; and the mode in 
which we recommend this to be done completely 
obviates the inconveniences arising from the me- 
thod which has hitherto been practised of sewing 
it to the wool; for it will be observed that it is 
wholly attached to the body, and not to the wool, 
and it therefore pussesses this decided advantage 
over the old method, that it cannot be rubbed 
off, while, at the same time, it preserves the 
wool from being so, in case of the pile getting 
weak from disease or from low condition. When 
the brat is taken off in April, the wool will be 
found to have retained the yolk, and will appear 
quite yellow. When examined, it will be per- 
SHEEP. 
201 
ceived to be sappy and sound, and quite free 
from the defect that wool staplers call hasky and 
pinnay, (7. e. dry and brittle,) which occasions 
much loss in the manufacture. When washed, 
its natural whiteness is quite unimpaired, we 
would even say increased, from the soap which 
had been used in pouring, and the yolk which 
is retained.” 
The choice and encouragement of a self-pro- 
tecting fleece is only ancillary to other means of 
protection in cold and exposed districts, but is 
of very considerable value in such, and serves as 
a complete means in low or comparatively 
warm and genial districts. “ Of the varieties of 
fleece which are preferred,” says Mr. MacTurk, 
“we shall notice first the long, loose, open, lingly 
fleece which has been gaining ground for the 
last ten years ; and, next, the close fleece, which, 
20 years ago, was more generally in request. 
The only advantage which the former descrip- 
tion of fleece possesses over the latter is, that it 
gives the animal a more showy and bulky ap- 
pearance, particularly in dry weather, when the 
piles are tossed about by the wind; but when 
wet it does not possess even this slight advantage, 
but, on the contrary, gives the animal a more 
comfortless appearance than the less showy but 
more close and serviceable fleece. The same par- 
tiality for the long and open fleece prevailed for 
a time among the breeders of the Leicesters ; 
but the error has been discovered, and now no 
breeder of any note of that description of stock 
will lift his voice in defence of it ; and there can- 
not be a doubt that a few years’ more experi- 
ence of it, particularly if the winters are severe, 
will convince the breeders of black-faced stock 
of the impropriety of the preference. Indeed 
we have never met with any store-farmers who 
will maintain that the open fleece will enable the 
animal to maintain its condition equally with 
the close one. The latter, in wet weather, re- 
tains the globules of rain upon the top of the 
fleece, till the animal shakes them off; and it is 
only in very heavy showers that the fleece allows 
the rain to penetrate to the skin; but before 
the open fleece is charged with rain, a shed or 
opening is formed all the way along the back of 
the animal, and the rain is thereby allowed at 
once to find access to the skin, along the surface 
of which it is conducted ; and it cannot then, as 
in the former case, be shaken off. The same ob- 
jection applies when there is a fall of snow ; but 
the evil in this case is of a more aggravated 
character; for the shed in the fleece along the 
back is often filled with snow for a whole day 
together. Now is it possible that anything could 
be more injurious to the health of the animal, or 
more likely to occasion disease, than that one of 
the most vital parts of the system, namely, the 
spine, along which the circulation is conducted, 
and from which the nerves emanate, should be 
thus so frequently exposed to the chilling in- 
fluence of wet and cold for days together? There 
