88 
HOtrtUfAt  OP  horticulture  AHb  Cottage  oaRdbnBR. 
January  £8,  188?. 
Journal  on  the  “Lambing  Pen  ”  by  Mr.  Harold  Leeney.  He  has 
gathered  many  practical  details  from  practical  men,  and  putting 
the  whole  into  an  interesting  form,  has  done  good  service  to 
agriculture. 
He  begins  by  giving  some  excellent  hints  as  to  the  condition  of 
the  ewes  and  ram  in  the  autumn,  and  urges  extra  care  and  extra 
feeding  for  the  last  six  weeks  before  lambing.  There  are  always 
some  weakly  ewes  which  want  the  best  of  food  to  carry  them  through 
their  time  of  trial,  and  all  need  some  milk-producing  diet. 
The  construction  of  the  lambing  pen  is  of  the  first  moment. 
Shelter  there  must  be,  but  not  too  much  of  it.  The  sheep  by 
nature  is  a  hardy  animal,  yet  it  is  quite  possible  that  even  a  sheep 
may  have  too  much  of  the  north-easter.  Hurdles  and  straw  make 
capital  pens  ;  there  must  be  a  bit  of  roof,  well  thatched,  to  turn 
continuous  wet — we  have  seen  where  straw  was  plentiful  a  wall  of 
it  built  all  round  the  fold.  Other  material  may  be  employed,  but 
there  is  nothing  like  straw  yet.  The  fold  should  be  large  enough 
to  prevent  overcrowding,  and  some  shelter  must  be  provided  for 
the  man  or  men  on  night  duty.  Some  farmers  provide  the 
shepherds  with  extra  refreshments  for  the  nights,  and  we  think  the 
master  is  the  gainer  by  so  doing. 
Supposing  the  lambing  is  carried  on  in  a  permanent  building 
(which  at  the  best  is  but  a  bad  plan)  the  greatest  care  must  be 
taken  to  keep  the  floor  sweet  and  wholesome.  Dry  earth  mixed 
with  lime  and  ashes  is  antiseptic  up  to  a  certain  point,  but  where 
temporary  shelters  can  be  got,  and  the  fold  changed  every  year, 
there  is  a  much  greater  prospect  of  a  healthy  lambing  season. 
Always  keep  a  few  pens  ready  for  the  reception  of  invalids  that 
require  a  little  extra  attention. 
No  offensive  mattter  must  be  allowed  to  remain  for  one 
moment  in  the  lambing  pens,  and  it  is  well  to  forbid  the  shepherd 
to  have  anything  to  do  with  dead  bodies — there  is  no  knowing  how 
easily  disease  is  conveyed  by  a  man  from  a  dead  to  a  healthy  sheep. 
The  pens  must  be  kept  absolutely  quiet — no  dogs,  no  strangers,  and 
it  is  well  to  bring  the  forward  ewes  up  at  nights,  some  days  before 
the  lambs  are  due. 
A  shepherd  never  knows  what  a  day  or  a  night  may  bring  forth, 
and  it  is  the  wisest  plan  to  have  all  medicines  and  disinfectants 
and  appliances  at  hand.  First  about  himself — he  must  pay  the 
greatest  and  most  minute  attention  to  the  disinfecting  of  his  own 
hands—  constant  washing  with  carbolic  soap  in  a  metal  bowl,  and  he 
should  take  care  that  his  nails  are  well  cut  back,  as  they  harbour 
dirt  and  infection,  and  may  unwittingly  give  many  a  scratch. 
Carbolised  oil,  disinfecting  fluid,  a  bushel  or  two  of  lime,  a  few 
penny  sponges,  and  pieces  of  soft  rag  are  all  things  he  must  have* 
with  a  little  tin  to  heat  milk  for  weakly  lambs.  A  sauce  bottle 
with  a  long  neck  makes  a  capital  vehicle  from  which  to  give  drinks. 
A  bottle  of  cordial  for  weakly  animals,  a  bottle  of  scour  mixture, 
another  of  laudanum,  and  another  of  castor  oil.  There  are 
other  things  that  may  be  added,  but  these  are  what  are  needed 
daily  and  hourly. 
There  are  two  distinct  classes  of  shepherds.  Those  men  who 
know  when  a  ewe  needs  assistance  in  lambing,  and  those  who  are 
for  ever  meddling,  and  thus  retarding  the  efforts  of  Nature  No 
books  or  diagrams  will  help  a  man  much — it  is  only  by  practice 
and  careful  observation  that  a  good  shepherd  is  made.  Before 
offering  any  assistance  to  a  lambing  ewe  the  man  must  anoint  not 
OLly  his  hands  but  any  instrument  he  is  likely  to  use  with 
carbolised  ointment,  and  a  dressing  of  carbolised  oil  used  for  each 
ewe  after  lambing  is  always  a  safeguard. 
If  after  properly  cleansing  a  ewe  is  observed  to  strain  she  should 
at  once  have  a  little  gruel  with  a  dose  of  laudanum  every  two  hours 
till  the  trouble  is  subdued. 
Sometimes  there  is  considerable  loss  of  lambs  from  overlaying. 
If  i  ewe  is  weak  she  is  very  liable  to  drop  rather  than  lie  on  her 
lamb  ;  she  is  really  too  ill  and  weak  to  know  what  she  is  doing. 
Also  when  the  weather  is  very  cold  the  lambs  will  lie  so  closely  to 
the  ewes  that  if  the  latter  move  slightly  a  lamb’s  head  may  be 
entirely  covered  by  thick  wool,  and  so  quickly  smothered.  We 
know  farmers  who  always  have  triangular  pens  on  purpose  to 
avoid  overlaying  ;  the  lambs  get  in  the  corners,  and  so  escape. 
These  pens  are  best  made  by  fixing  hurdles  radiating  from  a 
central  point.  A  few  short  hurdles  made  on  purpose  just  the 
right  length  make  capital  gates  to  the  pens,  and  eight  hurdles  plus 
eight  gates  will  make  eight  pens. 
If  a  lamb  scour  it  is  generally  the  fault  of  the  dam,  and  she 
should  have  a  dose  of  salts  with  a  little  gruel  and  ginger,  the  ewe 
being  milked  by  hand,  and  her  lamb  suckled  on  another  ewe  for  a 
day  or  two. 
Lambs  often  get  swollen  joints.  This  is  caused  by  variations 
of  temperature  (hot  days  and  frosty  nights).  A  dry  lair  and  a 
dose  of  castor  oil  may  benefit ;  but  if  really  bad  a  cure  is  a  slow 
as  well  as  difficult  matter. 
WORK  ON  THE  HOME  FARM. 
We  are  having  a  little  frost  at  last,  and  though  it  is  not  very  severe 
and  does  not  look  like  lasting,  we  are  thankful  for  it,  such  as  it  is. 
Much  more  is  required  to  make  a  good  spring  mould  of  the  sodden  land. 
Those  who  have  much  manure  in  the  yards  are  now  getting  it  led  out. 
We  have  nearly  all  ours  out  either  in  hill  or  ploughed  in  for  Potatoes. 
We  are  now  carting  drain  pipes  for  some  underdraining  on  the  eve  of 
commencement.  It  is  very  heavy  carting,  as  the  land  is  exceedingly 
wet,  and  the  necessity  for  the  work  very  evident. 
Should  the  frost  continue  threshing  days  will  be  more  satisfactory. 
Stack  sides  have  so  seldom  been  dry  of  late  that  grain  has  lacked  the 
good  condition  and  dry  handling  that  it  should  now  have.  Good  Barleys 
are  getting  much  scarcer,  but  maltsters  seem  able  to  buy  plenty  of  foreign, 
so  there  is  no  better  demand.  Grinding  Barleys  are  almost  unsaleable, 
and  are  now  being  freely  fed  to  stock.  This  has  had  an  effect  on  the 
Maize  trade,  and  should  influence  the  values  of  cakes. 
We  see  a  few  early  lambs,  but  this  district  is  too  far  north  for 
general  lambing  yet.  There  will  be  no  excuse  for  giving  ewes  too  many 
Turnips  this  season,  for  there  are  very  few  for  them.  One  neighbour 
will  not  have  a  Turnip  left  by  March  1st,  and  he  generally  has  his  hoggs 
on  roots  until  the  latter  end  of  April.  We  are  not  so  badly  off  as  this, 
but  we  have  increased  the  cake  to  the  sheep  nearly  double,  and  this  has 
lessened  the  consumption  of  Swedes.  Sheep  must  pay  for  an  extra 
allowance  of  cake  this  year. 
The  same  applies  to  cattle,  for  so  few  are  being  fed  off,  owing  to 
root  scarcity,  that  spring  beef,  and  therefore  very  fresh  stores  nearly 
beef,  are  sure  to  meet  a  good  market  in  April.  The  dairy  cows  must  not 
be  stinted  as  to  diet  now  ;  butter  is  a  better  price  than  it  has  been  since 
last  winter.  It  is  easier  to  let  a  cow  run  off  in  her  milk  than  to  get  it 
back  again.  We  have  found  it  necessary  to  have  each  cow’s  milk 
carefully  measured  at  intervals  to  keep  a  check  on  the  feeding  as  well 
as  milking  of  the  herd.  Some  large  milk  producers  have  the  milk 
measured  weekly,  but  this  seems  to  us  oftener  than  is  necessary. 
Pork  is  as  cheap  as  ever  ;  the  low  price  has  now  continued 
longer  than  is  usual,  but  we  notice  that  American  imports  are  falling  off, 
so  the  swing  of  the  pendulum  may  be  nearer  than  we  expect.  Small 
pigs  at  10s.  each  might  be  a  good  investment,  as  pig  food  is  sure  to 
be  cheap  for  another  Bix  months. 
METEOROLOGIOAL  OBSERVATIONS. 
Camden  Squabb,  London. 
Lat.51°32'40"  N. ;  Long.  0°  8'  0"  W.;  Altitude  111  feet. 
Date. 
9  A.M. 
In  the  Day. 
Rain. 
1897. 
January. 
I  Barometer 
1  at  32°, and 
|  Sea  Level. 
Hygrometer. 
Direc¬ 
tion  of 
Wind. 
Temp, 
of  soil 
at 
1  foot. 
Shade  Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Temperature 
Dry. 
Wet. 
Max. 
Min. 
In 
Sun. 
On 
Grass. 
Inchs. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg 
Inchs. 
Sunday  ...  17 
30-101 
32-8 
32-0 
W. 
37-0 
36-1 
2»-4 
62-2 
30-5 
0-018 
Monday  . .  18 
30-104 
25-2 
25-2 
W. 
36-0 
36-0 
23-4 
44-6 
20-8 
— 
Tuesday  ..  19 
30-071 
33-9 
33-1 
N. 
35-9 
37-3 
24-8 
47-2 
20-2 
o-o  11 
Wednesday  20 
30-167 
33-2 
32-2 
N.E. 
35-8 
34-0 
33-0 
34-9 
31-1 
0010 
Thursday..  21 
29-976 
31-3 
31  3 
N. 
35-2 
3»‘0 
29-4 
38-0 
28-3 
0-021 
Friday  . .  22 
29-386 
33-9 
32-6 
N. 
35-1 
37-0 
30-1 
67-1 
26-1 
0-072 
Saturday  . .  23 
29-682 
27-7 
27-3 
N. 
34-9 
32-9 
25-1 
61-4 
25-4* 
0-016 
29-911 
31-1 
30-5 
35-7 
35-5 
27-9 
60-8 
26-0 
0-147 
*  Covered  with  snow. 
REMARKS. 
17th. — Pine,  bright,  and  sunny  all  day  ;  freezing  in  afternoon,  and  bright  night. 
18th. — Pair  early,  and  slight  mist ;  a  sunny  afternoon  and  fine  bright  night. 
19th.— Overcast  early  ;  fair  at  9  a.m.  and  up  to  noon  ;  overcast  at  1.45  p.m.  and  rest  of 
day ;  slight  rain  in  evening  ;  overcast  night. 
80th.— Dull  damp  air ;  spots  of  rain  at  8.30  A.M. ;  generally  dull ;  breezy  at  4  30  P.M. 
2lst. — Small  snow  early  morning  and  flakes  at  9  a.m.  ;  dull  all  day  and  uight. 
2lnd. — Snow  early;  bright  sun  at  intervals  till  noon;  snow  nearly  all  the  afternoon, 
but  not  heavy— total,  about  1  inch. 
23rd. — Presh  snow,  about  J  inch  deep  at  9  A.M.,  and  snowing  at  intervals ;  sun  bright 
at  1 1  A.M.  and  all  morning  ;  brilliant  at  1  P.M. ;  total  depth  of  snow,  2  inohes ; 
flue  night. 
A  cold  week,  rather  colder  than  any  week  since  February,  1896,  but,  of  course,  not 
to  be  compared  with  the  severity  of  the  middle  of  that  month. — Q-.  J.  SYMONS. 
