Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1873-02-28

UrihAles on the general sur :
face Of the body should be avoid.
ed, they are of no value TO the
sheep, but an injury to the length -
Of wool, 6neness and evenness of fleece. The
breeding of wrinkled sheep is like fsgmsr
who ridges up mis- level mow.land and seeds
the ridges with an inferior grass In avoid
ing wrinkles We should not go so far as to
breed a sheep which has not good neck and
dew-lap, and if there is a small wrinkle back
of the fore shoulder and on the flank, and
around the tail, it is not Objectionable.
The skin Of a sheep is of Importance. 1t
should be Of reddish color, which indicates
a healthy animal, and easy to keep. A thin,
soft, elastic skin denotes well bred animal.
To breed a sheep with good medium size
and good constitution, which has fleece
combining the greatest amount of good qnal-
tiles is what should be the chief aim Of sheep
breeders One great cause Of success in
breeding sheep is good management and care
in keeping. 1t is Of no more use to try to
raise good sized lambs from, or a gool sized
fleece on a sheep which is in poor flesh and
has poor keeping, than it is to try to raise
large crop Of corn on poor and exhausted
soil.
For pasture, sheep prefer dry hilly pas
ture, with sweet feed and of as great variety
as they can have. A sheep will eat the
greatest variety of weeds, herbs and grasses
of any of our domestic animals. For winter
feed they will do well on all early cut, upland
kinds Of hay, together with most kinds Of
low-aud hay, all of which should be well
cured aud not mouldy and sour. All kinds
of roots are valuable to some extent, as they
partially supply the lack of green feed, and
they tend to keep sheep in good health. The
good quality and quantity of feed is not all
that is necessary to good keeping in the win
ter. They should be fed at stated hours Of
the day and in clean and convenient racks
with sufficient room. They should not be
confined to low, sinking, underground eel
lar, with poor ventilation. They should not
be allowed to be out in the storm, and they
should be kept in the very coldest weather in
place that can be closed up. They should
have plenty OF good water. Salt is necessary
for them, and it is recommended by some
good farmers, to mix one-third wood ashes
with it.
They should have some exercise besides just
eating aud drinking, they should be made to
travel around the farm building or be made
to exercise in someway. They sometimes
partially lose the use of their limbs aud mus
cles by want Of exercise aud being kept from
the ground in the winter. have known
sheep IN good flesh that could not travel but
a short distance when first turned out in the
spring. They should run out on the ground
iu the spring as soon as it is bare, some OF
the time in pleasant days, and be fed good
hay and some grain until there is plenty Of
grass for them.
They should be sheared early if they are
sheared without washing. The first of May
is good time, and they must be kept in u
warm building during the nights and storms
for week or so. II they are washed before
shearing it should be attended to as soon as
the weather is warm enough. The practice
OF obligng the sheep to wear their aeeces un-
til July, is like our being obliged to wear
our winter clothing until that time, The
wool should be left on the sheep when they
are shorn one-fourth Of an inch in length,
which wool is not lost or wasted but will re-
main on the sheep until another sheariug.
The wool thus left on affords the sheep
necessary and valuable protection from cold
weather aud sun shine the first few weeks
after being shorn.
Lambs should be weaned when four months
old and have plenty of good, sweet feed
and few oats until they are well started in
the winter, They should be housed during
cold storms after the first of October aud be
fed little hay. They should learn to eat
hay before they are entirely deprived Of
grass The breeding ewes after their lambs
have been taken off two or three weeks
should be put into good feed, as they can be
got into good flesh before winter with much
less expense than after they are confined to
the barn.
1t is important to the raising Of good,
strong healthy lambs that the ewes be in
good flesh and strength SO that they can fun =
hish their lambs both before and after they
are dropped with the necessary amount OF
nourishment, which they certainly cannot do
IT in lean condition. | believe that there
is a general want of care for all kinds Of
stock previous to their being one year old.
A little extra care during their first year
will add to their size, form and value in after
years.
With regard to the present prices of Me-
rino sheep | will say that they are remuner-
ative and compare favorably with other
thoroughbred stock when cost of keeping is
taken into account. usually sell my wool
uOvaShed and receive for it, on an average
tbFee-tourths as much per pound as is OBJ
tanned for washed fine wool at the same time.
have had my wool oleaDsei, at times, by
the manufacturer, and have been paid prices
according to the foregoing statement.
will say, in conclusion, to those persons
who are breeding all kinds of meritorious