Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1877-05-09
FARM AND FlREsIDE.
sheep Husbandry in England.

The management of sheep in England
can best be explained by supposing q
farmer entering on.a farm and having
to buy flock to start with. will,
therefore, place the subject in that light.
The farm, say 300 acres, is just rented
from the Goth ofnext September, and the
old tenant is still there the date mention
ed. If the outgoing tenant is not intend
ing to continue farming by renting
another farm, he will have sale by
auction but if he has rented, he will
only have valuation of the acts Of
husbandry' and remove everything but
the crops, and go on with his new farm
having to pay sum according to
valuation, in his turn. .-t..
The tenants in England almost all
now change farms and commence and
end their occupation at Michaelmas,
the goth of September. 1t is understood
that all seeding and planting are done
as if the farmer intended to remain, as
the custom of the country and the law
give him payment from kis successor
for all the cost Of seed and cultivation,
from which the farmer leaving has not
benefited, and from which the one COM
ing will reap the advantage; as, for
instance, grass seeds sowed among the
spring or other grain, and all the root
crop. which latter is heavy affair on a
large farm, often amounting to from one
to two thousand dollars. Having paid
the bill for the acts Of husbandry' as
agreed upon by regularly qualified men
appointed by the two parties, the in
coming farmer has the root crop all
ready for flock Of sheep, and hay also
has been valued to him at the usual
spending price, which is generally
two-thlrds Of the price that could be
made if it were sold at market. Then
the farmer goes to markets and to
auction sales and buys full stock, and
is at once established, and soon feels
perfectly at home. The ewes are i'm
mediately mated with a ram or rams.
and the young sheep (tegs, as they are
Called are put on the turnips by being
folded or penned over the fields. and
thus the roots return the money paid for
them by growing wool and mutton.
and also manuring the land 80 as to
cause heavy crops to follow. When
May arrives the sheep all go to grass.
or are folded over rye or vetches, and
about the beginning OF June they are
washed by being held under stream of
water, running SO as to fall from large
spout three or four feet onto then
backs, etc. and in this way all the dirt
will be washed out and the wool be per.
fectlysclean.
The lambs are generally weaned early
IN July, scattered thinly about such
fields as will not scour them, which is
understood by all good shepherds and
the farmers themselves. and then.
as soon as any turnips are large enough.
they are put on them, where they will
grew and become, in the spring, double
the size and weight of any that are
allowed to run with old sheep and have
no roots. English farmers are very
particular in keeping sheep of different
ages separate, and the sexes are kept
apart. A great many farmers keep
their sheep on green forage crops. such
as rye, vetches, clover, rape, and
mustard. through the summer. IN the
same way as on turnips in the winter.
oy using hurdles and giving fresh bits of
ground every day, and when the crop is
heavy it is moved daily and put in
racks. There is no waste by this sys-
TEN, whic is kind of outdoors soiline
much superior to the soilmg ofcattle by
taking the forage to the homestead.
because there Is no hauling Of manure
here and no loss Of urine.
If sheep should be penned in this way
during summer in this climate, some
contrivance for shade would be required
which could be moved daily to fresh
ground, as it is 4 great object to have
the manure evenly distributed. When
sheep Craze in the usual way in fields.
people in England understand how to
change pastures and regulate their num-
bers in proportion to thoseeof COWS and
horses SO as to be beneficial to the ami
mails and to the grass and other crops.
This, Of course, shows how necessary
experience in sheep husbandry is to
secure success in it, especially where
this is combined with general farming.-
Rural Ne,o- Yorker.