The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1889-02-02
bottom of -four barrel, straw being
used for bedding.-Rural New Yorker.
THE STOCK-RANCH.
Housing Sheen.


Except where raising early muttop
lambs prevents it, it is n prevalent and
persistent error among farmers that
sheep do not need housing as other do
nestle animals, because they have natur
ally better covering. They may not
need as warm housing, but they do need
dry housing, both overhead and under
foot. Those who advocate the out door.
open air treatment of sheep, will tell
you that sheep will stand for hours in A
rain, when by moving few feet they
could get under cover. That is true, and
there is reason for it. Perhaps the house
(if there is one at alb, is so foul with
ammonia that they will suffer before thew
Will go into it, The fact that the sheen
has heavy, thick covering, prevents it
being uncomfortable for sometime, so
they do not mind the rain. The fact of
the heavy coat makes 1t important that
it be kept dry, especially i'll winter, for
if wet then it often freezes before dry
ing out, and the poor sheep is a walking
mass of icicles.
An animal with short thin hair, like
the horse, will experience discomfort
from rain sooner than one with dense
covering like the sheep, yet it is less
liable to i'll results from the voting.
because it dries off sooner. Wool is
good to resist wind and good to hold
water, not to shed 1t.
The sheep is not so hardy as it was in
Its native state, yet 1t is compelled, if
allowed to remain out during the storms,
to carry burden of wet wool heavier
than it would have carried in its original
wild state, and which is, of course,
longer i'll drying out. The COW and the
horse, though degenerated from their
wild ancestors in point of hardness,
have no greater coat of hair to carry
about wet than they had; but the sheep,
while losing III hardness, has gained
enormously in fleece. The fur bearing
animals of artic regions have given them
as protection against cold, fur that is
so soft, dry and fine ibered, like the
down of aquatic birds, that it sheds rain.
But the sheep Is native of warm
climate; its coating has been developed
artiscially, and it absorbs rain, becoming
saturated with it.
We therefore hold that the sheep, more
than any other domestic animal, needs
protection from rain, needs IT for the
very reason which some urge as an ex-
cuse fortheir eglect to shelter-because
it has heavy coat.
The farmer W no permits his sheep to
get wetting every few days through
the winter need not wonder why they
are suffering so much, why their rostrils
are constantly plugged up with disgust
ing accumulatlonS of dried mucous. In
vain he smears tar over their noses, h olds
them between his knees, pulls their
tongues well out, and thrusts tar far
back into their mouths to insure their
swallowing it.
What they need, says the Sheep
RrppHgJ nuH WpoI GrD1ppT Is NOT TOR on
the roots of their tongues, but tar on the
shed roof, dry footing, and dry, whole
some atmosphere. They want plenty of
warm, red blood instead of tar.
Dampness is pernicious enemy Of
the sheep. Keep them dry-not hot and
sweltering in tight, ill-ventilated
house. Dry over head, dry under foot,
and plenty of ventilation, will 90 far
toward keeping the flock in health.
Keep sheep dry but not hot.-FGrn,,
Field and .StOckmdR.