Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1899-02-03
AarifuItural.
Sheep Raising.


Any farmer in the Eastern or Middle
States having farm Of one hundred
acre s in good fence can keep flock of
fifty sheep and receive larger profits
than from any other investment of the
same amount, provided they will care
for them in the following manner,
namely:
CARE OF SHEEP.
Have your sheep in good condition
when you take them from pasture to
winter. Have q sheltered pen, with
plenty Of room, to protect them from
the cold and storms have an out-yard
where they can be allowed to 60 in on
nice, sunshiny days, in which throw
cornstalks, oat or wheat straw, if you
have plenty Of it, for what the sheep do
not eat will make manure, so there will
be nothing lost. Also keep the shell
tered pen dry by throwing in straw as
fast as it is cut up in manure. Feed
them on clover hay. If you do not
grow any, buy it, for one ton Of clover
hay is equal to two tons of any other for
sheep in my experience.
LAMBS IN JANUARY AND FEBRUARY.
Try and have your lambs dropped ID
January or February. Build a small
pen alongside Of your sheep pen cut
small hole so the lambs can get in, but
not large enough to admit the sheep.
Put troughs in the lambs pen and feed
them on ground feed. They will soon
find the hole and learn to eat, and if
you have never tried it before, you will
be surprised how much faster they will
grow, and you will also find that the
butcher will buy your lambs earlier,
and pay larger price for them than he
will for your neighbours, who does not
observe the above advice. Sheep are
very profitable, and every farmer should
own them They are great renovators
Of the soil, scattering manure evenly
aud pressing it in, thus improving the
ground on which they feed
AN ANNOYING FLY
The months of July and August are
the ones when sheep in many localities
are subject to most aggravating an
Doyance from a fly (oestrus bovis). which
seems bound to deposit its larvae in the
nostrils. 1t infects wooded districts and
shady places, where the sheep resort for
shelter, and by its ceaseless attempts to
enter the nose makes the poor creature
almost frantic. If but one fly is in
flock they all become agtated and
alarmed. They will assemble in groups,
holding their heads close together and
their noses to the ground. As they hear
the buzzing of the little pest going from
one to another, they will crowd their
muzzles into the loose dirt, make by
their stamping, to protect themselves,
aud as the pest succeeds in entering the
nose Of victim, it will start on run,
followed by the whole flock, to find
retreat from its enemy, throwing its
head from side to side, as if in the
greatest agony, while the oestrus, hav-
ing gained his lodging place. assidu-
ously deposits its larvae in the inner
margin of the nose. Here, aided by
warmth and moisture, the eggs quickly
hatch into small maggot, which, carry
ing out its instincts, begins to crawl up
into the nose through crooked open
ing in the bone. The annoyance is fear
full and maddening as it works its way
up into the head and cavities The best
known remedy is tar, in which is mixed
small amount of crude carbolic acid
If the scent of the acid does not keep
the fly away he gets tangled in the tar,
which is kept soft by the heat of the
animal. Any kind of tar or turpentine
is useful for this purpose, and greatly
promotes the comfort of the sheep, and
prevents the ravages of the bot in the
head j X. Dillon in Agricultural
Eptomist.