Year: 1868

is copied from the Southern Planter and
: Former:


, In order to the formation of a good
flock of sheep, it is, in the first place,
essential in the selection of your breed
ing ewes, to reject all under two years
J old; also such as from age have defective
teeth. Yearling ewes which have lambs


the spring they become two years old


usually make poor nurses, in conse.
I quence of not having sufficient supply
) of milk to give their lambs o fair and
full ply sieal Developments; and all my
observation goes to show that lambs
TINS raised make a miserable stock OF


sheep, and il is from the same reason


that old ewes should be rejected as


breeders, for they too are deficient in the


amount of nutriment required for the


sustenance of their lambs. Most sheep


raisers are anxious to raise all the lambs


they eau; hence with view to this end,


they viii breed from the old and young.


When this is the case, have invariably


observed that much trouble and ulti-


mate disappointment followed. Many


lambs raised from such sheep will dwin-
die and die in August and September,
and those that survive the Grst winter,


make at best very defective stock.


I Ii the object of the sheep raiser is to
cultivate fine wool, he should select
bucks that are evenly fine all over, and


thick set, and as great length as can be
obtained consistent with compact fleece:
4 great length of staple and compactness
are not usually found together.


Two vigorous bucks, if well fed, will
answer for one hundred ewes. The
time of putting the bucks to the ewes
may vary according to the convenience
of the sheep-raise and the latitude of
4 his location. With cOnveniences for
the protection of lambs, the middle Of
April is suitable time for the lambs to
come. 1t is desirable for the lambs to
come as near together as possible. With
q view to this end, the ewes should be
in high condition when the bucks are
put to them. In adjusting the size of
the flock to the pastures on which tRey
are to range, it must be borne in mind
that the smaller the flock the better the
lambs will do. Pasture lands should
never be SO heavily stocked rs to have
the grass shaved to the bare ground.
When there is u generous amount of
feed left, the roots of the grass are pro-
tected from the action of the sun and
frost.


| In all sections of our country north of
latitude forty, nice, luxuriant bluegrass
pastures can be had, and if properly
managed in open winters, will contrib
ute greatly to sustaining sheep. Lambs
should be weaned by the middle of Au-
gust. have found clover field the
best for this purpose; with little man
agement they can be made to eat oats,
and nething will make them grow
faster. At all seasons it is more or less
essential that sheep should be classified,
but indispensably so in the winter. Hay,
which should constitute the principal
food for sheep, ought to be cut from the
last of June up to the middle Of July,
and saved with all possible care, avoid
ing both rains aud dews, and stirred to
q degree that it will not heat in the
stack or NOW, as the case may be
Lambs fed with what good hay they
will eat, together with one-halfl
bushel of corn or bushel ofl
oats to the hundred, with water con
veuient, VIII be sumclenG To keep them
in good growing order. A lack of con-
Yenient water is among the greatest
errors of shcop-raisers. The most
abundant supply of food, as above di
rected, together with shelter, is essen
tial to bring fine lambs to the age of
one year, and the same tender care is
necessary TO carry them through the
second winter to mature them to per-
feet stock. More sheep die from dis
eases contracted by bad and insufficient
food and the want of shelter, the two
first years of their existence than from
all other canses combined. When sheep
are properly divided, have an abundant
supply of food anu water, and good
shelter in winter, hospitals and med:-
cine chests can be dispensed with.


Breeding ewes should be kept in good
condition at all times. The first in
ducement for this is the increased guam
tity of wool over what they would have
with moderate keeping, and you may su-
peradd lamb to each eve, or nearly
so. My practice is to break up sod
ground for corn; the succeeding spring
| SOW oats, followed by q wheat crsp;
Il sufficient amount of timothy seed is
sowed at the time the wheat is harrow
ed; the following spring, about the Goth
Cf April, SOW clover seed. BY the
above course of farming l have fresh
meadows every season. and it is q fact
worthy of special notice, that new mead
ows do not suffer from drouth like old
ones. The faImer who makes it his
principal business to raise sheep, should
make it his prime object to have an
abundance of good hay, that will super
sede the necessity of the sheep-killing
system of feeding straw.


Some recommend cutting the hay
which is fed to sheep. This | consider
labor lost, inasmuch as the digestive or
gans of sheep are more complete than
most animals. There is nothing more
important in sheepology than in hav-
ing them in high condition at the CON-
mencement of winter. If your sheep
are poor the first of December, they
will be likely to remain so all winter,
unless very great pains are taken to i'm
prove their condition by high feeding.
Buck lambs are more tender and diff
cult to raise than wethers, and the lat
ter more than ewes. Nice attention to
weaving and early feeding with grain
in the fall together with abundant
feeding through the winter, will over.
come the evils to which they are liable
if neglected.


Inoticed recently in the Country Gen
ilemdn that information was asked on
the subject of contining sheep to their
yards in the winter. This winter fin
ished up fifty years that | have kept
sheep; through all of this time it has
been my practice to allow the sheep to
have range of the pastures in pleasant
weather and from it think much ben
eft has been derived in the economy of
feed, and health to the stock. The fail


ure of others to see this matter in the
light that l do is perhaps owing
30 one of the following reasons ::
Either their pastures are not of
the right kind, or else not in q right
condition. Bluegrass pastures afford
desirable locations for sheep; it not only
pleases their palate, but gives them
substantial nutriment. The effect of
frost is very different OH bluegrass to


what it is on other grasses; the injury


is very slight; were it not SO the sheep
would not be so eaGer to eat il. and