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BY H. D. GROVE.

BOSTON :

PRINTED AT THE NEW ENGLAND FARMER OFFICE—BY W. NICHOLS.

1824.

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z ESSAY ON SHEEP.

Of Crossed Breeds.

Tne general rule is that the lamb possesses an equal share of
all the properties of each parent. The idea is very erroneous
that the size and form are more affected by the one, and the in-
trinsic qualities of the animal by the other—for alihough, in
the first generations, the resemblance to the parent Ram may
be most apparent, it is nevertheless certain that in subsequent
years the distinctive qualities of the Ewe will again appear in the
offspring. A pure race has been carefully preserved in Saxony-
which has had great influence in improving the native wool by
constant crossing with full blood rams. But it is certain that real
and durable excellence can only be attained by preserving the
pure blood; and the best proof of this fact is found in Spain itself,
where the Leonese flocks still continue to produce 25 per cent
finer wool than those of Sozia; although the latter are suplied
every year with more or less Leonese bucks and the method of
treatment is precisely similar in each.

The improvement produced by crossing, naturally progres-
ses most rapidly where the native ewes are of the best quality,
although coarse wooled sheep may also be gradually improved
upon in the same way; but in all such cases the size and form
will be as much affected as the fineness of the wool, and ail
the attempts made to preserve the original size, while the wool
was made fine, have eventually failed.

In the selection therefore, of a breed, or of a single ram for
the ‘purpose of a cross, regard should be had solely to the
fineness and colour of the wool—to the firmness of its adhesion
to the skin, and to the general health of the animal—and not at
all to the large size; which property will be sure to disappear
in the sequel if the wool does not degenerate.

Of the introduction of a pure breed.
The raising of an unmixed breed of sheep superior to the
original flock is certainly much more expensive and difficult
than. improvement by crossing with rams of higher grades bought

singly. It requires a considerable capital as well as very great
care and attention.

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lt is seldom that young ewes are to be had at any tolerable
price, and many persons who undertake this business are oblig-
ed to content themselves with such as cannot yield more than
two, or at most three lambs.

A very important circumstance in a purchase of this kind is
to inform one’s self about the previous mode of feeding to
whith the sheep have been accustomed, and if any change. is
necessary, to introduce it gradually. Better feed will have a ten-
dency to improve a flock, but it is dangerous to make even this
change too suddenly.-Those who are able and willing to |
furnish capital for this purpose and devote the necessary atten-
tion to the business will nevertheless find themselves very
soon repaid for their trouble and expense ; since, in addition to
the extra price of his wool, the owner of such a flock, will very
soon be able to dispose of full blood rams, and as his flock in-
creases, of ewes also; the price of which, if the best are con-
stantly retained, cannot fail gradually to advance.

To make this business productive it is necessary to pay
pariicular attention to the food of the ewes and lambs, and
to have the latter dropped early in the season that they may
attain their full strength at the proper period to produce their
own young. Rams of inferior grades must of course be careful-
ly excluded from the flock, and the ewes must be treated with
extraordmary care to ensure long life and prevent premature
barrenness. It is still doubtful whether there is an intrinsic
difference in this respect between Merino and other sheep, or
whether it is merely owing to the extraordinary attention they
have received; but the fact is unquestionable that they usu-
ally rear healthy lambs at the age of twelve and sometimes
even of fifteen years.

Even if the wool at that age should becomea little less fine,
the animal must not on this account be discarded, because if
the blood remains unmixed this evil will cure itself. If these
rules are carefully observed, the increase of a flock of fine
blood may be made very considerable as will appear by the fol-
lowing estimate.

Commencing with 12 yearling ewes I estimate that each
will bear one lamb the first subsequent season and as many the
second, and that half of these are ewe lambs. The third year
9 ewe lambs may be expected, the fourth 12, the fifth 18, and
the 6th 22. Supposing that the oldest ewes have now become
barren, the same progression will give, at the end of sixteen
years from the purchase, a flock of 867 ewes of pure blood, and
the low estimate of 6 lambs in all from each ewe is so much
within‘hounds as fully to offset the chances of loss from disease
or accident, if good care is taken in managing the flock.

The first purchase of ewes of pure blood will obviate the ne-
cessity of subsequent purchases of rams from time to time, which
is absolutely necessary in a mixed flock to prevent the wool

9)

from degenerating; and a further profit results from the sale
of the rams which may commence with the fourth or fifth year.

On the selection of sheep for breeding.

The most important point is to be certain of the pedigree of
the animal to be bought, anda sheep known to be of pure
blood should always be preferred before another of finer fleece
and better form, whose ancestry is uncertain. Next in impor-

’ tance are the fineness and elasticity of the wool, the evenness of —

‘the fleece over the whole body, the absence of hairs—the
strong, compact form—and fullhealth. The best sheep are dis-
tinguished by full and bright eyes, bright red veins about the
lachrymal glands, a broad forehead, short but stiff ears, a
short, thick neck, broad chest, round shoulders, and generally a
stout, thick set form, with short legs.

The size of the body is of less consequence than any of these
particulars, having much iess influence on the'progeny than many
people suppose. The thickness of the fleece is mainly affected
by the quality and quantity of nourishment, and will not con-
tinue through many successive generations without care in this
point. There are many other supposed marks of a good ram,
such as a large tuft of wool on the forehead, a large hanging
dewlap, much wool on the hinder legs, three rows of wool round
the neck, &c. &c.—but all these or any other similar marks 1
consider as of no sort of consequence, and believe they may all
be found on very inferior sheep. |

It sometimes happens that wool growers are more desirous
of heavy fleeces than of superior fineness of the wool, and
therefore select in preference the largest, heaviest animals
rather than those of the finest fleece; but in this case they fail
of procuring the genuine merino blood which never reaches to
a large stature under any circumstanees.

During pregnancy the ewes should be better fed than usual,
and this feed should be continued till they are furnished with
ample pasture. It is of great importance that the lambs should
acquire strength enough very soon after birthto support the
bad weather which may follow in the spring—and be able to
benefit by the early pasturage, by which means they may be
sooner weaned, and the fleece of the ewes increased by stop-
ping the flow of milk. |

~The rams in every flock must of course be kept separate from
the ewes and yearlings—the most convenient arrangement is to
asture them with the wethers. One buck is sufficient for about
‘forty ewes. In Spain the proportion is 3 to 100. During the
season of impregnation they are fed, morning and evening, with
oats.

In the season for dropping lambs the utmost care is necessa-
ry, and if the shepherd is not to be entirely depended on, the
proprietor should have him constantly overlooked. The birth is

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commonly easy but often slow. Ignorant shepherds are very apt
on such occasions to be aiding in the birth, which is always use-
less and often very injurious.

It often happens that ewes will not own their lambs, particu-
larly the first they bear, and in this case 1 would advise to
sprinkling a little salt on the lamb which induces the ewe to lick
it, after which it will generally allow itto suck. If not, the ewe
with her lamb should be placed in a separate enclosure (of which
several should be previously prepared) and fed with the most nu-
tritious fodder, particularly with succulent liquids, that her ud-
der may be uncomfortably distended; and if this is not suffi-
cient she must be tied by the legs till the lamb has been once
suckled ; after which there will be no further difficulty. The
mother’s milk is by far the best nourishment for the lambs, and
should never be taken from them for other purposes, as is often
practised by shepherds. About three or four weeks after birth
the lambs should be fed with bruised oats, or oil cakes soften-
ed in water, tender hay and well dried red clover, or other
similar fodder. In order that the lambs alone may eat their
proper fodder an enclosure is made, through the apertures of
which they can pass, while the full grown sheep are excluded.

This previous feeding enables them better to support being
weaned at the proper time.—The weaning should take place
very gradually for the benefit of the ewe as well as of the
lamb, and after weaning, the lambs should be kept at a con-
siderable distance from the ewes.

The ram lambs are cut at three or four weeks old, the tails of
the ewe lambs are cut off to within about three inches or
something less of the body at the same age.

The fodder or pasture of sheep has been found, after the
most carefu] experiments, to have no effect on the fineness, and
very little on the elasticity of the wool; but a very important
one on the thickness and length and consequently on the weight
of the fleece. Its effect on the health and increase of a flock
is of course all important.

The most important circumstance in regard to the strength of
the sheep is that the supply of food should be equal in quantity
at all times, except a little increase during the time of suckling.
‘Even the wool often becomes weak and loose in consequence
of sudden changes from plentiful to scanty feed and vice versa.
It is therefore essential that the fodder in winter and the pastur-
age in summer should be provided in such manner as to subject
the sheep to no changes of this kind.

A sudden increase of food is very injurious, although sheep
may be gradually accustomed to a very plentiful supply, and gen-
erally fully repay the additional expense in the increased
quantity oftheir wool. The proportion of time during which
sheep may be pastured differs of course in different climates.
In Saxony, sheep are kept about five months on winter feed, but

7

good farmers lay in a stock for 170 days to guard against
scarcity in case of a backward spring. The excess is never
lost, though late fall feed or early pasture in the spring should
allow it to be laid up for another year.

Pasturage.

Sheep are seldom admitted to pasture in summer on the mea-
dows, except here and there on the driest and leanest spots, but
it often happens that they are driven on in the spring, if the
grass starts early enough for them to feed some time and be
driven off again four weeks before the cattle are driven on.—
The sheep receive no injury in this way, provided there are no
pools of standing water in the meadow, and they do not remain on
it toolong. Generally, however, the only pasture they have,
is on the drier and leaner soils; particularly on steep hills, not
easily arable nor producing sufficient pasturage for cattle—
This kind of pasture is the best suited to sheep, and such land
can in no way be so well improved. It often happens however,
that such high lands are not without swampy and springy places
or pools of water either on the sides or in ravines between the
hills; and all such spots are very dangerous for the sheep.—
All places where water plants are nourished should be care-
fully avoided, and more than ever during the greatest heat of
summer when they are dry from evaporation. They are then
more dangerous than ever because deadly vapours are con-
stantly rising through the dry crust that covers them, and of-
tener than any other circumstance create the rot which it is
so difficult to conquer when once its ravages have begun. It is
by no means during the growing season that this danger is most
to be feared, for at that period the sheep find sufficient nourish-
ment in dry situations and avoid wet spots of their own accord.
Merino sheep are doubtless more subject to the rot than the coars- ~
er breeds, and therefore require particular carein this respect.
All such marshy spots should therefore be carefully drained in
places where these sheep are to be pastured. Wooded pastur-
age affords sometimes very good feed—but if the shade is very
close, the grass, though sometimes very plentiful, is not so nutri-
tious as elsewhere and the wool of sheep receives some injury
from the deep shade. The young grass on fields in fallow as
well as the fall feed after harvest are excellent for sheep, par-
ticularly the former.

The best pasture must be reserved for the lambs, the next
for rams and ewes, and the poorest left for the wethers.

The winter feed consists usually of hay and straw: only.—
The best hay is well dried, early fresh meadow hay, which
should be mowed as young as possible, and not cut on marshy
places. Clover, lucerne, &c. if well got in, are preferable to
other grasses.

Straw intended for sheep must also be gotin dry and sweet.—

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it is nourishing only in so far as it is mixed with weeds, un-
ripe ears, and heads not thoroughly thrashed. The best straw
is therefore to be found on the worst managed farms. Perfect-
ly clean straw affords almost no nourishment, except a little in
the joints j7but 3 it aids in digestion and helps at least to fill the
stomach.

The stalks of peas and beans are more succulent, but there
isa great difference between such as are mowed ‘before they
are fully ripe and those that are dry before mowing. In the
former case they make very good fodder—though hay is
preferable. The usual calculation is two or three pounds per
day of dry fodder for a full grown sheep, but many farmers
give less than a pound of hay, and make up the deficiency in
straw and pea vines. A flock may be kept alive on this fod-
der, but without mixing some grain, or at least half-thrashed
straw with it, it is impossible that a flock should go on improving
in quality, notwithstanding the greatest care in other respects.
"Fhe most economical method, considering the increased weight
of wool which may be produced by it, is to give the sheep as
much dry fodder as they will readily eat. If hay alone is used,
at least two hundred weight is necessary for each sheep; if a
few peas and summer straw are added the supply will be ample
tor the winter.

Potatoes, turnips, carrots and many other roots furnish
excellent fodder for sheep; of which it is unnecessary to
speak at large, the circumstances of each farm being the best
guide as‘to their use.

Salt is required by sheep at intervals during the whole year,
but it is often given in too great quantity and almost forced upon
ihe sheep; which is always injurious, and often injures the di-
gestion so that the best grain will pass through them unaltered.—
"The best mode, where -rock salt is to be had, is to attach
pieces here and there in the stable or the pasture and let them
lick it as they wish. The usual calculation is from one to two
pounds yearly per head, but I have found that something less
than one pound was quite sufficient and more than this is not
given in Saxony to the best managed flocks.

At is very important that sheep ‘should he furnished with clear
water to prevent their drinking from stagnant, muddy pools,
which almost always oceasions disease. If there is no running
stream in their pasture they should be watered as often as twice
a day from a well.

The principal requisites for the stall or shelter for sheep are
dryness, airiness, and sufficient room. ‘They are very little
Niable to injury from cold. Lambs, however, should be pro-
tected from extreme cold fora few weeks after birth.

Dry fodder should always be put in cribs, and not thrown on
the ground or barn floor.

The best method of washing wool previous to shearing, is to

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9

wet the fleece thoroughly on he previous evening by immers-
ing the animal repeatedly in a stream of water, in order. that
he dirt adhering to the wool may be softened and more easily
emovyable on the following day, when the principal washing is to
e done. Care must be taken that the sheep do not swallow
ny water during the process. Three or four days after the
vashing, when the wool has been thoroughly dried, and after the
atural moisture has begun to reappear, the shearing may be
ommenced.

On the disorders of Sheep.

Almost all the disorders which attack sheep are caused by the
ant, and seldom or never by the excess of activity in the vital
organs. ‘The nerves are very susceptible, but seldom act with
reat force—and whenever they are powerfully excited, this

excitement soon passes off and leaves the animal extremely weak.

it follows from this that most of the means required for the cure

f diseases among sheep should be calculated rather to excite than
to allay the activity of the functions of life—a few of the most
common diseases among sheep deserve to be particularly noticed.

The Rot

_Exhibfts itself scarcely at all externally. The blood loses its
high colour and tendency to coagulate and becomes watery.
The first perceptible symptom therefore is the loss of the bright
' red appearance about the eyes: the lips and inside of the mouth
also become pale, as well as the skin genera lly under the wool.
The animal continues to feed well and does not grow poor, al-
though the natural vivacity is diminished and some signs of weak-
ness occur.

The disease commonly gains strength in the winter. Watery
swellings are formed, particularly under the chin, which are of-
ten absorbed and then reappear. Soon after these the animal
generally dies without showing any symptoms of violent pain.
Hwes attacked by this disease die most commonly about the time
of dropping their lambs. ‘The body on opening exhibits copi-
ous collections of water obout the chest and entrails, the blood is
extremely pale as well as the flesh. This disorder is unques-
tionably caused by feeding in swampy grounds, and a few hours
are sufficient to fix it upon asheep. It is increased by damp,
foggy weather, while on the other hand, dry warm weather and
high pasture, especially where there are many aromatic herbs,
are sometimes sufficient to counteract the first symptoms and ef-
fect a cure. This disorder, however, when it has reached sucha
point that a common observer may notice the symptoms, is pro-
bably incurable. Ata very early stage a cure is possible if the
flock is kept carefully on high land where aromatic herbs are
abundant and particularly among juniper bushes, and in bad wea-
ther carefully housed and well fed. Horse chesnuts are an ex-
cellent article for fodder in this case also a mixture of juniper

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berries, wormwood, sage, gentian, angelica roots, willow bark
and other bitter herbs with a little salt and grain which they will
eat of their own accord, or if not, it should be administered ir
small quantities in the morning before they are driven to pasture.
If the rot makes its appearance in a decided manner before the
winter sets in, it is useless to attempt any thing more than to fat
ten the animal as soon as may be and sell him to the butcher.
The rot certainly is not infectious, and it very often occurs tha:
only a few sheep are attacked in large flocks; and generally in
such cases, ifthe shepherd is honest, the disease may be traced
in every case to some swamp or other wet place where these
particular sheep may have strayed.

The Mouth and Hoof Distemper.

These complaints seem to have a mutual connection since the
former, which is the mildest, very often precedes the latter. In
the mouth the principal evil to be feared is that the sheep be-
come emaciated from the inability to eat. The best remedy is
to bathe the part affected with a strong decoction of sage, mixed
with an equal quantity of vinegar and a little honey. If the biis-
ters continue to spread, half an ounce of blue vitriol should be
added to a quart of this mixture. The disorder in the hoofs is
soon discovered by lameness and if this is evidently not produced
by any external injury, and especially it several sheep in a flock
are attacked at the same time, great care should be taken to ob-
viate the effects of this disorder. ‘The best remedy is a poultice
of dough or fat loamy clay which should be applied to the foot by
means of alittle bag, but not tied hard to the ancle, and kept
constantly wet with vinegar, till a swelling appears on the up-
per side of the foot or in the cleft of the hoof. This should then
be opened with a sharp knife and the dead hoof pared off. The
wound must be washed with cold water and sprinkled with dry yi-
triol. The lame animals should remain carefully separated from
the sound ones, and the washing and sprinkling with vitriol re-
peated till the cure is effected. This disease is not only conta-
gious but also infectious in the highest degree and oftentimes so
violent as to produce caries in the bone after the hoof is de-
stroyed.

The Itch or Scab.

This disorder is dreaded more than any other, and did in fat
more damage in many districts than any other, until the proper
mode of treatment was discovered. The scab is certainly conta-
geous and may readily be propagated by merely touching the
skin of a healthy animal with matter from a pustule on another
sheep—but as far as my observation has extended the infection
is not conveyed through the atmosphere, though it often seems to
be epidemic, and particularly in very damp summers which affect
sheep in many other ways so unfavourably.

It is discovered by the animal’s constantly rubbing or scratch-

Pet

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It

ing itself and making at the same time a peculiar motion with the
lips the scabs are sometimes dry and sometimes moist, and spread
very rapidly, though the animal continues healthy in other re-
spects, and generally more lively than before. Afterwards how-
ever the disorder becomes internal, the sheep becomes emaciat-
ed and dies from weakness and pain. If the scab is observed at
an early period it may be easily cured or at least prevented from
spreading. One of the best remedies is a strong decoction of to-
bacco to be applied to the diseased parts, after scratching off the
scabs with a comb or other instrument. The decoction of to-
bacco mixed with lime water and oil of vitriol, and used con-
stantly for some time, will generally effect a radical cure; anoth-
er excellent remedy is a decoction of hellebore mixed with vin-
egar, sulphur, and spirits of turpentine. Internal remedies are
of no use except when the disorder has induced other complaints
by weakening the general health.

The Sheep- Pox.
This disorder is contagious and propagates itself by exhalation

from the sick to the healthy animal, but it has not yet been dis-

covered how far these exhalations may extend. If, however, it
appears in a neighboring flock, care should be taken to mitigate
its effects by a general and careful inoculation, since it is certain
that the disorder is less violent if taken by inoculation than in
the natural way. The operation is perfectly simple and easy.
The animal is laid on its back and held by two or three men
while the operator introduces the matter, from a pustule five or six
days old, in two or three places between the legs or on the tail.
The lancet should be introduced in a slanting direction under the
skin about an eighth of an inch, and when it is withdrawn,
the skin should be pressed down upon it so as to wipe off the
matter and leave it in the wound. A pustule is formed general-
ly in four days, and reaches its greatest size on the sixth, when
a few others generally appear near the first. —
_ Soon after this the usual symptoms of fever and general erup-
tion take place, which last is, however, more regular and sate
than if the animal had taken the disease without inoculation.

The only care necessary during the progress of the disorder is
to keep the sheep in a cool and airy situation. Internal reme-
dies are not required, but the sores should be often washed with
a strong infusion of camomile flowers in which a little blue vitri-
o! has been previously dissolved, and afterwards dressed with a
salve made of yolks of eggs and turpentine, mixed with a little
powdered charcoal.

The Reeling Sickness

Is never infectious, but generally incurable. Its first symptoms
are a weakness in the gait and a disposition in the animal affect-

ed to remain separate from the flock. The head is thrown into

an unnatural posture, generally on one side. The animal then
begins to turn round, always in one direction,—stumbles and falls

12

repeatedly, sometimes with the head under the body, then ceases
to feed and soon dies.

Lambs and yearlings only are usually liable to this disorder,
and very rarely sheep over two years old. The seat of the
disorder is always to be discovered on the brain where one or more
blisters are formed and filled with a watery secretion.

The origin of this complaint, and of course the proper preven-
tive treatment, remain as yet undiscovered. A cure is sometimes
effected by an operation through the skull to let off the water.

The first step in this case is to examine the skull carefully, in
search of a soft spot in the bone which usually indicates the spot
affected. The skull is then perforated with a trocar, accompani-
ed by a tube through which the water may escape ; after which
the tube also is withdrawn and a few drops of the essence of
myrrh applied to the aperture. This operation is sometimes
successful, but more often the reverse. If it succeeds, however,
in only one cure out of five, it seems worth the trial since with-
out some relief the sheep must certainly perish.

Swelled Paunch.

When sheep or other ruminating animals eat more than they
can digest the food ferments in the stomach, emitting great quan- %,
tities of gas which stretch this organ so as to draw together its
apertures, the paunch becomes excessively distended, the lungs
oppressed, the breath and pulse obstructed, and the death is very
sudden.

This effect may be produced by fodder of any kind, but most
readily by such as the sheep prefer, especially if they are not ac-
customed to it. Green clover and lucerne have, therefore, often
been observed to bring on this disorder—but it is nevertheless cer-
tain that neither of these subsiances are in themselves injurious,
since I have known sheep accustomed to them eat their fill
day after day for months together without suffering any ill con-
sequence. Any young green feed is more likely to be hurtful in
this way than dry fodder—but only when eaten in excess after
Jong abstinence. If the approach of the swelling is observed by
the shepherd in season, it may be prevented by violent friction
of the back and belly and driving the sheep rapidly. These
remedies are assisted by a previous dose of lime water, which
should be repeated half an hour afterwards, taking care thatthe
lime is good and not previously air-slacked.

if the attack isso violent as to leave no time for these remedies,
an opening must be made in the paunch with the trocar and sheath
—an operation which cannot easily be described, but may be ex-
hibited without any difficulty to any person unacquainted with it.

I omit to notice a great variety of other diseases of sheep which
I have had no opportunity of attending to personally,—and also
the whole series of external injuries to which sheep are liable,—
and in the treatment of which each man’s experience is his best
guide,

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

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