In rolling, a small quantity only of smearing stuff is raised on the point of the forefinger, with which it is laid evenly upon the skin. This is by far the neater way of salving, as less of the ointment is permitted to get upon the wool; but as it is altogether a tardier process, it is not so frequently resorted to.
November is the month usually chosen for this operation, but as it cannot be properly done unless the day fixed upon has been preceded by dry weather, the time ought rather to be selected by the aspect of the season.
The composition of smearing stuffs is so very various, that it is quite beyond my power to give the reader even a list of the ordinary ingredients and their proportions; nor need I recommend any of them in particular to the attention of the shepherd, knowing, as I do, the bigoted opinions which are held upon the subject, and the aversion with which every one regards a mixture not of their own composing. I can only observe, that where tar is employed, it ought to be well diluted with grease, so as to enable two English quarts of it to be spread over six sheep. In this way it will be less liable to adhere to the wool, and will be much more readily laid upon the skin. When sheep are salved without due attention to the even spreading of the mixture, the insects with which the skin is infested are, instead of being destroyed, allowed here and there a resting place; and as the severity of their attack is in proportion to the limited nature of their range, the skin at these points soon becomes crusted with scabs. The smaller the quantity of tar employed, as consistent with the keeping down of vermin, so much the better, as the wool is of more value to the manufacturer, the sheep is saved the discomfort of having its fleece plastered and matted, and the shepherd is spared the vexation of losing lambs through their inability to reach an udder surrounded by locks of hard and tangled wool.
(103.) Fatting. The age at which sheep are prepared for the butcher depends upon the breed, its situation, and its propensity to take on fat. The heath sheep may be considered as requiring to be the greatest length of time in the hands of the farmer, and the Leicesters as the reverse; wethers of the former variety being usually disposed off when from three to four years old, and ewes when from four to five; while wethers of the latter kind are fit for market often at eighteen months, and the ewes are in general fed off after the third year.
Sheep, in spring and autumn, are peculiarly liable to diseases of the intestines, a circumstance mainly to be ascribed to the changes which are, in these seasons, constantly occurring in the nature of their food. Much of this is owing to careless management in the economy of the pastures, and to restricting them for great lengths of time to one kind of provender, a thing guarded against by all good breeders. Sudden transitions, however, from a poor to a nutritive pasture, and the reverse, are always bad, and therefore to be avoided; but change of feeding ground, with these restrictions, cannot be too much inculcated—it is, in fact, the soul of sheep husbandry. The bleakest portions of a farm should be pastured off in autumn, so as to reserve the sheltered spots for winter use. The cast ewes may then be drafted off to feed on a more succulent herbage, previous to being penned on turnips.
Most of the points worthy of attention in sheep feeding having already been detailed in the article on Crossing, I shall only add a few particulars in regard to management on turnips.
When sheep are fed on turnips, they are in general confined to a particular portion of the field by nets or hurdles. The latter, when made of Scotch fir, cost about a shilling each; but, when constructed of larch, the price is fourteen-pence. Those made of larch are by far the more durable, and will last three years if kept under cover during summer. Two men are required to set them up, besides a horse and cart to take them to the field, on which account nets have a decided preference, being easy of transportation, and requiring little house-room. Though valuable in windy situations, nets cannot be used to enclose horned sheep, as their heads become entangled with the cords. They will seldom serve for more than three years, but as they cost only threepence per yard, they may be considered as every way cheaper than hurdles.
When the turnips allotted to the sheep, which seldom exceed a week's supply, are consumed, another portion of the field is enclosed; while the shells are torn up with a two-pronged hook, and either left there to be consumed by the flock, or carted to another field for the use of sheep not then intended to be fattened. A fresh supply should always be afforded them before the old one is eaten clean, otherwise their fattening will be much retarded. It is usual to allow them at the same time plenty of salt, placed up and down the field in troughs or boxes,[ [21] and about a ton of hay in the ten or fourteen days, to every hundred sheep; though that number, if supplied with what, and permitted to run about, will consume that quantity in a week. In spring, from half a pound to a pound of oil cake is given daily to each of them, along with turnips.
In places where the cold during spring is any way severe, the Swedish turnip ought always to be preferred for feeding sheep, as from the formation of the upper part of the bulb, water cannot collect within it as it does in other varieties, to their serious injury when frost sets in.
Turnips must be cut for such sheep as are shedding their teeth. The mouths of those that refuse to eat them should be examined, that in the event of a tooth being loose or broken it may be removed. Occasionally a sheep will be unable to gnaw a turnip, owing to a peculiar formation of the head, the lower jaw being so very short as to give the profile some resemblance to that of a pig. Such deformed animals are said in this quarter to be grun-(ground)-mouthed: I believe from the elongation of the nose suiting them better for poking in the earth than for feeding in the usual way.