115

ON THE LIVE-STOCK

lions of tar and butter are used in several counties, and ingeneral too little butter is allowed.

When the flock is so numerous as to admit of it, the sheepare kept in different hirsels, according to their age, and themales are separated from the females. It is not often, how-ever, that this classification is s.o complete as on the Cheviothills. Many intelligent farmers “ account nothing more ne-cessary, than to keep the lambs, after weaning, upon the lowerpart of the pasture, from August till December; after whichall go mixed over every part of the farm till March, whenthe heavy ewes are separated from the barren sheep, andfeed with their lambs, upon the lower pasture, till the timethat this pasture is again set apart for the new-weaned lambs.They judge that more depends in prevention of sickness,upon the grass being always in an eatable state, than uponmixing the young with the old sheep upon the hog-fence.W T here a breeding farm sells weddcr hogs, the heavy ewesare worst oft’ in spring, the hogs getting the low grounds tofit them sooner for the market W T hen the lambs areweaned, they are usually sent to the higher parts of the farmfor about six weeks, and some better low lying pasture hained(saved) for their winter provision, which is called the hog-fence.Formerly this pasture was reserved exclusively for the lambs,which were admitted to it at Lammas; but from the obser-vation made in farms so small, as not to admit of separatehirsels, that the hogs were much less subject to the sickness,(a disease often extremely fatal to hogs), it has of late comepretty much into practice, to allow the old sheep and thehogs to pasture indiscriminately together. Some farmersoccasionally send their hogs to be wintered on low farms,where there is a great deal of heath and coarse pasture, andwhere the snow seldom lies long on the ground.

On small farms, a breeding stock is generally kept, andall the lambs are disposed oft) except what are required to

Reebles-shire Report, p. 196.