Imatges de pàgina
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1006. Food and shelter being thus both necessary for the proper treatment of sheep in winter, the means of supplying them demand the most serious attention of the store-farmer. In winter, sheep occupy the lower part of the farm. Hoggs are netted on turnips in the early part of the season, and ewes and other sheep subsist on the grass as long as it is green. The division allotted to green crop in the arable part of the farm contains 25 acres, and allowing 3 acres for potatoes for the use of the farmer and his people, there remain 22 acres for turnips; and as land among the hills is generally dry, turnips grow well there; so that 30 double-horse cartloads to the acre, of 15 cwt. each, may be calculated on as a return from the crop. It is thus judiciously recommended by Mr Fairbairn to strip and carry off, about the end of October or beginning of November, if the weather is fresh, before the grass fails, of the turnips, and store them in heaps; and allow the ewe.hoggs to eat the remaining on the ground, with the small turnips left when the others were pulled. In stripping the land in this proportion, 1 drill should be left and 4 carried off. This is an excellent suggestion for adoption on every hill-farm, as it secures the turnips from frost, and gives the entire command of them whenever required in a storm.

1007. It is found that hoggs fall off in condition on turnips in spring, in a high district, if confined upon the turnip-land-not for want of food, but of shelter and of teeth. They are always removed from the turnips in the after

noon to the pasture, where they remain all night, and are brought back to the turnips in the following morning. This treatment, it is obvious, deprives the land of much of the manure derivable from the turnips; and hence, farmdung should be put on the land instead, where the turnips were raised with bone-dust or guano, before the grain is sown. The turnips thus consumed occupying 44 acres, may last the 17 score of ewe hoggs-the number kept for refreshing the ewe-stock-about 6 or 7 weeks. After the turnips are consumed, the hoggs should be supplied from the store sliced on their pasture, with 1 double cart-load to every 8 score, which will be consumed in about 4 hours, after which they depend on the grass for the remainder of the day. Hoggs are treated in this manner until March, or longer, if the weather is bleak; when they maintain their condition, and become proof against the many diseases which poverty engenThe ders, and their fleece weighs 1 lb. more. cost of the 8 acres of turnips given to the hoggs, valued at £3 an acre, in a high district, is 17d. on each, which is so far reimbursed by the additional pound of wool worth 10d. or 1s. The balance of 5d. to 7d. a head, the true cost of the keep of the sheep on turnips, is a trifle compared to the advantage of wintering them in a healthy state and fair condition.

The

1008. As to the older sheep, they must partly depend, in storm, upon the 14 acres of turnips yet in store, and hay. The hay is obtained from the 20 acres of new grass, and allowing 5 acres for cutting-grass for suppers to horses and cows, 15 acres, at 120 hay-stones (of 22 lbs.) per acre, give 2400 hay, or 3771 imperial stones. 1000 ewes will eat 1 lb. each every day, besides the two cart-loads of turnips amongst them, and the hoggs lb. of hay. At this rate the hay will last 31 days, a shorter time than many storms continue. The ground would yield more hay were it top-dressed with a special manure; and, besides this, the rule should be to begin with a full hand of hay at the commencement of farming, and preserve what may be left over in a favourable season, to mix with the new of the following one, with a little salt, and be thus prepared for any unusual continuance of storm.

1009. But in a storm, provender cannot be given to sheep upon snow, safely and conveniently, as ground drift may blow and cover up both; so no place is so suitable for preserving sheep and provender safe from drift as a stell. There are still many store-farmers sceptical of the utility of stells, if we may judge from their practice; but many repetitions of a storm are not required to convince any one, that stock are much more comfortably lodged within a high enclosure than on an open heath. A stell may be formed of plantations or high stone-wall. Either will afford shelter; but the plantation requires to be fenced by a stone-wall. Of the plantation stells, I conceive the form of fig. 56 a good

* Napier's Treatise on Practical Store-Farming, p. 126.

one, and may be characterised an outside stell. It has been erected by Dr Howison, of CrossFig. 56.

THE OUTSIDE STELL SHELTERED BY PLANTATION, ON EVERY QUARTER.

burn House, Lanarkshire, and proved for 30 years. The circumscribing stone-wall is 6 feet high, the ground within it is planted with trees. Its 4 rounded projections shelter a corresponding number of recesses embraced between them; so that, let the wind blow from whatever quarter it may, two of the recesses will always be sheltered from the storm. The size of this stell is regulated by the number of the sheep kept; but this rule may be remembered in regard to its power for accommodating stock-that each recess occupies about part of the space comprehended between the extremities of the 4 projections; so that, in a stell covering 4 acres-which is perhaps as small as it should be-each recess will contain an acre. "But, indeed," as Dr Howison observes, "were it not from motives of economy, I know no other circumstance that should set bounds to the size of the stells; as a small addition of walls adds so greatly to the number of the trees, that they become the more valuable as a plantation; and the droppings of the sheep or cattle increase the value of the pasture to a considerable distance around in a tenfold degree."*

1010. In making stells of plantation, it would be desirable to plant the outside row of trees as far in as their branches shall not drop water upon the sheep in their lair, as such dropping never fails to chill them with cold, or entangle their wool with icicles. The spruce, by its pyramidal form, has no projecting branches at top, and affords excellent shelter by its evergreen leaves and closeness of sprays, descending to the very ground. The Scots fir would fill up the intervals behind between the spruce; but every soil does not suit the spruce, so it may be impossible to plant it every where. Larches grow best amongst the debris of rocks and on the sides of ravines;

Scots fir on thin dry soils, however near the rock may be; and the spruce in deep moist soils.

1011. The late Lord Napier recommended the establishment of what he called a "system of stells," which would place one in the "particular haunt" of every division of the flock; and he considered that 24 stells would be required on a farm maintaining 1000 sheep-that is, 1 to little more than every 40 sheep. However desirable it is to afford protection and shelter to stock, it is possible to incur more trouble and expense than necessary in accomplishing the object. On a farm where the practice is for the whole hirsel to graze together, it would almost be impracticable to divide them into lots of 40, one lot for each stell; and the division could not be accomplished without great waste of time, much bodily fatigue to the shepherd and his dog, and considerable heating to the sheep. I rather agree in opinion with the late Mr William Hogg, shepherd, Stobohope, that stells should be as large as to contain 200 or even 300 sheep on an emergency; and even in the bustle necessarily occasioned by the dread of a coming storm, 200 could be easily shed off from the rest, and accommodated in the sheltered recesses of a stell like fig. 56, which is accessible from all quarters; and 5 such stells would accommodate the whole hirsel of 1000 sheep.

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1012. Suppose, then, that 5 such stells were erected at convenient places-not near any natural means of shelter, such as a crag, ravine, or deep hollow, but on an open rising plain, over which the drift sweeps unobstructed, and on which, of course, it remains in less quantity than on any other place-with a stack of hay inside, and a store of turnips outside, food would be provided for an emergency. On a sudden blast arriving, the whole hirsel might be safely lodged for the night in the leeward outside recesses of even one or two of these stells, and, should prognostics threaten a lying storm, next day, all the stells could be inhabited in a short time. Lord Napier recommends a stack of hay to be placed close to the outside of every small circular stell; but it, so placed, would, I conceive, be a means of arresting the drift which would otherwise pass on.

1013. Instead of the small circular stell, Mr Fairbairn recommends a form without plantation, having 4 concave sides, and a wall running out from each projecting angle, as in fig. 57-each stell to enclose an acre of ground, to be fenced with a stone-wall 6 feet high, if done by the landlord; but if by the tenant, 3 feet of the wall to be built of stone, and the other 3 feet built of turf; which last construction, if done by contract, would not cost more than 2s. per rood of 6 yards. An objection to this form of stell, without a plantation, may be seen when the wind rushes into any of the recesses: it strikes against the perpendicular face of the wall, from which, being reflected upwards, it throws

* Prize Essays of the Highland and Agricultural Society, vol. xii. p. 334. + Napier's Treatise on Practical Store-Farming, p. 122.

down the snow immediately beyond the wall, where the drift is deposited in the inside of the

Fig. 57.

A FORM OF OUTSIDE STELL WITHOUT PLANTATION.

1014. This form, though affording more shelter, is open to the same objections as were the ancient stells, a, b, or c, fig. 58, the remains of many of which may be observed amongst the hills, and might yet screen sheep from a boisterous blast in summer.

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1015. Much diversity of opinion exists regarding the utility of sheep-cots on a store-farm. These are rudely formed houses, in which sheep are put under cover in wet weather, especially at lambing time. Lord Napier recommended one to be erected beside every stell, to contain the hay in winter if necessary, and Mr Little advises them to be built to contain the whole hirsel of sheep in wet weather. It seems a chimerical project to house a large flock of sheep for days, and perhaps weeks; and, if practicable, could not be done but at great cost. I agree with those who object to sheep-cots on high Fig. 58.

stell; and hence it is, I presume, that Mr Fairbairn objects to sheep being lodged in the inside of a stell.*

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* A Lammermuir Farmer's Treatise on Sheep in High Districts, p. 58.

extending miles in length, and embracing many thousands of acres.

1023. The Black-faced, or mountain or heath sheep, as it is called, because it thrives upon heath as a food, is a breed of sheep admirably well suited for occupying the highest range of farms, -having not only a bold and daring disposition, capable of enduring much fatigue in search of food, but a hardy constitution, and yielding a considerable quantum of the most delicious mutton.

1024. The circumstance of elevation and seclusion from roads imposes in the treatment of this breed a difference from that pursued in the lower country. The store-farmers of the lower country who breed Black-faced sheep sell what lambs they can spare after retaining as many as will keep their ewe-stock fresh. They thus dispose of all their wether-hoggs, the smaller ewe-hoggs, and draft-ewes. Suppose 1000 ewes wean 1000 lambs, 500 of these will be wether and 500 ewe hoggs, of which latter 17 score, or 340, will be retained, to replace one-sixth of the ewes drafted every year, and the remaining 160, together with the 500 wether-lambs, will be disposed of. The high hill store-farmer -purchases those lambs, rears them until fit, as wethers, to go to the low country to be fed fat on turnips; and, acting thus, he never keeps breeding ewes.

1025. The state of the hill-pastures modify the mode of management on the hill-farms. The hill-pasture does not rise quickly in spring, nor until early summer; and when it does begin to vegetate, it grows rapidly into herbage, affording a full bite. It is found that this young and succulent herbage is not congenial to the ewe-it is apt to superinduce in her the liver-rot; but it is well adapted for forwarding the condition and increasing the size of bone of young sheep. It is, therefore, safer for the hillfarmers to purchase lambs from the south country pastoral farmers, who breed Black-faced sheep largely, as well as the Cheviot, than to keep standing flocks of ewes of their own. The winter half-year, too, on the hills, is a long period to be obliged to sustain a flock of ewes on extraneous food.

1026. It seems impracticable to have arable land on a hill-farm, at least hill-farmers are unwilling to admit that turnips are the best food for their stock in winter. Whatever may prompt them to object to arable culture on their farms, the reasons would be very strong that would prove that Black-faced sheep would not thrive on turnips in the hills, if these were raised for them on the spot. Doubtless on many farms, far removed from the great roads, it would be difficult to bring even a favoured piece of ground into culture, and especially to raise green crops upon it as they should be; but there are many glens among the hills, not far removed from tolerable roads, in which the soil might be cultivated to great advantage, and the green crop and hay from which would maintain the flock well through

a stormy period extending from 6 weeks to 2 months.

1027. As a corroborative proof of the utility of cultivated land to hill-farms, is the practice of hill-farmers taking turnips or rough grazings for their stock in the lower part of the country, as nearly adjacent to their own homes as food can be procured; and of the lowland farmers, who possess hill-farms, bringing their sheep to the low country in winter, and putting them on turnips. If turnips and rough pasture will repay to be so taken, much more would they repay if raised at home; and if the stock might be thus brought through the dreary part of winter tolerably well, they would experience the conveniences of home when the snow fell deep, and covered the ground for weeks together. Stores of turnips and stacks of hay would then be as useful at home as abroad; and, when these failed, whins and bushes would afford as good food at home as at a distance. Hence the utility of raising turnips at home, and of storing a large proportion to be used in emergencies. Where a Scots-fir plantation is near a haunt of sheep these need not starve, for a daily supply of branches, fresh cut from the trees, will not only support them, but make them thrive as heartily as upon hay alone; and if a small quantity of hay is given along with the fir-leaves, they will thrive better than on hay alone.*

1028. The want of adequate shelter at home may induce some hill-farmers to send their stock to a lower country in winter. Their hills are bare of wood, the few trees being confined to the glens; and of course sheep can find no shelter in their usual grounds; and it is surprising how susceptible of cold even Black-faced sheep are when the atmosphere is becoming moist. They will cower down, creep into corners and beside the smallest bushes for shelter, or stand hanging their heads and grinding their teeth, having no appetite for food. If a piercing blast of wind follows such a cold day, the chances are that not a few of them perish in the night, and if thick snow-drift comes on, they drive before it, apparently regardless of consequences, and descend into the first hollow, where they are overwhelmed. Thus the utility of stells becomes apparent, and many hearty wishes are no doubt expressed for them by the farmer and his shepherd, when they have them not in the hour of peril.

1029. Sketching pictures of melancholy effects of storms is no substitute for the necessity, the utility, the humanity of cultivating such an extent of ground, in favoured spots, as would raise food to support, beyond a doubt or a dread, the whole flock through the protracted period of the longest storm. Such effects of storms are the strongest incentives to form extensive plantations, for shelter, on all our mountain ranges. Though some of the trees would fail to grow here and there, it does not follow that the most would not grow quite well to afford invaluable shelter in the bleakest period of the year. And such catas

*Little's Practical Observations on Mountain Sheep, p. 44

trophes urge the more strongly upon hill-farmers the construction of commodious stells in the most exposed situations of the farm. Opinion is not agreed as to the best form of stell for high pastures, where wood is seldom found. At such a height the spruce will not thrive; and the larch, being a deciduous tree, affords but little shelter with its spear-pointed top. There is nothing left but the evergreen Scots fir for the purpose, and, when surrounding a circular stell, such as fig. 59, it would afford very acceptable shelter to a large number of sheep. This form of stell consists of 2 concentric circles of wall, Fig. 59.

AN INSIDE STELL SHELTERED BY PLANTATION.

enclosing a plantation of Scots fir, having a circular space a, in the centre for sheep, as large as to contain any number. This may be denominated an inside stell, in contradistinction to the outside one in fig. 56, and has been proved efficient by the experience of Dr Howison. Its entrance, however, is erroneously made wider at the mouth than at the end next the interior circle, a, which produces the double injury of increasing the velocity of the wind towards the circle, or of squeezing the sheep the more the nearer they reach the inner end of the passage. The walls of the passage should be parallel and winding, to break the force of the wind.

1030. But where trees cannot be planted with a prospect of success, stells may be formed without them, and indeed usually are; and of all the forms that have been tried, the circular has obtained the preference on hill-farms; but the difficulty of determining the size as the best, is still a matter of dispute amongst hill-farmers. Lord Napier thought 7 yards diameter a good size, and the largest not to exceed 10 yards inside measure; while Mr William Hogg approves of 18 yards. I agree with Mr Hogg. In the first place, the circular form is better than a square, a parallelogram, or a cross; because the wind striking against a curved surface, on coming from any quarter, is divided into two columns, each weaker than the undivided mass; whereas, on striking against a straight surface, though its velocity is somewhat checked, it is still undivided, and its force still great, when it springs upwards, curling over the top of the wall, throwing down the snow a few yards into the interior of the figure. Any one who has noticed the position of drifts of snow on each side of a straight stone wall, will remember that the leeward-side of the wall is completely drifted up, while on the windward-side a hollow is left, often clear to the ground, between the snow and the wall. Every form of stell, therefore, that presents a straight face to the drift will have that fence drifted up and be no protection to the sheep. Of two curves, that which has the larger diameter will divide the drift the farther asunder. A stell of small diameter, such as 7 yards, dividing a mass of drift, divides also the current of air immediately over it so suddenly that the snow it carries is let fall into the stell. A stell of large diameter, of 18 yards, on dividing a column of air, deflects it so much on each side that it has long passed beyond the stell before it regains its former state, and before it deposits its snow; and hence the snow is found to fall in a triangular shape, with its apex away quite to leeward of the most distant part of the stell, and of course leaves the interior free of deep snow.

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1031. Fig. 60 represents a stell of 18 yards diameter inside, surrounded by a wall of 6 feet high, the first 3 feet of which may be of stone, and the other 3 feet of turf, and will cost 2s. 4d. per rood of 6 yards, if erected by the tenant, but if by the landlord, and wholly of stone with a cope,

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THE CIRCULAR STELL FITTED UP WITH HAY-RACKS, AND SUPPLIED WITH A HAY-STACK.

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