DIGITAL ARCHIVE of SLAVERY to FREEDOM at MONTICELLO   (beta)

Sheep.

never let the ram go to ewes till Michaelmas or 1st of Oct. Gl Washington

kill all lambs which fall after the 1st of May

at shearing time mark the age of your sheep. the 3 first years by a nick each year in the right ear, & the 4th & 5th [. . .] years by nicks in the left ear. the 6th [. . .] crop the left ear & fallen them for muttons.

it is best never to house sheep. ewes which yean in a house in may other sheep sometimes disown their lambs losing knolege of them in the crowd

a sheep requires about ⅕ or ⅙ the food of a cow. Ronconi. voce ‘Medica.’

muttons are put into the cornfield about the 23d July. A. Cary

a sheep will each as much & dung as much as one cow. [Taylor?]

a sheep may be wintered on 10.℔ of turneps but it is not an ample allowance. a ewe and lamb will eat 12.℔ of hay a week having very little food besides 4. Young’s exp agr. 391 392. they will do very well & fatten on any kind of grass. ib 390.

Young says turneps should not be depended on for sheep later than March. that the turnep cabbage is then in perfection and continues 6 weeks longer, yielding from 22. to 28. tons per acre. 4. exp. agr 394.–397

TMR allows ½℔ turneps a head to his sheep from christmas to March. about 3 pecks each and ½℔ of fodder a day for each, varying, according to the weather from a bundle to 4. sheep to a bundle a piece. others allow but a gill a day of meal to each

also about a spoonful of salt a head once a week. i.e. ¼ of a gall. or quart a week for [. . .]