"... That
By moonshine do the green sour ringlets make,
Whereof the ewe not bites."


John carried a magic bottle of caustic liniment for application to the
feet of sheep affected with the complaint called "foot-rot." The cause
of this troublesome disease is excessive development of the walls of
the hoof, owing to the animals grazing exclusively on wet pasture, the
surface of which is too soft to keep them worn down; the walls
gradually double over and collect wet mud, which causes inflammation.
It never occurred on my arable land, either among ewes or younger
sheep, but whenever I bought sheep from the flint stones of Hampshire
and grazed them on soft pasture, it soon made its appearance. The
remedy is timely and constant paring of the hoof before any tendency
to lameness is observed, and when this is properly attended to no
caustic application is necessary. Lame sheep indicate an inefficient
shepherd, and the disorder has been well called "Shepherd's Neglect."

An eminent breeder of prize Hampshire Down sheep told me that, when
contemplating the exhibition of sheep, the first necessity is to get a
"prize shepherd," a man with a presence, and a reputation which he
would not risk in the show-ring without something worth exhibiting. I
started a flock of pedigree Shropshires, but my land was too good and
grew them too big and coarse for showing, and I soon found that it was
useless to try, though I succeeded in taking a prize at the
Warwickshire county show. It so happened that when my shepherd (not
John) returned in great triumph from the show, he found his first-born
son, who had arrived in his absence, awaiting him. "Well done,