(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.