State Library of NSW
265 MISCELLANEOUS NOTES.
CATARRH IN SHEEP. During the early years of the occupancy of mountain, hills & ranges country the flocks of sheep which were sent from the low country estates were frequently attacked by this disease in these elevated positions. During these years the flocks were not climatised with the mountain regions. The soils were then cold and the vegetation sour in many parts of the country. Some of the Runs at that time were noted by the lessees as being lucky, these were found to possess those qualities from natural causes & that the country was high & dry where they were situated producing wholesome herbage & grass - The sheep runs have since improved the sheep also have climatised, and at present the disease which was so common & destructive during the early years of occupation is of rare occurrence - The viscisitudes [vicissitudes] of the climate were at that time great, these acted in a destructive manner upon the herbage and grass, it was found that to these causes the sheep were subject to catarrhal disease. The frosts during winter destroyed much of the herbage and the nourishing quality of the grasses these were found to be hard dry and unfit for sheep. I have in my writings in this volume on the mountain district of New England given instances of a change of climate & feed upon sheep diseased with catarrh which was checked by a change of feed & climate, these animals improve upon a change of both - The Spanish flock owner studied this matter better than we do, they had their summer & winter runs for their flocks over which hundred miles at least were passed by large bodies sheep during the respective seasons. The flocks were by this means in much better order than those of the sheep farmer in this Colony who run the same sheep over the same run for twenty years together, when the most experienced flockmasters find that by running the sheep from a cold to a warm climate during winter, particularly those suffering under Catarrh that
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