text:  I knew a shepherd who possessed unwearied attention but was deficient in skill and being over-anxious always assisted the ewes in lambing before the proper time; and as he kept the ewes in too high condition the consequence was that every year he lost a number of both ewes and lambs; and in one season of bad weather the loss amounted to the large number of twenty-six ewes and I forget of how many lambs in a dock of only ten score of ewes