State Agricultural Society. 453 



of managing this matter, which is here only glanced at, belongs to a 

 later paper of this series, when I come to the season for putting the 

 bucks into the ewe flock, in f about) August. I have meant only to show 

 in what sense " lambing" may be appropriately taken as January work. 

 At whatever season it comes, however, the work of the flockmaster will 

 be substantially the same — especially that part of it which consists in 

 proper " handling" of the sheep. The lambs are to be looked for in one 

 hundred and fifty-one or one hundred and fifty-two days from the date 

 when the bucks were turned in to the flock; the first buck lambs may 

 not appear for a day or two after the lambing begins; and we assume 

 the number of bucks used to have been sufficient to insure all the ewes 

 lambing within a season of six weeks. 



The best level land and feed should have been saved for lambing. At 

 least one shepherd, who can be relied on to stay by the sheep through 

 the season, should have been secured, and ought to begin his work with 

 the ewes at least two weeks before lambing begins, for sheep are nerv- 

 ous with strangers. The necessary corral or corrals should have been 

 provided. 



THE CORRAL. 



CORRALS AND PENS FOR LAMBING. 



The corral for the flock of lambing ewes cannot be too large; neither 

 can it be separated into too many divisions. But the question with the 

 beginner may be — what amount of corral is necessary? I have found 

 that it is j)ossible to work with a corral giving only about one square 

 yard to each ewe in the whole flock. On ranchos where large bands 

 are ranged, the lambing corrals are made with movable fences. 



The material is ordinary fencing stuff. Each panel should be sixteen 

 feet long and four feet high. The end pieces should be about four inches 

 longer than the spaces into which they are to be inserted, which will 

 allow them to be worked easily, as the fence is to be set up, or taken 

 down, with no danger of their becoming unlocked by accident. The 

 vertical pieces are double — one on each side of the horizontal boards. 

 Rivet all together, or — as will serve not quite as well — nail strongly 

 with twelve-penny nails, previously burned to admit of clinching; and 

 a set of these panels can be made to last for years without repairs. 

 One panel out of every four should have a gate about eighteen inches 

 wide. Nail the vertical boards forming the gate to the two middle 

 boards of the panel only, which will serve as battens; then saw these 

 off, put on a pair of butts and a hasp, and the job is complete. With 

 these panels pens can be set up when wanted, alongside or within the 

 lambing corral; or should it be found useful to accommodate a few 

 ewes or lambs, or both, in the barn or under a shed, the needful pens 

 can be set up without delay. The panels come into play the year round. 

 With them the grain stacks can be fenced when it is desired to turn the 

 sheep early on stubble; they can be used in Summer to fence a dry 

 arroyo that during Winter may run a stream of water that prohibits 

 permanent fencing. Four panels set together make a pig-pen, and it is 

 a good plan to set up the pen this way on different spots about the 

 orchard, or the garden ground, beside being rid of the nuisance of a sty 

 permanently on one spot. But, really, there is no enumerating the uses 

 for which these fencing-panels come in. 



On a large sheep ranch there is a headquarters, commonly called the 



