86 Bureau of Farmers' Institutes. 



Question. — But what shall we do in winter, when there are not 

 only ticks but some of those little red-headed lice on the sheep, 

 which terribly annoy the ewe about to drop her lamb in a few 

 weeks ? 



Dr. Smead. — I have a way of doing it. Turn the sheep on its 

 back, and, from an old coffee pot, pour a little stream of carbolic 

 dip all along the belly, from the nose to the hind legs. Pour on 

 about a quart. It will go right down to the skin and completely 

 around the body, leaving the wool almost wholly dry. The lice 

 do not eat, but suck, and the carbolic dip stops the breathing holes 

 in their bodies, and thus kills them, and also kills the ticks which 

 have gone close to the body for warmth. 



Question. — Will Dr. Smead tell us where the profit is in sheep? 



Dr. Smead. — There is as much profit in sheep when properly 

 handled and cared for in western ]STew York as in the dairy; 

 but a man must have a love for the sheep* and know how to feed 

 and care for them, and must select the best breeds, just as he 

 should select the best dairy cows. The dairy cow has a dairy 

 form; so has the dairy sheep. Select it. As many as eight fine 

 lambs have been reared from five ewes, in flocks in our town 

 (Logan), and a revenue of $5.50 for lambs and $1.20 for wool per 

 sheep derived. Such sheep will be in proportion of about five for 

 one cow. The cost of keeping the five sheep and one cow will be 

 just about the same, and there are many farmers more capable of 

 caring for the sheep than for the cow. 



Question.— Would you advise the feeding of bean fodder and 

 silnge at the same time to pregnant ewes and cows? 



Dr. Smead. — I do not know that I can answer the question as 

 fully for the cow as the sheep. But, in my own judgment, I 

 should not feed more than four pounds of the bean pods to a 

 ewe weighing 150 pounds. I should feed ensilage and the pods 

 morning and night and mixed hay at noon. Sheep require a 

 variety of foods. 



Question. — Would you advise feeding the silage to ewes which 

 are suckling lambs? 



Dr. Smead. — Yes; if not too much is fed; but there should 

 be some clover hay fed as well as some of the protein foods, and 

 the process should begin before the lambs are dropped. 



Question. — Are winter lambs profitable? 



Mr. Woodward. — Yes; if conditions are favorable. We find 

 it very profitable. This winter they have averaged $10 a head 

 at 10 weeks old. Study the business carefully before you at- 



