SS Bureau of Farmers' Institutes. 



several weeks since. They will not go out until the weather is 

 warm. 



Question. — Does it pay to wash sheep ? Is it good for the sheep ? 



Mr. Rogers. — I don't know whether it is good for them or not, 

 but we wash them. Sometimes we have skk sheep after washing 

 them. I know of no physical good to them, but we get more for 

 the wool, nearly a third more, although we do not wash out a third 

 in weight. 



Mr. Van Dreser. — During the last 20 years we have not washed 

 a sheep. Ours are Scotch Cheviots, and we get only three cents a 

 pound less for unwashed than for washed wool. I do not believe 

 that washing does them any good, and I know that it does not bene- 

 fit the man who does it. 



Question. — What does Mr. Woodward feed 15 sheep on an 

 acre beside the three cents worth of bran ? 



Mr. Woodward. — Just what they can pick off the ground. Three 

 cents worth a week will keep them, but w T e buy our bran in the 

 summer for about $10 per ton. The sheep also eat all the weeds 

 and windfall apples and will not gnaw the trees or limbs. 



Question. — Where do you buy bran at the prices you name ? 



Answer. — In Buffalo or in Lockport. There is about $2 differ- 

 ence between the price of winter wheat and spring wheat bran, but 

 the spring wheat is just as good as winter wheat for sheep feeding. 



Question. — Will silage, if fed to young lambs, injure them? 



Mr. Witter. — No, sir; we had 110 lambs last year. Did not 

 lose more than 10. They had some silage every day. I have 

 grown lambs to 50 pounds at the age of 60 days, that were per- 

 fectly healthy. They got some silage every day, but we did not 

 feed it but once a day and then in limited quantities. So fed, it is 

 an excellent food for lambs. Our lambs begin to come about April 

 1st. We do not grow any hot-house lambs. 



Mr. Smith. — Mr. Woodward of Lockport has GOO winter lambs. 

 They are fed some ensilage with clover hay, wheat bran and oil 

 meal, daily. 



Question. — What breed of sheep is the most profitable for the 

 farmer of to-day ? 



Mr. Smith. — There are a number of sheep breeders here; give 

 us your opinions. No response. A vote, however, showed that the 

 Shropshire was the favorite. 



Mr. Woodward. — It would all depend on what a man wanted 

 to do with the sheep. If he is after winter lambs, the Dorset is 

 the best; if for wool, some of the Downs are best, provided they 



