442 ~ EXPERIMENTAL FARMS 



■ 5 GEORGE v., A. 1915 



EXPERIMENTAL FARM, AGAS3IZ, B.C. 



REPOUT OF THE SUPERINTENDENT, P. H. MOORE, B.S.A. 



SHEEP. 



This year there were kept through the season eighteen ewes eligible to raise 

 lambs. Two ewes would not breed and two died of pneumonia. The old ram was 

 sold at the close of the breeding season. 



The results this year from the flock are not as good as the previous year, although 

 from a money-making point of view, the. flock may have been more profitable than 

 before. The whole flock ran to pasture the entire year and ate pasture that would 

 otherwise have gone to waste. They were fed hay for eight days in February, and 

 some at lambing time. The entii-e flock consumed 840 pounds, making a total cost 

 of 30 cents per sheep for hay. Even with feeding such as this, the sheep became very 

 fat, and trouble at lambing time resulted. Tw» ewes would not breed, two died of 

 pneumonia early in the season ; one was a sheei) that had an attack last year, and the 

 other was a fresh case. Both cases came on in good weather and the cause could not 

 be ascertained. 



At lambing time, some of the lambs were born deformed, some had not strength 

 to get up, and others were blind. From all these causes, the mortality in the lambs 

 was high. The lambing results of the season are as follows : — 



Total number of ewes 14 



Total number of lambs dropped 26 



Total number of lambs dropped per ewe 1'84 



Total number of lambs raised 16 



Average number of lambs raised per ewe 1-14 



Per cent of lambs raised 61.5% 



One of the ewes raised a pair of lambs in the autumn of 1913, but they are not 

 counted in the above. She also had a strong lamb in March, 1914. Two other ewes 

 had lambs in the autuimi but did not raise them. 



The wool from the flock was of good quality and quantity. The heaviest fleece 

 was 11-1 pounds, from a yearling, and the lightest was 4-5 pounds, from the ewe which 

 raised the two sets of lambs. The average for the flock was 7-28 pounds per ewe. 



No experimental work was done on account of not having sufficient housing 

 accommodation. 



