SHEEP HUSBANDRY. 397 



bred buck is much more imperative than with high grade or thoroughbred 

 ewes, for nowhere else will a well-bred sire give such evidence of his power 

 to transmit his characteristics as when bred to the common stock of the 

 country. 



It is surprising and a trifle mortifying to the breeder that, of two pure- 

 blood Merinos with unquestioned pedigree, one will yield a light, dry fleece 

 scarcely weighing four pounds, while anothor will turn off a fleece of great 

 bulk sufficiently furnished with yolk, and weighing from ten to twenty 

 pounds. Pure blooded sheep will do this, but well-bred sheep will not, and 

 any flock which presents such radical difl'erences argues remissness in the 

 owner's habit of selection. 



LAMBING. 



The critical periods in sheep husbandry are at lambing and shearing time. 

 The old fogy idea, persisted in today to a large extent, of having lambs 

 dropped in May and June, is to be deplored. Those who have given the 

 business attention know that lambs dropped in February and March make 

 larger sheep, and the per cent lost is much less than when dropped later in 

 the season. At this season of the year sheep are, or ought to be in the barn 

 and yards where they can be attended with very little trouble. It is also-at a 

 time when other farm duties are not pressing. It is good practice for those 

 expecting early lambs to be provided with flannel blankets large enough 

 to cover a young lamb, and should the weather be very cold, tie on the blanket 

 and help the lamb to its first dinner and it will not require any special 

 attention afterwards. The ewes should be provided with plenty of clover hay 

 and a slop of wheat bran twice a day. There is not much objection to a grain 

 ration being given once a day, although I do not practice it. 



SHEARING. 



To those who wash their sheep I would advise having it thoroughly done 

 in clean water. Washing in muddy water destroys the luster of the wool, 

 and gives a dingy appearance to the fleece. Carelessness in washing is the 

 main cause why so many farmers are obliged to sell their wool for less than 

 the market price. There is no other product of the farm that is as closely 

 inspected by the purchaser as the wool crop. 



At shearing time the farmer should not undertake to practice economy by 

 shearing with his men. Ic is possible for him to save himself five times the 

 amount of his wages by observing closely the sheep after being shorn and 

 their fleeces, for at no other time will sheep show their true form or faulty 

 condition as when freshly shorn. 



My practice at shearing time is to have a pot of black paint and a marking 

 brush on the shearers' bench, and the first sheep shorn is marked No. 1, and 

 the second No. 2, and so on through the flock. 



I also have prepared and in a convenient place labels marked from No. 1 

 to the number of sheep to be shorn. A number is tied to the fleece to corre- 

 spond with the number on the sheep. After the hurry of shearing is over, 

 I get up the flock and look over the fleeces, and when I find a fleece that is 

 not desirable, I find the sheep by its number that it came off from and place 

 upon it a cross, which signifies that that sheep will change owners in the near 

 future, except when such sheep may have so many good points as to over- 

 balance the deficiency in fleece. 



