BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 207 



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SHEEP AND GOAT INVESTIGATIONS. 



FAKM-SHEEP INVESTIGATIONS. 



Farm-sheep investigations were continued at the bureau's experi- 

 ment farm at Beltsville, Md., and at the United States Morgan 

 Horse Farm, Middlebury, Vt. 



The main lines of work at Beltsville are (1) development of a 

 practical system of forage-crop pastures for sheep, (2) effects of 

 flushing (extra feed) at the time of conception on lamb yields, (3) 

 growth studies, and (4) type fixing of purebred sheep. 



The forage-crop studies have demonstrated that sheep can be 

 grown successfully by using these crops to provide the entire sum- 

 mer pasture; that by a system of rotation of forage-crop pastures 

 lambs can be grown to market age without loss of vitality or depre- 

 ciation of gains ; and that the frequent change of pastures made pos- 

 sible by this system is beneficial but not entirelj- adequate in the 

 control of parasites in sheep carried throughout the year. 



The fixing of type of the purebred Southdown, Hampshire, and 

 Shropshire sheep was continued by selective breeding. At the close 

 of the fiscal year the Beltsville flocks comprised 159 Southdowns, 66 

 Shropshires, 62 Hampsliires, and 13 Corriedales, a total of 300 sheep. 



The investigations at Middlebury related to (1) the effects of 

 flushing at breeding time on lamb yields, (2) growth studies, (3) 

 grading up farm sheep, and (4) early as compared with late lamb 

 production. The flushing experiments showed an advantage in favor 

 of flushing. Grading up was continued by crossing the western 

 ewes and their offspring with purebred Shropshire and Southdown 

 rams and selecting the ewe lambs on points of type, conformation, 

 and fleece desirable for farm sheep. The early and late lambing 

 experiment for the third successive year showed the economy of late 

 lamb production. Lambs dropped in May and June and marketed 

 in November yielded a net average of $4.38 a head more than those 

 dropped in February and March and marketed in July. 



At both Beltsville and Middlebury data on the growth of lambs 

 ar» kept through weekly weighings. 



EANGE-SHEEP INVESTIGATIONS. 



Studies of important range-sheep problems are under way at the 

 United States Sheep Experiment Station, Dubois, Idaho, where there 

 are 3,745 sheep and lambs of the Rambouillet, Corriedale, and Co- 

 lumbia breeds and crosses. This work includes (1) the breeding and 

 improvement of types of sheep adapted to the range, (2) compara- 

 tive value of lamb and wool yields from different types of range 

 sheep, (3) watering sheep on the range from wells and reservoirs, 

 (4) shed lambing, (5) wintering range sheep, and (6) range im- 

 provement through grazing and reseeding methods, in cooperation 

 with the Forest Service. 



The breeding and grazing work at Dubois is serving as a means 

 of determining the type of sheep that, when grazed on a particular 

 type of range, yield the greatest returns in mutton and wool. The 

 production of both mutton and wool is studied in great detail. 



