212 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



Farmers, whatever your products are, know yourselves 

 what they are worth in the markets, and then demand it of 

 whoever buys them. 



Having spoken of the feeding and marketing of sheep, 

 I will now state briefly the manner pursued by many of 

 our farmers in raising, fattening, and marketing of " early 

 lambs." And let me here state that nearby all of the early 

 lambs that supply the Boston market — which is the market 

 for such lambs — are raised and fattened in Franklin County 

 and towns adjoining. 



The Boston butchers say to me, that in Vermont, New 

 Hampshire, and Maine, the farmers have tried, and thus far 

 have tried in vain, to get up early lambs that will meet the 

 demands of the class that consume this luxury. They agree 

 with us that it is a trade ; and but a few have as yet learned 

 it to any thing near perfection. Early lambs (as I use the 

 term) are those lambs that are dropped in December, Janu- 

 ary, and before the middle of February, and are of such a 

 breed as will, with the very best of care and feed, develop 

 to such an extent that they will be fat enough to weigh, 

 from the middle of April to the last of May, all the way 

 from sixty to ninety pounds, and dress in market fifty per 

 cent of their live-weight. 



To many this statement will seem almost incredible ; yet 

 it is true. I have known of many instances of lambs at three 

 months' old weighing eighty pounds and upwards. 



In order to have lambs develop to such a size, the ewes 

 should not be left to pick their living from the poorest hay 

 in the barn, with nothing to shelter them from the early 

 storms of winter, or protect them from the cold, save an open 

 shed, but should have the best of care from the time they are 

 put into the barn until the lambs are taken to market. 



I think I may safely say that success in raising earl}' 

 lambs for market depends as much upon the care of the 

 ewes, both before and after the birth of the lambs, as upon 

 the care of the lambs. The first thing requisite to be lone 

 is to procure the right kind of ewes ; and the experience of 

 the most successful raisers of early lambs convinces them 

 that a cross between the Merinos and Cotswolds, or other 

 long-wools, is the best, for several reasons. 



They are, as a rule, in condition to couple earlier in the 



