80 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Jan., 



that reason we try to feed them so they will eat up all that we 

 give them, and get good and hungry by milk time. If there is 

 a little bit that is not eaten up we take it and give it to the 

 ewes. 



I want to emphasize this point. I do not know whether I 

 have brought out this idea with sufificient force to make it as 

 clear to you as I would like to. There is a great deal in han- 

 dling the flock in a perfectly natural way. Handle the ewes and 

 lambs so naturally that it will seem perfectly natural for them 

 to run in and out among each other, and by having these pens 

 placed as I have described that goes a great ways towards 

 keeping the flock contented, as it allows the lambs to mix with 

 their mothers, and they do better in consequence. Lambs do 

 not want a hothouse. I think I have already told you that 

 they want plenty of good fresh air. I do not mean by that 

 that they can stand it'to be kept in a cold or damp place. They 

 cannot. They do not want a cold place, where the wind blows 

 through. They want to be protected from strong winds if 

 possible. It is better to have a place that is open to the south, 

 if open at all, with the wind all shut off on the other side. The 

 place should be arranged in such a way that the wind can be 

 shut off in the direction from which it comes. 



Now, when the lambs will dress from thirty to forty pounds 

 they are ready to go to market ; to ship to New York, to New 

 Haven, or any other place where there is a good sale for them. 

 I do not know much about your local markets. I know what 

 the markets are in our large western cities, and after figuring 

 up the cost of raising you will find that they have cost you less 

 per pound to produce, by reason of shipping them off in the 

 way I have been describing to you, than they will if you carry 

 them on for a year. They will bring you from six or eight to 

 ten dollars apiece, and sometimes even more, and it is almost 

 like finding money. 



When you take them away from the ewes then you can put 

 others on. Perhaps there are twins, and one of them needs 

 more help and nourishment than the other. Just take an old 

 ewe that has parted from her lamb and put her in her pen, and 

 try her to see whether or not she is milking in good shape, 

 and if she is, and she objects, just put her neck in the stanchion. 

 All that is necessary is to keep her quiet, and to prevent her 

 frora running around. I just drive two stakes down and tie 



