250 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Jan., 



barn that exists on so many farms where the management has 

 not been right. Now let us go back a Httle and see what 

 care will bring about this condition and then we will go on 

 and see what can be done. One of my early experiences was 

 this: I went down into Monroe County, and I bought a 

 flock of breeding ewes. It was about the middle of February. 

 They were Cotswold ewes. I did not like the looks of them. 

 There was a good deal of merit to them but they had not been 

 cared for right. They had been left out in a storm. And they 

 had some bare spots around their necks in the fleece. I did 

 not show them to my friends. They had lambs that spring, 

 and the lambs died. They would die in spite of me. The 

 ewes were strong, rugged looking ewes, but quite a number in 

 the flock died. I made up my mind that I would have those 

 sheep in better condition the next winter. They were strong, 

 rugged, broad-backed, and as clean as they could be. I got 

 them into the best condition I could. Took good care of them 

 all through that season. Then I took my friends around to 

 see them, and I had good luck with them after that. You 

 cannot succeed, especially with sheep which you are breeding 

 for mutton, without exercise. That is a great essential in the 

 breeding of sheep. Without exercise the flock will not do 

 well. You must keep them out and keep them strong on their 

 legs. Keep them stirring and teach the lambs to walk before 

 they are born. 



I think it was two years after that I bought another flock 

 of Cotswold ewes. I bought them away over in Livingston 

 County, where they had run out all winter without even a 

 straw hut to run under for protection in bad weather. They 

 ran out on those pastures, and it was a mighty good thing 

 for the sheep. The first lamb I lost in that flock was the 

 sixty-fifth lamb that was born. We simply had to pay no at- 

 tention to them. They were strong, vigorous, hardy, and 

 robust, and soon made good shipping stock. Now if you can 

 do that, get your flock into that kind of condition, you need 

 not be afraid of any trouble in lambing time. 



Now in regard to feeding sheep. One of the best things 

 is to provide a good field of rape. I do not know as you raise 

 much of it down in this country. If not, let me tell you how I 

 cultivate it. I have sown hundreds of acres of rape, and have 

 always found that this plan worked well. In most cases we 



