252 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Jan., 



whether you grow them, but in our section we grow a good 

 many of them. The dairymen Uke them for dairy cows. As 

 a night ration, feed corn ensilage. For a grain ration, it is 

 a good plan to give them a mixture of coarse bran, and add 

 to^that one-fifth by bulk of cut oil-cake. Or, you can give 

 them oats and bran in equal parts, and one-third of the whole 

 in oil-cake. That is, take two bushels of oats and two bushels 

 of bran, and one bushel of oil-cake. I believe it is the best 

 grain ration you can give the flock. We feed in some place 

 where it can be scattered to some extent, so that they eat the 

 grain slowly. At noon give them a little straw or something 

 of that kind. We have never had any trouble with the grow- 

 ing of sheep rapidly with that feed. 



I have shown sheep a good deal, and have shown ewes at 

 eighteen months, or thereabouts, weighing from 220 to 240 

 pounds each, and rams weighing from 250 to 280 pounds each, 

 at that age, and those sheep had never seen hay in their lives, 

 and did not know what it was. 



Then in addition to that, an important thing is to give them 

 plenty of clean water. The water must be in a clean trough, 

 tub or pail, and the trough or pail should be kept scrupulously 

 clean. Never ask a sheep to drink out of a trough or pail 

 when you are unwilling to drink out of it yourself. If it is 

 clean enough so that you are willing to do it yourself it is 

 good enough for sheep. I have seen sheep come up to a 

 trough that looked a little dirty and reach clear over and take 

 the end of the pipe in their mouths rather than to drink it out 

 of the tub. I have had sheep that were fed in a barn who 

 would not drink to satisfy me, and by taking the empty pails 

 out and giving them a good cleaning with a scrubbing brushy 

 and then taking a cloth and washing them thoroughly clean, 

 and filling them up the sheep would drink all right. A sheep 

 is very particular about the water it drinks. It must be clean. 

 And then another thing: if you feed ensilage, feed all they 

 will eat once a day. The appetite of a sheep is something you 

 need to watch. Feed them only just such a quantity as they 

 will eat up clean in a reasonable time. To give them more 

 is of no practical advantage to them or to you. Now, in 

 feeding ensilage, feed only once a day. If you begin feeding 

 it twice a day they will not eat it over three or four days. 

 Feed it once a day and you will find it a most suitable feed for 



