144 



They were sold at an average age of 101 days and had 

 aitaiued an average live weight of 51 pouuds (^Atlanta 

 weightsj. They made excellent gains to be born of mothers 

 that a\erage only 95 pounds in weight. 



It might have been more profitable to have carried them 

 to a lieavier weight, but that point could not be determined. 

 If they had been born earlier they could have been fed 

 longer and still been placed upon the early market. The 

 object was to sell them as early in the season as possible 

 and yet have a reasonable size. This is the reason why 

 earliness of birth is such an important question. \Vheu 

 warm weather comes on the price of mutton declines, as 

 peoi>le do not like mutton during the warm months, so 

 it is to the advantage of the owner to let the lambs go at 

 the earliest possible date. And, too, when they are sold 

 in the early spring the danger of losses from summer dis- 

 eases is also considerably lessened. The earliest bunch was 

 sent to Atlanta, April 2Brd, 1907. The Station has suc- 

 c-eeded, during the last two years, in getting some lambs 

 ready for the market by the middle of April. Two of the 

 bunch sold for nine cents a pound live weight, while three 

 sold for eight and one-half cents a pound. The remaining 

 ones were sent on later and sold for but eight cents a pound. 

 The late ones were, in fact, better lambs than the first ones, 

 but the weather was becoming warm and there was not as 

 great a demand for them as there was for the early ones. The 

 l)est prices prevail just before Easter time. The Station 

 has not been able to secure as good prices for lambs as 

 have some farmers of the state. A picture in another part 

 of the bulletin shows some lambs which were sold, in A]>ri], 

 1008. in Birmingham, for ten cents a pound live weight. 



It must be remembered, too, that these lambs were not 

 fnncy bred ones. They were just common lambs. In fact, 

 two of them were out of scrub mothers by a pure bied 

 Southdown ram. The others were out of grade mothers. 



