Sheep Breeders' Association. 



387 



FATTENING SHEEP ON RATIONS OF GRAIN WITH ROOTS AND SILAGE. 



The English shepherd prizes roots above all other feeds for 

 the successful fattening of sheep and lambs. Roots are not widely 

 grown in America, but are exceedingly desirable in all rations for 

 fattening sheep. Silage is more often fed in the United States 

 than are roots. The following table will give in a condensed form 

 the principal results from feeding roots and silage with grain to 

 sheep at the American Experiment Stations. From table 5 it will 

 be seen that the amount of grain (370 pounds) for each 100 pounds 

 of gain is comparatively small, and in this respect rations con- 

 taining roots or silage appear to be able to reduce, to some extent, 

 the grain requirements for finishing sheep : 



TABLE V. 



FATTENING SHEEP ON RATIONS OF GRAIN WITH ROOTS AND SILAGE. 



FATTENING SHEEP ON BALANCED RATIONS. 



A large number of stations have fed balanced rations to sheep 

 and the results indicate clearly that so far as the grain require- 

 ment per 100 pounds of gain is concerned, balanced rations re- 

 sult in a considerable saving. It is likewise true that in feeding 

 balanced rations there is always less risk, the animals maintaining 

 a better appetite throughout the fattening period, and where a 

 balanced ration may be fed at the same cost per pound of gain it 



