I054 , Rural School Leaflet. 



in the lonesome life which they arc compelled to lead be'come very much 

 attached to him. The dogs fulfill a twofold duty in that they serve as 

 companions for the herders on the bare, lonesome ranges and at the 

 same time aid them very materially in their work. 



After the summer is over, the sheep are moved back to home quarters 

 and those which are to be sent to market are separated. These are 

 made up of two classes: 



(a) The lambs born early in the spring, the fat wethers, and the 

 old ewes which are no longer useful as breeders. 



(b) The lambs which arc born late and the sheep which are not in mar- 

 ket condition but which must, be fed for a certain length of time before 

 being fit for slaughter. 



They are all shipped to some one of the great western markets of which 

 Chicago is the chief. Here those fit for slaughter are sold to the butchers, 

 while the " feeders " are sold to men in Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, 

 Ohio, and other eastern states, who make a business of feeding lambs 

 and sheep for the winter market. Some of these " feeding lambs," as 

 they are called, come as far east as western New York. 



A change is taking place in this winter feeding business as well as in 

 the western sheep ranching of which the former has been an outgrowth. 

 The big feeders who used to feed ten thousand to one hundred thousand 

 lambs and sheep in a single winter are no longer known, and the work 

 is being done on a smaller scale by smaller farmers. The reason for this 

 is that hay and mill waste are no longer low in price and the business 

 must be conducted by men who can raise at least part of their forage on 

 their own farms. 



The New York State farmer who practices the winter feeding of 

 lambs divides the winter season into two periods. He buys his first 

 lot of lambs in the fall and feeds with the intention of turning his pro- 

 duct on the market in February. Then he buys another lot to turn off 

 in early spring. In New York, farmers feed lambs to maintain the 

 fertility of the land and to use certain kinds of rough forage to advantage, 

 buying as little grain feed as possible. The object in feeding is to get 

 good gain as quickly as possible at least cost. The lambs are fed all 

 that they will eat, and should consume one quart of mixed grain per 

 day, besides a good amount of hay. Many feeders feed only for the 

 manure that the lambs will produce, but no farmer should be satisfied 

 without getting some profit from his feeding operations besides the 

 amount of manure he may obtain for keeping up the fertility of his farm. 



In the next paper we will take up sheep raising on New York farms 

 in contrast to the ranch method. 



