496 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



and this affords an opportunity of giving the lam'bs the best pastures' 

 and putting all the ewes into one field instead of being all about the 

 farm robbing the lambs. In some districts weaning is so late that after- 

 math clovers are available, but in the majority of cases this will not be 

 so, and if rape or other green crop be to hand, so much the better, as 

 the object is to minimize the loss of the milk as much as possible. A 

 little grain should be given, but it must not be of a heating nature, prob- 

 ably nothing surpasses good crushed oats with bran and oilmeal. The 

 lambs should, as soon as rape can be got, be put on the arable land and 

 pushed forward in a healthy, natural way, avoiding an undue proportion 

 of artificial food. As the harvest is cleared the aftermath clovers afford 

 a good change for the lambs. Close folding, if possible, should be avoided, 

 as it tends to fatten and not to develop muscle and strength, which should 

 be the object in a breeding flock. By this is meant that the hurdles 

 should not follow close upon the lambs, but that they should be allowed 

 to roam at large over the field. 



The experience of breeders during the last decade seems to point 

 to keeping the lambs from the period of weaning right through the 

 autumn on arable lands, eating a variety of green foods — turnips and 

 young clovers, and not on old pastures. 



To carry this out the breeder must exercise a little forethought and 

 arrange for a succession of kale, rape and other suitable foods. This 

 can be esaily done by planting so much winter rye in the autumn, fol- 

 lowing up with early cabbage, planted in March or April, according to the 

 weather, the drilling of the early Enfield cabbage at intervals during the 

 spring and summer months, assisted with white turnips, rape and kale 

 in suitable quantities. A large flock can be kept in this manner. 



NOTING THE EWES WHICH ARE BEST BREEDERS. 



The lambs from each ewe should be carefully noted, so that when 

 the sorting comes usually June or July) it can be seen which 

 ewes are breeding satisfactorily, and what class of ram suits them best, 

 because possibly some of the most promising lambs may be the offspring 

 of ewes that would otherwise bo discarded. In a pure-bred flock a regular 

 system of sorting at a certain age cannot be followed with advantage, for 

 In some cases it is wise to keep a ew-e — a good ram breeder — as long as 

 she will continue to breed, while others which produce nothing good as 

 yearlings or two-year-olds may safely be put aside. 



At the same time the breeder should try to continue a plan which 

 keeps the flock from degenerating into a lot of old ewes. 



As to the number of ewes which should be selected annually, one 

 must be guided by circumstances. Should the young ewes be exception- 

 ally good, and by one or more sires which you have a high opinion of, it 

 will be wise to draw for the breeding flock more largely than usual. If, 

 on the other hand, the yearling ewes are not to your liking, it may be 

 well to add none to the breeding flock, but dispose of all the young ewes. 

 These matters must be left to the judgment of the breeder, but all such 

 details are of great importance, and whether they receive due attention 

 or not means success or failure. 



