70 STATE BOARD OP AGRICULTURE. 



the result. Like any other industry, it must be managed with business 

 sagacity to insure success. 



We have to contend with the feeding pens of Colorado and other states, 

 where liberal treatment by the railroads allows them to buy their lambs 

 in New Mexico, bill and pay freight on them to the Missouri river; ship 

 them to the feeding ))ens, where they are permitted to hold them until they 

 are fitted for market and then reload and send them forward under the 

 same billing, being only asked to pay freight on increased weight. 



Then where there is so much constant sunshine, lambs can be fed in 

 open pens and no expense of covered sheds is necessary. They also have 

 the cheaply grown alfalfa hay and low price corn, which proves to be a 

 great condunation for lamb feeding. To meet this competition, many 

 think they can be more successful by breeding their lambs from ewes of 

 some of the early maturing breeds, forcing the lambs from birth and sell- 

 ing as soon as fit for the block. It seems to be conceded that the greatest 

 gains can be secured at the least cost before the lamb is ten months old, 

 but under certain conditions it would not be the best policy to adopt this 

 method. As alfalfa has not become (and perhaps never will) our most 

 reliable forage crop, our main dependence is clover hay and corn silage, 

 and if we intend to make lamb feeding a part of our business, we should 

 so rotate our crops as to have a good supply of this product to market in 

 the condensed form of wool and mutton, and then buy western lambs of 

 light weight about the time we wish to put them in the feeding shed. It 

 has proven good policy to select lambs carrying a good fleece of wool and 

 when the latter is in good demand better results are obtained by shearing 

 the lambs from three to six weeks before putting them on the market. 

 This should certainly be done if they are to be carried until April or May, 

 and especially if infested with ticks. 



With this method it would be best to start in with about one-quarter 

 pound of corn per head, twice a day, increasing gradually until tlie last 

 month or six weeks, when they should get all the grain they Avill clean up. 

 Sometimes other grain than corn can be fed to advantage. I have known 

 of rye being fed as an exclusive grain ration and better prices realized for 

 it than if sold in the market. Sometimes oats can be fed in connection 

 with corn to good advantage, in order to balance up the ration, especially 

 if obliged to feed hay that is mostly timothy. 



It is necessary that good clean water should be where they can get it 

 at all times and almost as necessary that a part of the ration be of a suc- 

 culent nature, such as roots or silage. I have had best success by feeding 

 grain (mostly corn) and silage in the morning, a little bright straw at 

 noon, and corn and clover hay at night, and as long as the price of beef 

 and mutton stand in the present ratio, I would prefer to sell the forage 

 and coarse grains grown on the farm to the animal with the golden hoof. 

 As a new source for a supply of lambs for feeding, the time may not be far 

 off when we can fill our feeding pens with lambs grown on the cheap lands 

 of Northern Michigan. 



