SIXTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK — PART VIII. 669 



FEED RACKS. 



Feed racks may be made so as to be a nuisance and worry to both 

 the sheep and the shepherd, or they may be so made as to be conven- 

 ient and economical. The bars should be no more than three inches 

 apart, and should slope inward, but only sufficient to make the dust and 

 fragments fall inside the feed box. The sheep should not be permitted 

 to push their heads inside the racks, for this tears the wool from the 

 necks, and makes strangling probable by a sheep becoming fastened be- 

 tween the bars. The bars should be rounded on the edges, and so made 

 as not to tear the wool from the sheep's necks, if they do get the heads 

 through. They should be made on the floor, so that there may be no 

 space under for lambs to crawl in and get fast. The best material for 

 them is pine or poplar wood, as these do not make sharp splinters, and 

 they should be well smoothed to a finish. 



WINTER LAMBS. 



There is no question of the profit of the winter lambs. Nor does the 

 unusual season add anything to the cost of them. In fact the cost is 

 less than that of the latter spring lamb. Being at home and under 

 close observation the risk of accident is lessened and more lambs may- 

 be reared easier than the later dropped ones. The earlier breed- 

 ing of the ewes too is gradually hastened, and in a short time the lambs 

 may all be dropped before the end of the year, and if desired there may 

 be a second crop reared within the twelve months. The extra profit of 

 this is beyond question. The late summer lamb may be made salable 

 for the Christmas market and a high price secured for it, and the 

 spring lamb will come in for the Easter festival. But there is a choice 

 of the breed of ewes to be kept for this use. The popular taste is for 

 black faced lambs and it is certainly justified by the facts. For the lamb 

 of a Shropshire ewe with its black face is of better value in the 

 market than any other for the reason that these marks have long been 

 associated with the fat, plump body and the tender meat. And while 

 the popular turkey still holds the popular fashion for the day, the lamb 

 is a representative for the season and his is a continuous one through 

 the whole period. 



VJlxy the twice-a-year lambs should be popular is something that' 

 goes without any thought of question. Good things are ever welcome 

 and desirable and the number of purchasers that now crowd of markets 

 for them make the production of rearing of them very desirable to the 

 farmers of the vicinity of the large cities. All the more so that the 

 trouble due to them comes in a season of leisure when there is nothing 

 else occupying the attention of the farmers who live near the large 

 cities. Such locations are not yet appreciated for their extra value for 

 these and other related products. In a smaller country and more crowded 

 population these special products occupy the attention of consumers 

 much more extensively than in our more thinly occupied localities, but 

 there is no reason why this should be so if the producers would take 

 the due care to inform those Interested of the facts in the case. To let 



