41 8 Journal of Agriculture. [8 July, 1908. 



LUOERXE HAY FOR FATTEXING EXPORT .AIFTTUX. 



H . ir. Ham, Sheep Exfert. 



In order to profitabK fatten sheep on lucerne hav and grain, the fol- 

 lowing three important essentials should obtain: — i. The holding must 

 contain enough suitable lucerne land and a liberal supply of water for 

 irrigating it. 2. Suitable racks and grain troughs for the economical feed- 

 ing of the hay and oats must be provided. 3. There must be a larger 

 supply of shapely quick-thriving breeds of store weaners and two- tooths 

 ihan we now have. 



Farmers who can make lucerne hav and grow oats, need have no fear 

 but that this ration will fatten sheep quickly. Stud sheep men in Riverina 

 and Victoria have proved it, and in Tasmania fair numbers of sheep are 

 successfully fed on perennial and Italian rye grass hay with a little oats 

 added ; lucerne hay is, however, m.uch more fattening. 



Lucerne hay feeding .should be one of the chief methods q| fattening 

 sheep for export. It will not be used to any great extent in connexion with 

 raising milk lambs, but at pre.sent it points to one of the wavs of getting 

 read), as teg mutton, those not fattened in adverse seasons as milk-lambs, 

 and also the store lambs from cold countrv not milk-giving enough to raise 

 an exjxjrt lamb on the mother with natural pasture. It will then be possible, 

 with the asistance of the very late districts, to keep up a fair supply for our 

 freezing works well on tov.ards autumn, and will, in more wa\s than one, 

 assist to avoid the rush of lambs that takes jjlace each spring when the 

 freezing companies ci^.nnot take them fast enough and the lamb-raisers suffer 

 accordingly. Better prices could be given for even quality lambs, whether 

 milk-lambs or tegs, if the supply would come more regularly. 



The best gram to add, for feeding value, is .oats (Algerian for prefer- 

 ence). Some feeders of merino stud sheep do not agree \\\\\\ this, and 

 are in favor of peas or barley. Oats (especially Algerian) are liable to 

 cause stripping of the legs and face, and to put rather much color in the 

 yolk ; so will lucerne hay, but this is no disadvantage in export mutton, as 

 tile breeds best suited are mostly bare faced and legged. Oats will grow 

 raiy where, yield well under fair conditions, and can be fed without any 

 further preparation or cost in labor. It is not so with peas or barlev, and, 

 again, oaten straw is of all straw the best to keep as a stand-by in times 

 ot .scarcity for cattle feed. In some seasons good feed oats are .sold for 

 export as low as is. 3d. per bushel. 



For yield of fodder per acre, nothing equals a well-established lucerne 

 jiatch under irrigation, with its four and five cuttings through the summer. 

 Xo grain crops give more feed value per acre than oats with its grain and 

 straw. As a rule, the seed does not need pickling, and will lie in the ground 

 awaiting rain with less risk than any other suitable grain. 



Lucerne hay can be cheaply made and cheaply fed, and oats need no 

 further preparation than the threshing. Carting the hay out to sheep in the 

 paddocks will be found too wasteful. When done in the summer, as it will 

 be, for store Iambs can then be bought to best advantage, the leaves break 

 off and get trampled in the dust, and what is not lost altogether i.s made 

 less nutritive owing to the sheep eating the du.st along with it. Windy 

 days will also waste a lot ; and so will wet and showery weather. 



We have no need in Australia to house sheep, but in hand-feeding it is 

 necessary to have contrivances that will protect the feed from rain and 

 wind and that will prevent Ava.ste through stock trampling it under foot. 



