Sheep. 337 



indebted to those feeders who abstain from killing Iambs that are 

 fit for the knife, preferring- to bring them to a greater weight as 

 tegs. But this is not a sound conclusion. It would, in fact, 

 benefit the community by increasing the supply of meat, if these 

 feeders killed their lambs and bought for "finishing" some of 

 the half-fat tegs that are slaughtered for want of food to complete 

 their fattening. Bringing sheep to the knife prematurely as 

 regards condition is wasteful ; and on the other hand killing them 

 young, after rapid feeding, is in many respects economical. 



It was a national gain when an improved system of feeding 

 brought " tegs " to market at almost the same weight as had pre- 

 viously been reached when a year older. The same principle 

 applies, as already shown, to the fattening of lambs, which by 

 rapid and economical feeding (which could not be profitably 

 continued if they lived longer) are brought to a weight of 5 stones 

 in five months ; while Down or half-bred sheep, under any ordinary 

 and economical system of feeding, are not fattened to more than 

 10 or 11 stones in fourteen or fifteen months. 



It may also be observed that many ewes which would be 

 killed half-fat, after rearing store lambs, are now kept on to breed 

 fat lambs, and are then fattened, with their lambs, to a greater 

 weight, with richer food than would otherwise have fallen to their 

 share ; so that fat lambs, which on a superficial view appear to 

 diminish the supply of meat, are found really to increase it. 



It is obvious that the high price paid for lamb is aia encourage- 

 ment to the feeder and breeder, without which he would not use 

 the same quantity of cake, oats, white peas, pollard, &c. To 

 expect more mutton by giving up lamb, would be as fruitless as 

 to expect to get more grapes, at the natural season, by giving up 

 those that are forced. 



The supply of meat depends on the number and condition of 

 the animals brought to market, and this is ultimately regulated 

 by the ability of farmers to find food for them. The stock of 

 sheep, though not so large as the increasing population requires, 

 is already sufficient to overtax the present food-supply, and in 

 adverse seasons, especially in dry springs and summers, it becomes 

 necessary to lessen the number of mouths by sending sheep to 

 market half-fat. 



To increase the head of sheep-stock is a matter of no practical 

 difficulty. The present emergency arises from a scarcity of 

 materiel. The problem to be solved is how to enlarge the supply 

 of vegetable food by increasing the amount of capital employed 

 in farming.* 



* A comprehensive paper, by Mr. Morton, 'On Increasing the Supplies of 

 Animal Food,' was published in the tenth volume of the First Series of this .Journal, 

 Part II. 



Z 2 



