242 NORTHEAST EXPERIMENT FARM. 
once separated from the flock and placed by themselves in a 
small pen for a day or two. Young ewes will otherwise often 
desert their lambs, and it is seldom that a ewe can be made 
to adopt another’s lamb unless it is done at once after the 
loss of the lamb at birth. They should be kept in a yard or 
grass plot for at least a week, until the lamb is strong 
enough to run with the flock. While sheep will live on the 
water they get in the dew on the grass and succulence of the 
herbage, and by eating snow, pure water, both in summer 
and winter is essential to their thrift. They should be free 
to choose their own time of pasturing. In the summer this 
will be at early dawn, and at dusk. It will not pay begin- 
ners tostart with full blooded ewes, as much must be learned 
the first year or two and the experience might be costly. 
On the other hand, Merinos, though they pick a better living 
from the brush, are too small and take too long to improve 
for best results from the standpoint of mutton or quantity 
of wool. Grades of the large breeds should be secured if 
possible and bred to a full blooded buck. The flock on the 
farm was originally grade Merinos and though bred to an 
Oxford every year for three seasons, the type does not yet 
show the improvement that could have been obtained in the 
first cross with grades of a larger and better class. Itis a 
mistake to use agrade buck if afull blooded can be obtained, 
as the improvement will be less pronounced or altogether 
wanting, theanimal usually lacking prepotency, or the power 
of getting offspring similar to himself. Wolves have never 
bothered the flock. They may easily become a serious men- 
ace and necessitate careful corralling at night, in sections 
where they are abundant. Bells placed on theewes area 
protection. 
Summer Pasture Crops for Sheep.—Of the crops raised 
as a supplementary pasture for sheep, cornfodder has proved 
most useful. For this purpose it is sown thick, in drills, and 
is pastured when it stands about 3 feet high. It furnishes 
pasture in August, on which the sheep thrive. Sown June 
1st, it reaches the desired height during the latter part of 
July. For late pastureit can besown at any time up toJuly 
10th. To illustrate theamount of pasture afforded by corn, 
a field of 3.6 acres in 1900 pastured 73 sheep for 31 days, 
