256 REPORT OF BRITISH COMMISSIONERS. 



fht^ir own lambs l>y siiiellinji; tliem. A ewe will uot allow a strange lamb to snck 

 lier if she notices it, bat sonietiiiics a lamb not her own may cotne ii]) on the other 

 side while she is suckling her own lamb, and may unnoticed by her suok her for a 

 time. 



There are motherless larubs which go about in this way, and manage to live by 

 what they can steal, and the green grass, which they can soon digest, even when a 

 few days old. 



Lanii>s at a very early age do not, I tliink, know their own mothers, but will run 

 iip to any ew^e bleating for the lamb, and try to suck her, when the ewe at once 

 knows if it be her own lamb, and if not drives it away. Older lambs know their 

 dams by the voice. 



3. Is it usual to lead ewes accidentally deprived of lambs to suckle other lambs, 

 whether one or twins, or having lost their mothers? — Where the breed is valuable, 

 all lambs are "mothered" to ewes that have lost their own, and soi^ietimes one of 

 twins is put to a ewe that has hjst her lamb. 



Ewes lambing at large in paddocks, however, are left to do as instinct directs, 

 and fewer lambs in proportion are reared than wheu well cared for. 



4. If so, what are the measures adopted? — Putting motherless lambs or oue of 

 twins to a ewe which has lost her lamb. 



5. How many ewes will one ram serve effectively in the season, and how long 

 does the season last?— Ordinarily one ram is ])ut to fifty ewes running at large in 

 paddocks, but a ram that is well fed, and only allowed to serve a ewe once, may get 

 200 lambs in a season. 



Rams are usually kept with the ewes six or seven weeks. 



6. Do the rams eat as much, and the usual food, during the rutting season? — The 

 rams eat as usual when serving the ewes, but fall otf in condition owing to runniug 

 about after the ewes. If fed artificially besides the natural pasture they would, I 

 think, consume more food while serving the ewes than at other times, but this I 

 have not tested. 



7. What is the proportion of male to female lambs born? — The proportions are 

 about equal as a rule. In some cases there is a very considerable difference, the 

 causes being imjierfectly understood. Old rams put to young ewes are said to pro- 

 duce a much larger proportion of ewe lambs, but I have not endeavoured to alter the 

 proi)ortious of the sexes of the progeny, and. cannot speak from experience in this 

 matter. 



(Signed) Samuel Wilson. 



P. S. — 80 per cent, is considered a good average increase in merino ewes. 

 A flock of ewes with careful maiuigement may double their numbers every two 

 and a-half years for a considerable time under favourable conditions. 



S. W. 



12. — Letter from Earl Brownloic on the subject of Deer in the Breedinf) Season. 



8, Carlton House Tkkuack, London, May S, 189:2. 



Dear Sir George : I am very glad to give you any information in my power about 

 the haljits of deer in the British Isles both in a wild and tame state. This informa- 

 tion I have gained in a great degree from personal observation, l)ut the details of 

 management of tame deer in a park I have partly obtained from my park-keeper, 

 who is a uuiu of very great experience, aud has a thorough knowledge of the subject. 



The habits of deer differ very little in a tame or wild state. 



A stag is in his prijne at about 12 years old, and a hind at about 9 years old. 



Supposing that the stock in a park ct)nsists of 100 deer. 



There should be forty stags to sixty hinds. Three stags should be killed each 

 year at 12 years old, leaving a margin of four for loss and accident, aud six hinds at 

 9 years old, leaving a margin of six for loss or accident. From sixty hinds you 



would probal>ly get Croni twenty-five to thirty calves each year. 

 185 The breeding season begins about the 20th September, and lasts till late in 



October. 



During this time the stags eat very little. In a wild state they begin to eat white 

 lichen off the rocks early in October. If you kill a stag then you will find the grass 

 in his stomach mixed with lichen, aud later there will be no grass, and only a hand- 

 ful of licluMi. In a park where they cannot get lichen they will rush into the water, 

 and suck the green vegetation from the siirface. They soon get thin and poor, and 

 when the skin is removed the flesh is red, without fat, with an oftensive smell. 

 They are then quite unfit for food. They take no rest, and spend all their time in 

 hunting and keeping togelher tluir hinds. 



A stag will have witli him any number of hinds from two or three to thirty. 



