PROGRESSIVE SHEEP RAISING 



Marketing Mutton and Lamb 



Wh . During the past few years there has 



wnai are keen a remarkable change in the sheep 



the Market business. ' 'Aged stock' ' has become very 



Demands scarce. Livestock men now market 



practically all of their stock as lambs. 



This has resulted almost in the elimination of wether 



sheep and yearling ewes. Receipts of "aged stock" are 



now almost all ewes, and even these at times are very 



scarce. 



*W/,, ?*-,', The trade calls for H S nt ' Plump, well 



&arly bprmg finished lambs, weighing about 70 to 

 or Hothouse 80 pounds on the hoof, and mutton 

 Lambs weighing looto 125 pounds. The sale 



of poorly finished carcasses is very 

 slow but the demand is always heavy for good stock. 

 In this country few of our wethers are above three years 

 old when they are taken to market. We are a lamb-eating 

 people, but will eat mutton when lambs are not available. 



The first run of spring lambs usually comes just before 

 Easter. These are often termed "hothouse lambs" and 

 are the output of growers who specialize on early lambs. 

 They are generally dressed with the pelts on. 



These are lambs that are dropped in November or 

 December and prepared under artificial conditions for 

 market. 



The idea in raising hot-house lambs is to bring them 

 on the market in early spring and get fancy prices for 

 them. For a limited supply of these lambs there is a good 

 demand. They average about fifty pounds on the hoof, 

 which is considered very light as lambs go. 



Spring Lambs The first real run of genuine spring 

 lambs on the western markets is from 

 Tennessee. The start in limited quantities about the 

 middle of May, and come regularly after June first. 



Page Twenty-Six 



