246 FARM ANIMALS 



sheep. The same practice prevails widely in Aus- 

 tralia and other countries. The staple of the wool 

 is very long and the fleece may weigh from twelve 

 to fourteen pounds. 



There are no such well-defined market classes 

 of sheep as are recognized among beef cattle or 

 hogs. A difference of mutton form, however, 

 must be recognized, but on account of the presence 

 of wool this is not so conspicuous as in the case of 

 beef steers or hogs and is, therefore, judged on a 

 somewhat different basis. It is a fact which has 

 been well established by careful observation of 

 the fattening qualities of different sheep that some 

 sheep are very deficient in this respect, producing 

 a very thin layer of meat over the ribs and without 

 sufficient fat and without proper marbling or 

 mixture of the fat and lean. 



GRAINS FOR SHEEP 



As with other animals raised for meat so with 

 sheep, corn is to be considered as the king of all 

 grains, but must be mixed with other grains, par- 

 ticularly when fed to young stock or when fed for 

 long periods, in order to secure the best results. 

 Fortunately for the feeder, the economy of corn 

 feeding may be fully utilized in sheep for the 

 reason that the feeding period is ordinarily not so 

 long as with steers. In a ninety-day feeding 

 period the profit from a ration of corn and alfalfa 

 hay is ordinarily considerably less than that from 

 a ration of emmer, barley or wheat with alfalfa in 

 the western range country where corn is not 

 raised in large quantities. The financial outcome 

 of feeding in the corn belt is quite different, for 

 even in Colorado and other range states it has 



