252 FARM ANIMALS 



sheep, but that it is actually used to such an enor- 

 mous extent throughout the western states where 

 the sheep business prevails most widely that it 

 justifies placing it at the head of the list. Alfalfa 

 may be used as the exclusive fattening ration for 

 sheep with merely the addition of a small quantity 

 of roots. This practice prevails among many 

 sheep men of the western states who have found 

 it possible to put a tolerably fine finish on lambs or 

 even old sheep by feeding them alfalfa ad libitum 

 with small amounts of mangel-wurzels or sugar 

 beets for a period of seventy to ninety days in 

 winter. The profits derived from feeding al- 

 falfa hay under such circumstances are well worth 

 considering, since a ton of this hay will produce at 

 least $7 to $10 worth of mutton in localities where it 

 can be purchased for $5. The feeding problem 

 when nothing but alfalfa hay and roots are used 

 is reduced to its simplest terms and the cost of 

 managing sheep under such conditions is very 

 slight. 



It has been demonstrated that while alfalfa 

 may be depended upon to bring sheep to a fairly 

 good mutton form by the addition of grain, the 

 greatest profit is, nevertheless, to be obtained in 

 feeding small amounts of grain and sugar beet 

 pulp with alfalfa. The best method of doing this 

 is to feed the beet pulp ad libitum as well as the 

 alfalfa hay and a small quantity, say one-half 

 pound per day per head of grain. When such a 

 ration is used a pound of mutton can be produced 

 on one and one-naif pounds of grain, four pounds 

 alfalfa and ten pounds sugar beet pulp. The 

 cheapest grain to feed in this ration in the western 

 states has been found to be wheat screenings. It 

 has also been shown by various farmers that good 



