256 FARM ANIMALS 



from time to time. The average gain of lambs fed 

 on different rations in Wyoming showed that the 

 most effective ration was one containing alfalfa, 

 turnips, corn and linseed meal, while a ration con- 

 taining nothing but field peas was almost equal to 

 it and various other rations were far less effective. 

 Field peas, even when used alone, are thus seen to 

 be a fine ration for sheep. There is no use in put- 

 ting scrub lambs on expensive feeds. They cannot 

 be fattened in a short period and the growth is not 

 sufficiently rapid to allow any profit to be made. 

 The only way to secure a good profit from high- 

 priced feeds is to use the very best quality of lambs 

 and sheep which can be obtained. In one test with 

 pea pasture sixty lambs maintained themselves for 

 one hundred days on eleven and one-half acres of 

 field peas, which were raised without irrigation. 

 The lambs harvested their own crop, made more 

 rapid gains and went to market in a better condition 

 than those which were fed in pens on alfalfa and 

 grain. 



While all kinds of roots may be fed to sheep with 

 good results in increasing the effectiveness of the 

 ration the most extensive tests have been made 

 with sugar beets and sugar beet pulp. In the first 

 place, the sheep feeder should not expect too high 

 returns from the use of roots as a food for any 

 animal. Their effectiveness as already indicated 

 is largely to give succulence and palatability to the 

 ration. Sugar beets in different experiments where 

 the value of all feeds was carefully noted have shown 

 an effectiveness indicating a feeding value of from 

 one and one-half to three dollars a ton, depending 

 upon the time of the year and quality of the sheep. 

 Beet pulp may nearly always be obtained for a 

 much lower price than sugar beets, and is nearly 



