620 MANAGEMENT OF SHEEP ON ARABLE LAND 



shown that the percentage of lambs produced was as a 

 rule very appreciably greater among those flocks which 

 underwent a process of flushing, and that the percentage 

 of barren ewes in the same flocks was generally less than 

 the average. Conversely, the occurrence of a snowstorm, or 

 the loss of a good field of pasture from the run of a flock 

 during tupping time, will correspond with the stoppage of 

 twins in the following lambing season. The condition of 

 the ewe, not that of the ram, seems to be all-powerful in 

 controlling the number of doubles. Only when the environ- 

 ment is favourable can the hereditary tendency to be prolific 

 which has been noticed in the ewes but not yet remarked 

 in the ram have any important influence. 



Too much care cannot be exercised in arranging the 

 ewes and rams according to their different qualities and 

 characters, so that the flock may maintain a definite type 

 of its own. One ram to sixty ewes is the usual proportion ; 

 but a " shed " tup may be allowed a greater number, even 

 one hundred or more, if a " chaser " or " teaser " lamb, with 

 a cloth sewed on his belly, be put out to find the ewes as 

 they come in season. A ewe remains in use for about twenty- 

 four hours. If not settled, ewes " come back " to the ram at 

 the end of thirteen to eighteen (usually sixteen) days. The 

 mechanical way of finding this out is to use three colours of 

 paint, say blue, red, and black. The breast, or sometimes the 

 inside of one fore leg of the ram, is first rubbed with blue 

 for rather more than two weeks. Red is used for the next 

 period of sixteen days, and black for a third period. The 

 ewe's rump is thus marked while being tupped, and accord- 

 ing to the colour of the last marking the time of lambing is 

 approximately predetermined. A ewe marked twice should 

 be put to another ram for a third trial, as she is less likely 

 to hold to the first ram than to another. This is most 

 easily accomplished by running several lots of ewes with 

 the accompanying rams together. At the end of six 

 weeks, when the tups are taken up, the ewes should run 

 over stubbles and poor pasture, or follow fattening sheep to 

 pick up what remains of turnips or other rejected food : they 

 should be kept thriving, but must not be made too fat. 



Ewes going 1 on pasture during winter may be given an 

 allowance of \ ton of roots per hundred per day till lambing 



