LAWES AND GILBERT'S RESULTS 637 



shape of a division is a square, as sheep run less when people 

 go among them than in a long house. With such ample 

 room, the floor is easily kept by bedding from becoming wet, 

 which would injure the hoofs and make the sheep lame. 

 The food is given in light, easily-moved, five-sided racks 2 feet 

 high, spread equally about the floor. Each of the five sides 

 or openings to accommodate two sheep are 20 inches wide, 

 or 10 inches per sheep. The cost of making the boxes in 

 quantities is only is. each. Cabbage is an excellent green 

 succulent food to give, if finished not later than Christmas, 

 and turnips and swedes afterwards. Cross-bred lambs 

 receive J Ib. of cake and meal per day, and older sheep in 

 relative proportion to size and age about twice the amount. 



One hundred sheep are as many as ought to be placed 

 in one lot if fed on roots. In Gloucester and some other 

 districts, where the sheep are heavy, that number would be 

 advantageously divided into two lots by hurdles, or by a strong 

 handmade 4-inch mesh wire net 4 feet high. An ingenious 

 and handy adaptation of the " Corrimony " wire fence has been 

 added to the means for fencing sheep folded upon turnips. 1 



Amount of Food A Cotswold teg, or one of any of 

 the larger breeds, from eleven months old (ist January) till 

 fat, will eat, along with the other food mentioned, 24 Ibs. of 

 roots daily, if fed three times a day younger sheep eat less 

 in proportion to their ages. Lean sheep eat more in pro- 

 portion to their weight than fat ones. A Cotswold cast ewe 

 will consume up to 35 Ibs. of roots per day. 



One average acre of turnips (15 tons) will feed two 

 hundred sheep for one week, at 24 Ibs. each per day. 



Experiments by Sir J. B. Lawes and Dr Gilbert 

 showed that Cotswolds gave the largest average increase 

 per head per week and also per 100 Ibs. live-weight Cross- 

 breds came next, then Hampshires, Leicesters, and last of 

 all Southdowns the increase in all but the Leicesters being 

 in inverse proportion to the quality of the mutton. Under 

 cover, three sheep, of 100 Ibs. live-weight each, consumed 

 approximately the same amount of food as was consumed 

 by two sheep of the same age and breed weighing 1 50 Ibs. 

 each. The mixture consumed per 100 Ibs. live-weight per 

 week was 4f Ibs. cake, 4f Ibs. hay, and about 70 Ibs. 

 1 Invented by A. Walker, Stagebank, Heriot, Scotland. 



