KEPOKT OF THE BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 



portion of the prairie that had not been run over by sheep for some 

 months previous. They could be driven to the new pastures about 

 the time that the lambs begin to nibble at the grass and drink water. 

 After the lambs are weaned they should be changed to fresh, uiicon- 

 taminated pastures until winter, and other and older sheep put on the 

 range vacated. If there be sufficient range the lambs could be kept 

 on as nearly uninfected ranges as possible until they become two- 

 year olds. In feeding lambs on grain and hay measures should be 

 taken to keep the food from the ground. The grain should be fed 

 from troughs, placed either on a board floor that could be cleansed, 

 or on ground kept scrupulously cleaned of all droppings. The hay 

 should be fed from racks. The corrals for the lambs should either 

 be fresh ones or the old ones should be periodically and thoroughly 

 scraped out and cleaned. They should not be put with a greater 

 number of old sheep than is absolutely necessary. 



The watering occurs at various places. The usual method is the 

 watering at rivulets or ponds. This should be done, but such places 

 should be fenced in and troughs provided into which the fresh water 

 could run. These troughs should be raised a little above the surface 

 of the^ground, so that they could receive no surface drainage. By 

 the aidof pumps and wind-mills this could be easily accomplished. 

 Most watering places are so situated that by conducting the water 

 through pipes or boxes but little expense would be necessary to guide 

 it into troughs. These troughs should be kept clean. The lambs 

 should not be allowed to drink elsewhere, nor to eat grass in moist 

 places unless it is absolutely certain that these places are uninfected. 

 The location of corrals so that they either surround water or that 

 the drainage is from them to the water seems to be a most harmful 

 practice. It not only makes the water fouler but renders it more likely 

 to hold parasites. Herders should be instructed neither to feed nor 

 water at the prairie pools. If there are places where it is advisable 

 to water they should be prepared as the watering places at the cor- 

 rals. .The nearer the ranchman can arrive at giving the lambs pure 

 fresh water the less infected with parasites will they become. * The 

 salt for the lambs and young sheep should be fed from boxes placed 

 near water places and kept constantly full. They will take no more 

 than they want, and will be all the healthier if they have all they 

 need. If they are deprived for a time they may at first salting eat 

 more than is good for them. A little eaten daily is physiologically 

 better than the larger quantity eaten at intervals. The object of 

 feeding the salt at watering places and from boxes is to keep them 

 from licking the dirt where salt has stood, and to keep them from 

 eating the prairie alkali. In additoii to the opportunities afforded 

 them of being infected with parasites from the salted ground, there is 

 the injurious effect of the swallowed sand. This sand often packs 

 away in the gall ducts and produces disease. 



It may be when the gap in the life history of Tc&nia fimbriata is 

 known that a single measure of prevention will eradicate it from the 

 flocks. Until then the general measures prescribed above are to be 

 recommended. 



There are various minor precautionary measures to be fulfilled 

 that will help affected sheep to live through the colder winter, and 

 finally to render effective service in spite of the parasite. The post 

 mortem examinations have led me to expect that from 80 to 95 per cent, 

 of each flock is infected. Now, were all of these to suffer as some of 

 the more diseased do, sheep ranching would be at its end* Fortu- 

 12057 A T 12 



