FEEDING OF SHEEP. 



641 



dition of the sheep in the one direction must necessarily improve it 

 in the other also. 



Feeding for the Double Purpose Hence the accepted 

 principle is to feed for good mutton at the same time as for the pro- 

 duction of good wool, and there has not been nor will there be any 

 ill effect from making this attempt, but on the contrary an increase 

 of profit. Neither the quantity nor quality of the wool will be 

 diminished by aiming at securing good mutton as well ; but experi- 

 ence has shown and will continue to prove that the more carefully 

 sheep are fed and reared for mutton, so much better will be the 

 result in the amount and quality of the wool produced. 



Double Income from Sheep It should be borne in 

 mind that sheep yield an income of two sorts during the year, viz: 

 their wool and their lambs, and it is a fact to be kept in view, that 

 these sheep which are the most fertile and bring to their owners the 

 largest quantity of lambs, are also the best producers of both mutton 

 and wool. The sheep will also, when compared with most other 

 animals, yield a larger return upon the percentage of feed. Of 

 any food consumed it is estimated that the sheep will store up in 

 increased weight twelve per cent., against eight per cent, by cattle. 



Value of Sheep on Impoverished Land The Spanish 

 have a proverb, " The sheep's foot is golden," meaning that it 

 brings improvement and not deterioration to the land. Sheep can 

 be raised to advantage upon lands which have become too much 

 impoverished for cropping purposes, and it is of importance for the 

 feeder to understand that the value of sheep for the purpose of 

 fertilizing the soil is the utmost. The following tables, the results 

 of careful experiments, will illustrate this, and it should be kept in 

 view that the value of feeding is to be estimated not alone by the 

 return in flesh or wool, but also by the value of the offal which the 

 animals cast away. The experiments alluded to show: 



NITROGEN 8TOBBD UP AND VOIDED FOB 100 LBS. OP POOD CONSUMED. 



ASH CONSTITUENTS STORED UP AND VOIDED FOR 100 LBS. OF POOD CONSUMED. 



Thus it will be seen that the sheep give back to the land sub- 



