(342 FEEDING OF SHEEP. 



stantially 96 per cent, both of the nitrogen and the ash constituents 

 of their food, showing an infinitesimal waste of the fertilizing 

 material in the food given them. Moreover, farmers know the great 

 value of the urine of animals for fertilizing purposes, passing im- 

 mediately into the soil and yielding its fertilizing elements, withou t 

 the decomposition necessary in solid compost, and in this liquid an 

 exceedingly large proportion of the feed of sheep passes off. There 

 is no domestic animal so valuable as the sheep in equalizing the 

 distribution of the fertilizing ingredients of its offal over the land 

 upon which it feeds or where its offal may be expended. 



Economy of Good Feeding As with all other animals 

 the principal object of the intelligent feeder is early maturity, and 

 it must be kept principally in view that to secure this there must be 

 systematic care and feeding throughout, and this must be maintained 

 through several generations before the best results are realized, 

 whether grade or blooded sheep. 



Feeding Ewes It is just as important that the ewe should 

 receive special attention while suckling her young, as in the case of 

 rnares with foal or cows with calf. If the feeding is insufficient, so 

 that the ewe will not give a proper supply of milk to her young, the 

 growth of the lamb will be slow, and the results which are looked 

 for from early maturity will never be attained. If the ewe is a 

 reasonably good yielder of milk, and the herder is careful to add 

 something to her feed so as to increase her milk yield, he will find 

 that the lambs will mature early ; and extra food to the amount of 

 33 per cent., or thereabouts, will add at least one hundred per 

 cent, to the weight of the lamb at the end of three months, as com- 

 pared with what it would weigh if the dam were scantily fed. 



Importance of Early Maturity Good feeding will 

 prove an encouragement to the herder in more respects than one; it 

 will give early maturity to the stock and in addition to this will in- 

 crease the weight, and thus the herder will realize profit from both 

 these directions. Early maturity involves profit because it fits the 

 animal for the market at a less expense than when longer kept. By it 

 we mean the steady, constant ana utmost development of perfection 

 in the young animal, and when this is sought to be attained, it will 

 be found that the meat has acquired a good flavor and will be tender 

 and juicy; in a word, it will produce the best value and consequently 

 command the highest price. It cannot be too strongly impressed 

 upon the producer that his most profitable object is always to pro- 

 duce the meat in its best condition at the very earliest period of the 

 animal's life. This the reader will have seen fully illustrated in the 

 department upon the feeding of beef animals, and the table of ex- 

 periments there given, showing the importance and advantage of 

 sending young beeves to market, will fully apply to sheep also. 



Best Season to Feed Sheep for Market Sheep 

 should be fed for market while the weather is warm, during the 

 summer months, or during the early autumn. If the stock is to be 



