1 82 SHEEP : BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. 



easily be pushed to an extreme. Lambs born too early 

 become coarse and pass their best before they are required for 

 exhibition. Young lambs always have a certain charm in coat 

 and style for good judges, and hence a great deal of judgment 

 is required with regard to the period at which a lamb should 

 be born, or rather with regard to the age of the lamb selected 

 for training. Size is far from everything, and we have seen it 

 passed by for quality on many occasions. Hence an exhibitor 

 may well pause before choosing his exhibits on account of 

 their great proportions. 



Preliminaries having been settled, it will be necessary to 

 take out a much larger number of individuals than will 

 actually be required. There are many contingencies to be 

 thought of. A sheep may die or go wrong. He may develop 

 into a coarse brute, or if he goes on right it may be found 

 exceedingly difficult to match him with suitable companions. 

 Thus a pen of three, a pen of five or of ten matchy lambs are 

 not obtained except out of a considerable number, all of whom 

 must be treated alike. This is one of the most serious matters 

 connected with showing. So serious, indeed, is it, that many 

 of our best breeders decline the showyard altogether. They 

 will not force forward twenty of their best ewe lambs in order 

 to pick out three or five for show. The game they think not 

 worth the candle, as the risk of spoiling their best females for 

 breeding is too considerable. The expense is also worth 

 attention, and is not measured by the pen exhibited, but by 

 the total number got ready for show. 



As to the best method of getting up a lot of sheep for 

 show, there is the choice between house and open-air feeding. 

 Sheep are not so happy under cover as in the open air, and 

 we have heard the opinion expressed again and again that 

 an open-air life is the best even for show sheep. Any judge 

 can at once tell a shed-fed sheep from his wool. Plenty of 

 room is also a point, and many prizes have been won by 

 sheep which have been allowed to run forward in front of 

 their fellows and pick the primest clover, rape, and cabbage. 



