76 THE SHEPHERD'S MANUAL. 



may be worse than under-feeding it, and caution is to be exercised 

 in this respect ; no more should be attempted than to encourage a 

 healthy, thrifty growth. After the lamb is four weeks old, it may 

 be taught to lick some fine bran, with a little salt mixed with it, or 

 a little sifted oatmeal. As a rule, it will be safer to depend on 

 increasing and enriching the ewe's milk, rather than to force the 

 lamb to swallow food which its stomach is not as yet able to com- 

 pletely digest. It is highly important to prevent the lambs from 

 being annoyed and depleted of their blood by ticks or other vermin. 

 To this end the ewes should be dipped in the fall to rid them of 

 ticks, and if a few should appear in the spring upon the lambs, 

 they should be freed from the insect pests by careful hand-picking, 



Fig. 28. PACKING BOX FOR LAMBS. 



repeated if necessary. In case the ticks should be too numerous 

 for hand-picking, the lambs may be dipped. This will be abso- 

 lutely necessary if they are to be kept until after the ewes are 

 shorn, as then the ticks will leave the ewes on which they are 

 unsheltered, and seek refuge in the closer fleeces of the lambs. 

 When this happens, the growth of the lambs is suddenly stopped, 

 and it is often the case that some of them are tormented until they 

 finally die. 



The marketing of the lambs is one of the most important parts 

 of the business so far as profits are concerned. As has been said, 

 the early lambs bring the highest prices, but it may be that the later 

 lambs will be found the most profitable, as being less costly and 

 troublesome to rear. When the proper market has been found, 



