PASTURING AND SOILING II 5 



Visited by the camptender he remarked : 'This will be a 

 bad day for the old ewes on the alfalfa.' Why so? 

 'Because the wind is soft and warm,' said he. That 

 afternoon we found 26 dead. 



"Our French shepherd has a simple and never failing 

 remedy for bloat from alfalfa or clover. It is simply a 

 half-pint of sweet milk administered to the animal when 

 found bloated. I saved a fine ram lamb the other day. He 

 was fearfully bloated, unable to walk and scarcely able to 

 breathe. I found an old can in the road, hastened to the 

 pasture, milked a half pint of milk from a cow, set the 

 lamb on his rump and poured the milk down his throat. 

 In a half hour he was all right and following the flock. 

 Milk from a ewe will answer just as well. We have 

 adopted the following rules : Never allow the sheep to 

 go on alfalfa pasture when very hungry; if possible get a 

 little dry feed in their stomachs in the morning before 

 going to the alfalfa; watch them closely on windy days, 

 and have the herders carry a bottle of sweet milk." 



A POSSIBLE EXPLANATION 



The most of the losses reported were of animals which 

 had been taken off the pasture at night and turned back 

 the second morning when hungry and eager to graze. 

 Yet there are reports of severe losses the first day, even 

 after a full feed. Possibly it will be found that the ani- 

 mals that suffer from bloat are not in good physical con- 

 dition, and are more nervous and greedy in their habit of 

 eating than those not affected. It may be that an intelli- 

 gent sorting of the animals to be turned on the pasture 



