SHEEP 361 



later, however, and unless proper precautions are taken it becomes a 

 serious interference with good results in fattening, besides a source 

 of infecting the yards and premises with the germs of this disease. 

 On this account it is generally considered best to dip all range sheep 

 brought to the farming sections for feeding. The dipping should be 

 done immediately or at least very soon after arrival, and repeated in 

 about ten days to insure effective work. Sheep may be dipped even 

 at a zero temperature with less menace to the flock than to allow 

 the disease to go unchecked for a few weeks. When necessary to dip 

 in severe weather, the work should be done under shelter in a liquid 

 slightly warmed and the dipped animals placed immediately in dry, 

 warm quarters and kept in for several days until the fleeces have had 

 time to dry. 



There are various dips on the market and in common use. 

 Lime and sulphur and the tobacco dips are effective and popular 

 where the work is done on a large scale. A number of the prepared 

 dips on the market are equally effective, and they have the addi- 

 tional advantage of promoting a more favorable condition of the 

 fleece. All farm flocks should also be dipped at least once a year for 

 the general good effects resulting from dipping regardless of the 

 existence of scab. (B. A. I. B. 21; Col. E. S. B. 38.) 



FEEDING OF RANGE AND PURE-BRED LAMBS COMPARED. 



The range lambs averaged only about half as much gain per 

 head daily as the pure-bred mutton lambs. This marked difference 

 is mainly due to the fact that the Western sheep, reared under semi- 

 arid conditions and scanty vegetation, have only about one-half as 

 much digestive capacity as our larger breeds, accustomed to more lib- 

 eral feeding. In this experiment the range lambs consumed more 

 feed (dry matter) for a pound of gain than those of the mutton 

 breeds. 



WHAT CONSTITUTES A GOOD SHEEP. 



The value of good blood has been emphasized in preceding 

 pages. Not all the animals belonging to any of the improved breeds, 

 however, are possessed of a high degree of excellence. No graver 

 error can be made than the assumption of uniform excellence in the 

 stock constituting any breed, no matter how much prominence it 

 may have attained. Individual animals always differ more than 

 breeds ; and there are relatively few really good animals in any breed. 

 This seems to be strikingly true of the mutton sheep. The chief 

 trouble in mutton production is and always has been the scarcity of 

 stock sheep, particularly sires, that have sufficient merit to fill the 

 standard of excellence for a strictly prime carcass. Until we reach 

 this higher degree of excellence the mutton sheep will not assume its 

 rightful place in American agriculture. The American market has 

 become the most discriminating in the world on beef products, and 

 it will demand a corresponding superiority in mutton. With this in 

 view a brief consideration of what constitutes a good mutton sheep 

 may be of interest. 



First, let there be pronounced masculinity in the male and fem- 

 ininity in the female. Sheep should be neither sexless nor character- 



