134 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



those lambs for $1,600, and nry wool averaged ine about 

 1 1 . 50 per head. But I estimate the expense of keeping sheep 

 higher than most farmers do. I have never weighed and 

 kept an accurate account of the grain, but I think it costs me 

 about $3 per head for grain for the ewes and lambs, which 

 is more than a dollar a head higher than this gentleman 

 c-timates of whom I have last spoken; but he says he does 

 not know what the exact cost was. Perhaps he did not feed 

 as much grain as I do. 



The Chairman. Do you feed grain in summer? 



Mr. Avery. No, sir. 



Mr. Grinnell. When does he turn his lambs? That 

 makes a difference. 



Mr. Avery. His lambs are dropped in November and 

 December, nearly all of them, perhaps some as late as Jan- 

 uary ; and they are marketed in March and April mostly, 

 some perhaps as late as May. 



Hon. Johx E. Russell. Do you keep 300 sheep in one 

 flock? 



Mr. Avery. No, sir ; I do not. In the winter my flock 

 is divided up into pens of perhaps 25, although perhaps 75 

 or 100 will be connected, with just a board fence, you might 

 say, between them. The hay I estimate at $3 per head and 

 the grain at $3 per head for sheep which raise early lambs. I 

 know that is a higher estimate than most farmers make, and 

 perhaps it is too high. I have thought sometimes that I 

 would experiment in that direction, and weigh my hay and 

 keep an accurate account of the grain ; but it would be quite 

 an undertaking, especially to keep an account of the grain, 

 where there is a mixed stock and the stock are all fed from 

 one bin. 



Secretary Sessioxs. What is your estimate for pas- 

 turage ? 



Mr. Avery. I have figured the cost at 3 cents per week 

 for 27 or 28 weeks, but it does not actually cost me that. 

 I hire pastures, and in that way I get them pastured for 

 perhaps 2 cents a week sometimes. 



Secretary Sessioxs. What is your pasture? 



Mr. Avery. It is an old pasture, hilly and rough. 



Questiox. Do you take any precautions against dogs ? 



