No. 4.] SHEEP HUSBANDRY. 137 



Governor Hoard. Do you keep them constantly bedded, 

 so that they shall not lie in filth? 



Mr. Avery. I do, most certainly. 



Governor Hoard. What do you use for bedding? 



Mr. Avery. I use brakes, as a rule, which I mow in the 

 pastures. 



Governor Hoard. How would you handle and feed a 

 ewe when she lambs in December, for instance, and you 

 want to prepare that lamb for early spring mutton ? 



Mr. Avery. I should feed her well from the time she 

 went to the barn. I should want her to go into winter 

 quarters in good condition ; and, if I had plenty of fine 

 early-cut hay and rowen, that would be all I would care for 

 until after lambing. Soon after the lamb was dropped I 

 should commence to feed a little grain, and the amount of 

 grain would depend upon the quality of the hay. I have 

 fed as high as a quart, — I have fed higher than that. I 

 once fed a few ewes which had two lambs each, — I was fat- 

 tening the ewes as well as the lambs for market, — I fed 

 them over two quarts per day. 



Governor Hoard. What kind of grain ? 



Mr. Avery. It was linseed meal, cotton-seed meal and 

 provender, — corn and oats ground together and mixed 

 in equal parts. It was more grain, I suppose, than most 

 people would feed to sheep ; but it should be borne in mind 

 that those were large ewes, and suckling two lambs each. 



Question. Do you feed roots at all? 



Mr. Avery. No, sir ; I do not, although I think they 

 are very excellent food for sheep. 



Governor Hoard. Do you feed any peas? 



Mr. Avery. No, sir ; I do not. I have had no experi- 

 ence in growing peas. 



Governor Hoard. Has any gentleman in the room had 

 any experience in that direction ? Several gentlemen in the 

 West have been experimenting with peas for the past two 

 years, with very remarkable success, both in dairy work and 

 in sheep work, and we have learned some things that we did 

 not know two, three or four years ago even. In planting 

 field peas plough the ground in the fall, selecting not too 

 rich soil. In the spring, as early as possible, paying no 



