SECRETARY'S REPORT. 195 



off. At mid-day tliej are driven under cover some hours ; 

 if the weather is hot or bad they lie in the sheds as they do by 

 night, after the afternoon and evening pasturing. Tlie flocks 

 feeding in the neighborhood of the buildings are driven into 

 the stalls ; those on more distant pastures into sheep-houses. 



The winter feeding lasts from the twentieth of November, on 

 an average, to the fifteenth of April. It consists of hay and 

 straw, roots and shorts. Bucks receive in addition some oats 

 when put to service. The orts of the fodder straw are used for 

 bedding. The distribution of the winter feed is as follows : — 



217 Electoral ewes and comb-wool sheep receive daily, from 

 the 2d of December to the 13th of April — 133 days — 1^ pounds 

 of hay, -| pound of straw, 1| pounds of roots, |- pound of coarse 

 ground grain. In all 2.82 pounds of hay or its equivalent. 

 70 yearling ewes get the same feeding from December 2d to 

 April 6th, Or 126 days. 168 lambs of the same breed get from 

 December 2d to April 6th, Ih pounds of hay, 1 pound of straw, 

 ^ pound of coarse ground grain, equal to 2|^ pounds of hay. 

 16 bucks of these breeds get in the same time 2^ pounds of hay, 

 f pound of straw, 1^ pounds of roots, ^ pound coarse crushed 

 grain, or 4.32 pounds of hay or its equivalent. 140 cross-bred 

 "ewes, from the 2d December to the 13th April, gel 2 pounds 

 hay, I pound straw, 1^ pounds roots, 1| pounds grain, or 3.32 

 pounds hay or its equivalent. 52 yearling ewes, from 2d 

 December to 6tli April, get 2i pounds hay, | pound straw, 1^ 

 pounds roots, | pound grain, equal to 3.82 pounds of hay. 113 

 cross-bred lambs, in the same time, get each 2 pounds hay, 1 

 pound straw, | pound grain, equal to 3 pounds hay. 23 bucks, 

 in the same time, get each 3 pounds hay, | pound straw, 1^ 

 pounds roots, I pound grain, equal to 4.82 pounds hay. 



The arrangement is as follows : In the morning the sheep 

 get hay, then water is let into round troughs in the stall. At 

 10 o'clock, cut roots : at noon, hay, then drink again. In the 

 course of the afternoon, cut roots, and at evening, straw. 

 Once a week they get salt at evening, after the feeding, half an 

 ounce a head. 



The health of the flocks is remarkable, diseases very rarely 

 attacking them. Tlie loss is frequently no more than a quarter 

 of one per cent, a year. The sheep are washed early in June. 

 The shearing is done by women on contract at four kreutzers 



