40 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 



the young things forward to a good state of growth 

 and development before spring and summer come to 

 bring their problems of management. The early 

 lamb is often worth double the late one, because of 

 the superior healthfulness and vigor of the early 

 born that escape the troubles of parasitism, so dis- 

 tressing to those of late birth. 



This habit of early weaning also comes in good 

 hand when the Merino ewes are used as mothers for 

 cross-bred " hothouse " lambs, and many growers 

 of these winter months use Merino mothers though 

 the half-blood Merino ewe is better. In truth she is 

 near to perfection for this purpose. 



It is a curious fact that many old men succeed 

 fairly well with Merinos who cannot make mutton 

 sheep thrive at all. The Merino will withstand 

 more neglect than the English breeds. It will en- 

 dure fairly well a winter ration of bright straw 

 and a little added grain with the run of a hill pas- 

 ture. Formerly thousands were wintered on pas- 

 ture with no feeding at all throughout the hill re- 

 gions of Ohio and Pennsylvania. It was thought 

 that if they had access to hazel brush, where they 

 might shelter and browse a little, and the grass 

 was not too closely cropped in fall they would do 

 well enough. Treated in this manner they must 

 lamb late in the spring, and they do survive and 

 shear quite good fleeces, whereas any breed of mut- 

 ton sheep, so poorly fed, would hardly show any 

 profit at all. 



It is often quite difficult for men who have spent 



