248 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 



the yards, but to dip carefully upon arrival, or as 

 soon thereafter as the lambs have rested and recov- 

 ered their strength. Until that time if the weather 

 be good it is wise to turn the sheep into pasture, 

 where they may find water and grass and rest suffi- 

 cient to recruit them. Then, as soon as rested, they 

 should be dipped and put at once into their perma- 

 nent quarters, if they are to be fed in yards or 

 sheds. 



SELECTION OF FEEDERS. 



A visit to one of our great stockyards is a most 

 interesting experience. There are seen there such 

 a multitude of sheep of almost every sort and de- 

 scription. There are great bands of fat western 

 wethers, noble sheep, some of them of an astonish- 

 ing uniformity in size and character. They are 

 "strong almost as horses,' 7 used all their lives to 

 roaming over the plains and mountains. These may 

 go for export, or to the killers. They are too fat to 

 feed and would cost too much. And yet they are 

 not so fat as the sheep that come in winter and 

 spring from the feedlots. They are just right to 

 give the most profit to the killers, with enough fat 

 and little waste. 



Beside them will be a band of thinner wethers, 

 perhaps from a dried-up range, of fairly good qual- 

 ity. They, too, will go to the killers, though they 

 are almost thin enough to sell at a farmer's price. 

 The next pen may show some ideal feeders, big and 

 strong and active, yet in thin flesh. Probably it did 



