25Q SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 



not rain on their range, or they traveled too far. 

 The killers pass them by and the feeder gets them 

 at a cent or more off. 



In the next pen will be seen a different type 

 altogether, a band of wild, scared, thin, sharp- 

 backed, weazened sheep, looking as though all the 

 plagues of Egypt had struck them. They are the 

 product of an ignorant and stingy owner, a careless 

 and unprofitable shepherd and a starved and over- 

 pastured range, together with a dearth of rain and 

 snow. No one wants them and they sell very low 

 indeed. Sometimes they are great bargains, and if 

 carefully nursed for a few months will lay on flesh 

 fairly well and being bought so cheaply will reward 

 well their feeder. There is, however, the disadvan- 

 tage of having your yards filled with stuff of which 

 you are ashamed till near the last of the feeding sea- 

 son. They are more likely to make money for their 

 feeder than the good feeders because they are 

 bought so cheaply and weigh so little. 



However, if there is not at home plenty of good 

 clover or alfalfa hay, or if the feeder is not willing 

 to buy for them wheat bran and a trifle of oilmeal, if 

 they must be fattened on corn and cornstalks mainly 

 it is doubtful if they are of the class that he should 

 buy. Emaciation calls for food rich in protein. 

 With plenty of early-cut alfalfa hay in the mow 

 these thin sheep may bring profit. They are of no 

 value for a short feed. They require time to first 

 restore their strength and afterward to rebuild, or 

 perhaps build their flesh and afterward to lay on fat. 



