WESTERN LAMB FEEDING 273 



Prof. E. A. Burnett of the Nebraska Experiment 

 Station lias shown that, comparing alfalfa hay and 

 prairie hay with corn, the alfalfa-fed lambs made 

 52 per cent greater gains than the prairie-hay-fed 

 lambs. The addition of 16 per cent of oilmeal to 

 the grain ration of the prairie-hay-fed lambs in- 

 creased their gain 26 per cent. 



The writer has often demonstrated in his own 

 practice that lambs cannot be fed with much profit 

 without a large amount of protein in the ration, 

 and alfalfa or clover is the best and cheapest car- 

 rier of available protein. 



In Nebraska and elsewhere lambs are quite fre- 

 quently turned directly into fields of standing corn 

 and permitted to do their own harvesting. Some- 

 times rape is sown in the corn at time of last cul- 

 tivation to add to their supply of forage. Two to 

 four pounds per acre of rape seed are sufficient. 

 It is better to let this last cultivation be fairly early 

 so as to give the rape a start. Should the season 

 prove showery the rape will come on and add 

 greatly to the value of the feed. This plant is one 

 of the most valuable to the sheep feeder. 



There are certain points to be observed in pas- 

 turing down corn with lambs. It is not a practice 

 adapted to feeding very thin, light lambs, since they 

 require too long a feeding season. It is not a good 

 practice in .a wet region, or on a soil readily 

 tramped into mud and damaged thereby. Once the 

 lambs are accustomed to the corn they should not 

 be taken away from it else they will on return over- 



