306 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 



The reason is plain: the mature sheep has its 

 frame already built; has nearly as much muscular 

 structure as it will ever have. It has been demon- 

 strated that feeding does not materially add to the 

 flesh of the animal, unless perhaps in case of con- 

 siderable emaciation, but puts on fat instead, either 

 intruding it between the muscles, or, what is usual 

 with the sheep, depositing it in masses partly upon 

 the inside and partly distributed over the body. 



The lamb, as has been noted, has its framework 

 yet to build, therefore it needs and must have abun- 

 dant protein, hence its thrift when fed such pro- 

 tein-carrying foods as wheat bran, oilmeal, soy- 

 beans and alfalfa or clover hay. 



Corn (maize), is pre-eminently the best foodstuff 

 for fattening sheep. It may be fed in very economi- 

 cal manner. In Ohio it is the practice to cut the 

 corn when ripe, gathering it into large shocks con- 

 taining from 144 to 256 hills. These shocks tightly 

 bound about the tops keep out the weather and pre- 

 serve the ears and blades very well. From the field 

 the shocks are drawn direct to the feedyard, or to 

 some large, dry feeding field, where the unhusked 

 corn is strewn thinly over the ground. Here the 

 sheep consume the ears with little or no waste, 

 trimming off the blades also. If this practice of 

 feeding shock corn is now supplemented by supply- 

 ing racks filled with clover or alfalfa hay the sheep 

 are as well provided for as need be. 



Sheep consume more food than steers, weight for 

 weight of animals being compared, and also make 



