[52] 



the entire flock has been bred in this way, the ram should 

 be allowed to run with the ewes for a few days, so that if 

 any ewes should come in again he will serve them. Be 

 careful to put on the entries the time of the serving of each 

 ewe. 



Peace and quietness should reign in the pastures at this 

 time, as much worry, with handling unnecessarily, would 

 prevent conception. The ewes should not be kept very fat 

 while enciente, as they will not produce as large and good 

 lambs when too fat. They should also be studiously pro- 

 tected from long continued chilling blasts. As a general 

 rule our pastures have a good deal of undergrowth, and 

 this will prove sufficient, especially if they are among shrub 

 cedars, which is very common in Middle Tennessee. A very 

 good plan to bring ewes into season, should they be slow to 

 come so, is to give them a dose or two of Epsom salts, and 

 shorten their feed for a few days. While it is wrong to 

 make the ewes too fat, it is equally culpable to keep them 

 too poor, as they cannot, in bad condition, produce a good, 

 strong, healthy lamb. Their feed should be increased by 

 degrees just before lambing time comes, as the draft of 

 nursing will require richer food. At least a pint daily of 

 grain should be given each ewe until the pasture becomes 

 sufficient to keep them in thriving order. Turnips, and, in 

 fact, roots of all sorts, should be avoided about lambing time, 

 as they are said to produce abortion. Pea vines, especially 

 the haulm of the peanut, are good food for ewes. It is al- 

 most a necessity for ewes to have laxative food before and 

 after lambing ; nothing is better, in addition to their grain, 

 than a bite of green food, such as rye, winter oats, or wheat, 

 two or three times a week before lambing, it has a tendency, 

 to keep them thrifty, and in good condition, and it adds 

 greatly to their flow of milk afterwards. We have known 

 four- fifths of a crop of lambs to die from ewes that had be- 

 come feverish and unhealthy from being grain- fed exclu- 

 sively before lambing. If the record is kept the farmer 



