it will pay best to breed nothing but thoroughbred South- 

 downs for mutton, for the breeder will frequently be ena- 

 bled to dispose of a large number of his lambs to farmers 

 and others as breeding rams to cross upon their common 

 ewes. 



In breeding for mutton, early lambs for market are gen- 

 erally the first consideration; though every year, after he 

 gets fairly started, the flock- master will find old ewes and 

 uncertain breeders accumulating on his hands, that will best 

 pay him in the butcher's pen. They can be replaced by a 

 corresponding number of young ewes, selected each year 

 from the crop of lambs and reserved for breeding purposes. 

 In this way he can always regulate the size of his flock, 

 and at the same time have nothing but young, vigorous 

 ewes for breeding. 



We have mentioned elsewhere how mutton sheep should 

 be treated, but it will not be out of place here to say that 

 the ewes intended for the shambles should be kept apart 

 from the flock, for they require more food, and of a richer 

 quality, than breeding ewes should have, and not being 

 bred, they will constantly be in heat during the fall, and it 

 would have a tendency to make young ewes abort if they 

 were permitted to run with them. 



The earlier the lambs come in market, the higher the 

 price they will command. In the large eastern cities 

 the butchers dispose readily of all the extra early lambs 

 they can get at fifty cents per pound dressed meat. In 

 order to get the best prices, the ewes must be bred early. 

 Probably the best time to buy the scrub ewes with which 

 to start the flock on, would be in June or July, after they 

 have been clipped and before they have been bred. In order 

 to get good prices for the lambs, these ewes should be bred 

 at the earliest moment possible, the last of July or first of 

 August, if they will take the buck; and it is quite import- 

 ant that they should be bred in bunches of 20 or 25, as 

 nearly at the same time as possible, in order that the lambs 



