636 SHEEP INDUSTRY OF THE UNITED STATES 



weighed December 13, 1886, were turned on grass May 14, 1886, and 

 were not fed grain until December 1, when corn and oats were given 

 them. The weights at different periods were as follows : 



December 13 Pounds. 



No.l 119 



No. 2 116 



No. 3 113 



Average 116 



January 15, 1887 



No. 1 128. (gain, 9 pounds.) 



No. 2 121 (gain, 5 pounds.) 



No. 3 122 (gain, 9 pounds.) 



Average 



February 15, 1887 



No. 1 * 144 (ga in, 16 pounds. ) 



No. 2 140 (gain, 19 pounds.) 



No. 3 139 (gain, 17 pounds.) 



Average 141 



March 15, 1887 



No. 1 158 (gain, 14 -pounds.) 



No. 2 153 (gain, 13 pounds. ) 



No. 3 156 (gain, 17 pounds. ) 



Average 1 55 



April 22, 1887 



No. 1 179 (gain, 21 pounds.) 



No. 2 166 (gain, 13 pounds.) 



No. 3 176 (gain, 20 pounds.) 



Average 173| 



These three lambs were wethers, and they sheared 33 J pounds of wool 

 011 May 1, 1887, when less than thirteen months old. 



Those who raise these cross-bred lambs find no trouble in making 

 them weigh 95 to 100 pounds by February, when dropped in May, and 

 the farmers in Ionia County and elsewhere realize more money in hand- 

 ling them than by raising Merino lambs, as they are worth, from the 

 time they are weaned to the first of February, from $2.50 to $6 per hun- 

 dred. Over 5,000 of these lambs were fattened in Ionia County in one 

 year and shipped to eastern markets. With few exceptions all the 

 lambs in the southern and eastern part of the State in 1890 were of this 

 class, and most of them averaged over 100 pounds and Avere disposed 

 of at 6 cents per pound. L. S. Dunham, of Concord, states that 85 head 

 of Shropshires sheared an average of 12 pounds of wool per head, and 

 that his cross of the Shropshire ram on common fine-wool sheep pro- 

 duced lambs that weighed 125 pounds at ten months old, and sold for 

 6 cents per pound, live weight, on his farm. 



Next to the Merinos the Shropshires now attract the greatest atten- 

 tion of the Michigan farmers. They have proven themselves hardy, 

 prolific, and profitable, giving quick returns in lambs, and yielding a 



