THE RAM AND EWE. 91 



to service ; it is, therefore, advisable to get the sheep inured to 

 harder rations by giving them less fat-making foods, but keeping 

 up their vigour with flesh-making foods, and allowing them plenty 

 of exercise. Rams which are strange to each other often fight 

 vigorously at first, and should be watched. Some rams acquire 

 the knack of breaking an opponent's neck. We know of a case 

 where one ram destroyed three others which were consecutively 

 put with him. When the ram is put to service, his brisket should 

 be rubbed with a mixture of oil and ochre, to show which ewes he 

 has leaped. The colour of the ochre should be changed in a month, 

 so that those which are not in-lamb but come over again may be 

 detected. The time of lambing will then be more accurately 

 ascertained, and as it is often advisable to separate those which 

 are due to lamb early from those which come later, an easy means 

 of distinguishing them is thus obtained. After the rutting season 

 the ram should be taken from the ewes, and may be kept with the 

 wether tegs, where he generally finds a sufficiently good diet. It 

 is not advisable to let him get too poor. He should be kept well 

 on his feet, and his feet should be pared, so as to keep them in good 

 shape. 



The Ewe. The male generally influences the outward form of 

 the offspring, and, it is popularly held, the female the constitution. 

 It is, therefore, important to breed from ewes of vigorous type. 

 It is not usual to breed from ewes until they are two years old. 

 Often when the stock of sheep in the country is small, lambs are 

 put to the ram so as to produce young at a year old, but this is 

 rarely attended with great success. The difficulty of lambing, 

 and the short supply of milk they are able to produce, together 

 with the dwarfing of size of the ewe itself, are generally sufficient 

 to prevent those who make the experiment from repeating it. 

 Some of the most successful Southdown breeders have been following 

 the practice, and are well satisfied. It is noticeable, however, 

 that those on the South Downs do not do it, and that it is usually 

 done by those on stronger land, where the sheep have a tendency 

 to grow rather big. 



The ewe flock, when not directly bought in, should be maintained 

 by selecting the best theaves each year, and putting them into it 

 in the place of those which, from various causes, are drafted from 

 it. It is not customary to run the ewe lambs on expensive lines 

 when it is intended to put them into the flock. A lamb while 

 developing into an ewe has to be kept two years, and if expensively 

 fed throughout that time, is a costly animal. Economy in manage- 

 ment must therefore be exercised, but the extreme of insufficient 

 feeding should be avoided. It is advantageous for the ewe to be 

 well grown ; consequently, although unnecessary expense is 

 wasteful, she should be kept in a thriving condition. By selecting 



