SHEEP MAXAOEMEKT.] AND THEIR VARIOUS BREEDS, [sueei- management. 



£1 per ton. Nothing is clmrgod for atten- 

 dance. 



As fur, therefore, ns tliis was a piiynig 

 spccuhition, neither seemed to answer. Tlio 

 Swede.<<, the attendanee, the waahinj^, shearing, 

 and other et-celcras, woukl diminish the profit 

 to less than nil ; but this was hardly tlic 

 object of ]\rr. L.iwes. The forty ITampshires 

 consumed 40.;^ tons of Swedes, and the Sussex 

 only 3G.V- The latter were, however, much 

 the smaller, and more would bo consumed to 

 the acre. jNEp. Lawes himself, however, puts 

 the case in another light, lie says — Suppose, 

 then, that in both cases 100 tons of Swedes 

 had been eaten, we should have had consumed 

 with them, and paid for by the increase of the 

 animal — 



Oil cake, lbs. Clover, lbs. 

 By the Sussex sheep . . 17,o74 and 1G,GTG 

 By the Ilampshire . . . 1G,170 and 14,7G7 



904 1,909 



That is to say, in consuming 100 tons of 

 Swedes (and the dry foods), Sussex sheep 

 would, according to our experiments, have 

 given the increase from 904 lbs. more oil-cake, 

 and 1,009 more clover, than the Ilampshires. 

 To have consumed the quantities of food sup- 

 posed above, however, in twenty-six weeks, 

 there would have been required eighty Hamp- 

 shire, and about one hundred and ten of the 

 Sussex sheep. 



Mr. Lawes subjected the Cotswold to the 

 same course. Having, however, originally in- 

 tended them for a comparative trial witli the 

 New Oxfords, but without success, he tried 

 the fifty sheep alone, on diflcrent qualities of 

 food, and subjected them to a comparison (as 

 to their fattening tendency) with the two 

 kinds of Downs he had before tried. He 

 commenced with the flock selected by Mr. 

 Game, on the 24th of October, and fed them 

 on turnips in the field until the 21st of No- 

 vember, when he put them on boards or rafters, 

 and then fed them on oil-caice, clover-chop, 

 and as many Swedes as they could eat. The 

 same proportion of dry food was allotted to 

 the Cotswold in proportion to their weight, 

 which was 113. V lbs. average per animal. The 

 food at first given was 1 lb. per day each of 

 clover chaff, and the same of oil-cake. Near 

 the conclusion of this experiment the oil-cake 

 was increased by one- half. The average 



weight, on the 1st of December, was llDlbg. 

 14 ozs. ; but there was a difTLTcuof! between the 

 greatest weighted animal of IKJ lbs., and the 

 smallest, 1():J lbs , which showt-d how vnnt a 

 variation there may be in a lot pn.-ttv nearlv 

 equal in appearance. ]\Ir. Vernon JIarcourt 

 .showed that great diflerences of produce would 

 take place in tho same field in various parts 

 similarly treated ; and Mr. Lawes' experiments 

 show tho same results. In the first month of 

 tho experiment, after the weighing alluded to, 

 tho increase was in a margin frcjm nil to 

 22 lbs. ; nor could previous weight, or any 

 other element, account for tho difference. 

 Tho weekly average gained, per head, was 

 3 lbs. 10,V 0Z3. during the month. In 

 the second month, the extreme variations of 

 increase were 1 lb. against 22 lbs. ; but it is 

 very remarkable that it was not the one which 

 had been the greatest gainer the precedin<T 

 month, or increased the most, nor vice versa. 

 Though it eventually happened, that the one 

 which gained the most was that which realised 

 the greatest amount at the end of the experi- 

 ment. The average gain in this month was 

 less, being on 3 lbs. 3,\ ozs. per head per 

 week. In the third month, the greatest in- 

 crease was again 22 lbs., and the smallest 

 3 lbs. ; and it is again remarkable, that the one 

 which gave the smallest increase in the second 

 month, was that which progressed tho most in 

 the next. The average gain fell, however, to 

 3 lbs. 6^- ozs. per week. In the fourth 

 week, the lowest increase was again 3 lbs., and 

 the highest 28 lbs. ; the latter being the one 

 which stood highest in the second month. 

 The average increase was 3 lbs. 5 ozs. per head 

 per week — an increase which shows how much 

 may be gained by judicious management 

 and proper treatment, under the circum- 

 stances. 



Tiie result of these experiments was, that the 

 final mean weight, without woo!, was 174 lbs. ; 

 tho highest weight, 214 lbs. ; and the lowest 

 weight, 147 lbs. The highest average increase, 

 per week, was the one before particularly 

 referred to, which averaged 4 lbs. 7 ozs. ; tho 

 lowest average being lib. x4 ozs., and tho 

 general average 3 lbs. 2.} ozs. The increase in 

 twenty weeks, per 100 lbs. of live weight, took 

 259 lbs. 11 ozs. of oil-cake, 2 19 lbs. 1 oz. of 

 clover hay, and 3,G0Slb3. of Swedes. Now, 



741 



