MODERN SHEEP: BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. 229 



in a wet winter a shed is far better, and the manure cannot be saved 

 as well. 



"Salt and hay should always be fed under cover, hay in racks 

 and salt in troughs; economy in feeding demands this system, for 

 water-soaked hay is always rejected by sheep, and salt wastes much 

 from rain. 



"And, from my own experience, it pays best to feed sheep; 

 first, they return more pounds of gain for the amount of food 

 consumed than cattle or hogs; and mutton brings more per pound 

 than beef or pork, and furnishes better manure than either of the 

 others. 



"My sheep have gained, from start of feeding to finish, eight 

 to ten pounds of mutton per bushel of corn, while the gain of 

 my cattle of equal quality and feed runs from seven to eight 

 pounds. And my hogs eat corn, corn from first to last, and only 

 a little grass for change, while my sheep eat grass, grass from 

 first to last, and only a little corn to start lambs and finish them. 

 That is the cheap feed versus high priced feed. 



"And I also find from my shipping bills which I have saved 

 for twenty-five years, from 1873 to 1898, that the average price 

 received from my stock in Chicago during that period was $4.93 

 per 100 pounds for sheep, $4.86 for steers, and $4.85 for hogs. 

 And the average weight was: Sheep, 126y 2 pounds; steers, 1,354 

 pounds, and hogs, 218% pounds. From this you can see they had 

 to be all good stock to average that weight." 



LIVE WEIGHT GAINS OF WETHERS. 



The average daily live weight gains of wethers shown at last 

 year's Smithfield Show as compiled by Mr. W. W. Chapman, F. S. 

 S., were as follows : 



Ozs. 



Leicester or Border Leicester Lambs 3 12.45 



Leicester or Border Wethers 4 7.93 



Cotswold Lambs 



Cotswold Wethers 2 7.61 



Lincoln Lambs* 2 11.64 



Lincoln Wethers 3 8.82 



Kentish or Romney Marsh Lambs 7 10.78 



Kentish or Romney Marsh Wethers 4 6.95 



Devon Longwooled Lambs 2 11.11 



South Devon Longwooled Breed Lambs 1 12.12 



Cheviot Lambs 4 9.83 



Cheviot Wethers 3 8.18 



Mountain Lambs (other than Welsh) 5 9.35 



Mountain Wethers 4 5.38 



Welsh Mountain Wethers (any age) 5 4.68 



