262 MODERN SHEEP: BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. 



tents, near the night camping ground for the sheep. Under such 

 conditions each herder establishes a camp at some location, pro- 

 tected from storms and conveniently near water, fuel and grass. 



AN IDEAL RANGE SHEEP. 



A good deal has been written and said about the making of 

 an ideal range sheep, a sheep that will be both a mutton and a 

 wool producer, and at the same time herd in large numbers and 

 meet other range requirements. The making of a range sheep 

 has now been undertaken by the animal husbandry department of 

 the Iowa Agricultural College. No matter what other blood may 

 be used in the making of this breed, the Merino must be largely 

 resorted to for herding qualities and for wool, since no other breed 

 can take the part in these considerations that the "old reliable" can. 



The basis of the start in the Ames experiment consisted of 

 Nebraska and Wyoming range-bred ewes tending a good deal 

 towards the Rambouillet family. They were first bred to a pure 

 bred Leicester ram, which brought a lamb of growthier tendency 

 with a more open fleece and longer staple than the mother ewe. 

 The female produce from this cross were crossed back by the use 

 of Rambouillet rams, which gave an increased denseness of fleece 

 though somewhat shorter staple, though not any particular change 

 so far as the weight of fleece is concerned. It is also thought 

 that the result of this cross gave a little smoother sheep than 

 the original mother stock. The three-quarter Rambouillet ewes 

 were crossed back again to the Leicesters. The produce of this was 

 a lamb of too open a fleece to withstand the western storms. 

 Southdown rams were used on various kinds of ewes, but a uni- 

 formly small lamb was the result and inferior and greatly reduced 

 fleece. This cross was ultimately abandoned. The present season's 

 work will be the crossing of three-quarter-blood Rambouillet- 

 Leicester ewes with a pure Shropshire ram with the hope of getting 

 a better mutton sheep and possibly a heavier and better quality 

 fleece. Seven distinct breeds of sheep are being used in trying to 

 evolve the ideal range sheep at the college mentioned, but whether 

 anything can be produced that will take the place of the common 

 fine-wool range ewe crossed with the improved breeds remains 

 to be seen. 



PEA-FED LAMBS. 



One of the more important ends of the sheep business in 

 country is that 'of feeding lambs on peas. Lambs fed in this man- 

 ner are know as pea-fed lambs, and Colorado leads in this industry. 

 From a very small beginning this business has assumed enormous 

 proportions, and it is stated that fully a million sheep and lambs 



