268 MODERN SHEEP: BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. 



rains occur after the vines have ripened or dried up, it will blacken 

 and rot them, spoiling them for feed; and will also sprout the 

 pea grain. 



"Third, a light snowfall during the fall and winter. And 

 the snow must be dry, and the air dry enough to evaporate the 

 snow as fast as it melts, so that the ground will remain dry. 



"As to gains: Average gains have varied greatly, as would 

 be expected where so many entirely inexperienced feeders have 

 gone into the business. Experienced feeders will understand 

 how seemingly small errors in handling fattening stock will make 

 a great difference in results. Many of our farmers last year did 

 not get satisfactory gains, obtaining an average only of four to five 

 pounds a month. Others obtain gains of six to nine pounds a 

 month for the whole feeding period. I got an average gain of 

 eight pounds in twenty-nine days, during the worst weather we 

 had last winter. A neighbor's lambs gained nine pounds during 

 the last month of feeding. But, during that time, he fed barley 

 in self-feeders, in connection with the field grazing as described 

 above. The best experience seems to show that, with proper 

 handling, we should get an average gain of seven to eight pounds 

 a month during the whole feeding period. Most of the lambs fed 

 are Mexicans, and averaging in weight from fifty to fifty-five 

 pounds at the beginning. 



"On account of overstocking, many farmers were forced to 

 market their lambs last year before they were finished, and thus 

 tending to create an unfavorable opinion of our lambs and our 

 methods of feeding. But, fortunately, the greater part of our 

 lambs were well finished, and that unfavorable opinion was cor- 

 rected. 



"There is no question now but what our present method of 

 lamb feeding possesses all the essentials of the highest success, 

 and that lamb feeding here will be a permanent feature of our 

 farming. Its peculiar merits are the saving of all the expense of 

 harvesting the crop, and much of the expense attending the feed- 

 ing of lambs; the raising of a crop upon which lambs can be 

 wholly fed and finished that is, growing both the hay and grain 

 on the same land, and the production of superior mutton. 



"The general effect of the pea rotation in farming and suc- 

 cessful lamb feeding has been very marked in the increased pros- 

 perity of the valley. Population is rapidly increasing. Land, 

 also, is increasing in value; and, while it is still cheap, the best 

 pea land selling now at $50 to $60 an acre, it will probably not 

 long sell at such prices. When land, after taxes and water assess- 

 ments and expenses of all kinds are paid, will pay ten per cent net 

 on a valuation of $150 an acre in average years, the question is, 

 What is such land really worth ?" 



