MODERN SHEEP: BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. . 275 



hay the farm affords, as this is one of those necessaries which are 

 sometimes hard to find at the feed barn of the showyard. Of 

 course the experienced exhibitor provides, in abundance, such im- 

 portant succulent delicacies as turnips, kale, rape, cabbage, etc., 

 and mixes his grain previous to loading his car. The lantern, 

 trocar, shears and the medicine chest must not be forgotten, and 

 on no account must the water barrel and buckets be overlooked. 

 A large, well-ventilated car should be chartered, and properly 

 fitted with separate pens for the rams and the ewes, and a section 

 apportioned for the storage of feed .and the shepherd's sleeping 

 quarters. A ladder of two or three steps should be nailed to 

 the side of the car to enable the shepherd to get in and out of it 

 easily. I have found it to advantage to have a smile for the yard 

 bosses and another kind of "smile" for the freight hands. It is 

 important that your shipping contracts are made out early and 

 correctly. Don't think your widow will receive big damages if 

 you get killed on a show circuit freight car, since you usually sign 

 your claim away when signing the shipping contract that effect 

 showyard shipments. If you want to take a friend along impress 

 upon him the importance of keeping out of sight and keeping his 

 mouth shut when the freight conductor or his undergraduates 

 are around, for your contract allows but one man, as a rule, for 

 one shipment. 



COLORING. 



What is the object of coloring? To many it appears a useless 

 custom. Culley says in regard to coloring : "The practice of rub- 

 bing into the wool red or yellow ochre in the month of September 

 was intended to qualify the perspiration, which would otherwise 

 give an asperity to the wool, and to form a coat impenetrable to 

 rain or cold." Evidently the motive of coloring in Culley's day was 

 different to what it is today. Some say that coloring was intro- 

 duced with the idea of guiding the judge to the identity of the 

 owners of the various exhibits. That would hardly hold good these 

 days, since so many different exhibitors use similar colorings. It 

 has been further stated that the custom originated with the 

 Spanish. I have used coloring extensively, but in my later days 

 showyard career used no coloring outside of a pinch of ochre with 

 a little sweet oil to add a richness and uniformity to the fleece, 

 and then only on sheep whose fleeces have undergone a thorough 

 washing somewhere about six weeks previous to exhibiting the 

 animals. 



I have never found any coloring mixture to give such pleas- 

 ant and satisfactory results as yellow ochre and burnt umber mixed 

 with olive or palm oil. Of course the matter of shade must be 

 left to the colorer, that being regulated by the quantity of ochre 



