MODERN SHEEP: BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. 299 



matter how large our hay mows or how full our grain bins might 

 be, without sufficient succulent rations our flocks cannot be kept 

 in that pink of condition or bloom which is noticeable where roots 

 form a part of their rations. It seems that the more succulent 

 rations sheep partake of the more bloom they carry. It is indeed 

 a most careless observer who does not notice with what readi- 

 ness the flock wintered on dry rations takes on bloom as soon as it 

 is sent to pasture in the spring. Not only are roots a good ra- 

 tion, but a tonic as well, and an almost perfect regulator of the 

 digestive system. 



The raising of roots is not nearly so well understood in this 

 country as in Great Britain and some of her possessions. In 

 Canada and Australasia they are raised in abundance and of good 

 quality. That they would be raised more universally than they 

 are in this country there is no doubt did we make the growing of 

 them more of a study. In some of our low, rich, loamy soils great 

 quantities of turnips, beets, rutabagas, etc., could be raised at com- 

 paratively little cost. The one most serious disadvantage with us 

 in regard to the raising and feeding of roots is the expense of 

 building root cellars and the filling of them as against feeding 

 them off on the ground on which they are raised, as is done in 

 milder climates. Of course, the root cellar should be built in con- 

 nection with the sheep barn, not only for convenience sake but to 

 prevent the daily ration from freezing before the sheep have 

 time to eat it up. A great deal of danger accompanies the feed- 

 ing of frozen roots to sheep. 



From experiments conducted by Prof. G. E. Day of the On- 

 tario Agricultural College we learn that lambs make better gains 

 on roots than on ensilage. Twenty lambs were divided into two 

 groups of ten lambs each. One group was fed roots, hay and grain 

 and the other ensilage, hay and grain, the hay and grain being the 

 same for each group. Two pounds of roots were fed for each 

 pound of hay in one group, and two pounds of ensilage for each 

 pound of hay in the other group. The lambs were fed one and 

 one-half pounds of mixed grain each per day in addition to the 

 roots, ensilage and hay. The experiment lasted fifteen weeks. In 

 this experiment the lambs fed roots made decidedly larger gains 

 and required less dry matter for a pound of gain than those fed 

 ensilage. Ten lambs on roots gained 318 pounds, requiring eleven 

 pounds of dry matter for each pound of gain. The ten fed en- 

 silage gained 272 pounds at a cost of nearly thirteen pounds of dry 

 matter for each pound of gain. 



An experiment conducted sometime ago in "England indicates 

 that the best results are obtained from sliced turnips as against 

 pulped turnips, apparently because the mastication involved in 

 their assimilation is more thorough than in the case of the pulped 

 article. 



