WINTER MANAGEMENT. * 25S 



From the length of the posts, an allowance, it will be 

 seen, is made for nailing the lower boards two or three inches 

 above the bottoms of them, which is proper. Five racks, if 

 each is 12 feet long, will be required for 100 lambs of ordi- 

 nary size. There should be no crowding when eating. 



The front and upper edges of the lower boards should be 

 planed slightly, to prevent the wool from the breasts and 

 necks of the sheep from being rubbed off. To secure the 

 boards permanently to the posts, spikes should be used of 

 sufficient length to clinch. Four spikes to each side and 

 end board are necessary. 



Figure 2. The most correct idea of the construction of 

 this is given by the cut, which represents one sawed in two 

 crosswise. Six pieces of 3 by 4 inch scantling and 33 

 inches each in length are required for a rack. The shelv- 

 ing boards, as seen above the heads of the sheep, are of ^ 

 inch stuff, and 14 inches in width, and are very necessary 

 to prevent hay seed and chaff from falling into the necks ; 

 and further, the hay, if pulled down faster than eaten, cannot 

 waste, as it is saved by the troughs. The front board of the 

 troughs should be 9 inches in width ; the space for the heads 

 of the sheep 10 inches ; and from the top of the space to the 

 end of the support, 14 inches. The triangles A A represent 

 the troughs. This is a double rack, but on this principle 

 they can be made single, and placed against the sides of the 

 shelter. They are more expensive than the kind first de- 

 scribed, but have decided advantages for feeding within 

 doors, as troughs are connected. 



TROUGHS. 



The boards of the trough (Fig. 3) may be of hemlock, or 

 pine ; the former, however, are not only cheapest, but hold 

 nails more firmly. They should be 10 inches in width, one 

 inch thick, and nailed at right angles, or, simply the edges 

 of two nailed together. A notch must then be sawed pre- 

 cisely to correspond with the flare of the trough into a two- 

 inch pine plank, a piece of which 12 inches wide and 15 

 inches long constitutjes the proper dimensions for the end 

 pieces, or legs of the trough. (See end piece, Fig. 4.) 



FODDER PENS. 



In connection with the subject in hand, pens for the re- 

 ception of the fodder when thrown from a stack or barn, are 



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