412 



SHEEP ANT) SHVA'JF 



customary to give any other feed to the wool-growing 

 varieties. This fact makes possible the great sheep 

 ranches of Australia and of the southwestern part of the 

 United States. Sheep that must be cared for in stables 

 during the cold months, or that are being fattened for the 

 market, are given a balanced ration, consisting usually of 

 such feeds as turnips, oats, corn, bran, middlings, silage, 

 clover, and hay. " Hothouse lambs " are marketed when 

 from six to twelve weeks old. The feeding is " forced " 



to get the finest kind 

 of tender meat. An 

 increasing number of 

 lambs, reared on the 

 large ranches of the 

 West until a few months 

 old, are shipped East for 

 fattening. 



304. Care of Sheep. - 

 If properly managed, 

 sheep bring quick re- 

 turns. In England and 

 France, where a careful study is made of the needs of the 

 flock, the sheep industry is one of the most profitable 

 branches of farming. In most of America, however, sheep 

 are the rarest of all farm animals. 



Sheep are good foragers, and will eat food which 

 would otherwise be wasted. They graze freely on steep 

 hillsides and in grain stubble, and they glean the husks of 

 corn that are abandoned in the fields. They require little 

 labor, and need but scant protection through the winter, 

 provided the enclosures are kept dry and free from 

 draughts. For these reasons, the raising of sheep should 

 be encouraged in the United States. 



Sheep are not subject to many diseases ; but those that 



MERINO. 



