on high-priced land, and especially when engaged in raising sheep 

 exclusively for mutton production. 



The method consists in grazing on a forage crop, such as winter 

 wheat, rye, alfalfa, clover, rape, turnips, oats and peas, soybeans and 

 corn. Hurdles made of board panels, hung on movable standards, 

 or a portable woven wire fence, may be used. The hurdles or fences 

 are provided with "creeps," or openings wide enough to allow the 

 lambs to pass through without injury. In this way the lambs graze 

 ahead of the ewes on the fresh crop. The portable fences are moved 

 up as the ewes graze down the forage, sufficient area being allowed 

 for a period of two weeks. In the case of roots, the tops grow out 

 again and the roots may be harvested in the late autumn. The early 

 forage crops, depending upon the season, may be replaced, and the 

 ground reseeded for a second crop. 



Rape is a crop that may be used during the entire season, as 

 it will produce a crop if sown at any time from early spring until 

 September 1. Rye, sown in August, furnishes an excellent early 

 spring pasture. If corn is used it should be grazed when eighteen 

 inches high. Fifty to sixty lambs may be grazed on a half acre of 

 good stand of rape for two or three weeks. The forage crop should 

 be so arranged as to be in proper growth when the sheep are placed 

 on it, at different intervals, during the summer. In the use of a for- 

 age crop there is danger from bloat, especially before the sheep are 

 accustomed to the forage. 



Treatment for Bloat. 



Ewes and lambs are subject to bloat when placed on forage crops. 

 Drenching with new, warm, sweet milk, one pint for a lamb and one 

 quart for a mature sheep, will relieve the sheep, when followed by a 

 drench of three to four ounces of castor oil. Another remedy is as fol- 

 lows : "when first in distress, administer three tablespoonsful of raw 

 linseed oil containing a teaspoonful of turpentine. If this does not re- 

 lieve at once, tie or hold a large corn cob, or stick of similar size, 

 crossways in the mouth like a bridle bit; hold the head up, stand 

 astride the ewe and seek gently to press the gas out with the knees. 

 Do not use too much force." 38 One pint of a one-half of one per 

 "cent, solution of formalin is also a remedy for a mature sheep. For 

 quick relief in severe cases, make an incision high up on the left 

 side at the point of greatest distention. This will relieve the first 



38 Wing's "Sheep Farming in America." 



31 



