28 FARMERS' BULLETIN 929. 



BREEDING YOUNG EWES. 



While many young ewes are bred to lamb at yearling age, the ad- 

 visability of the practice as a general one is questionable. Many 

 breeders are of the opinion that the growth of the average ewe lamb 

 is greatly impaired if she is bred to lamb at yearling age, and that, 

 while many young ewes can be bred to lamb at that age, small stock 

 will result if this practice is followed. Others, however, say that if 

 their lambs have been born early in the spring and have made good 

 growth, the ewe can be bred to lamb at one year of age with no evil 

 results. The writer knows of a few breeders who take exception- 

 ally good care of their flocks and raise strong early lambs, and who 

 are following this practice with apparently good success. It is 

 likely, however, that the practice is not to be recommended for the 

 average grower, whose lambs are born none too early in the spring to 

 make the growth essential, and that an increased lambing rate can 

 better be achieved b} T other means. 



SINGLE- VERSUS TWIN LAMBS. 



In the preceding pages it has been shown that in order to increase 

 the lambing rate to 100 per cent on the farms studied about one- 

 fourth of the breeding ewes must raise twin lambs. Many growers 

 prefer to have their ewes raise but one lamb, saying, in most cases, 

 that " one good lamb is better than two poor ones," but here again 

 it seems a matter of care more than anything else, and the best breed- 

 ers see no objection to a good strong ewe raising a pair of lambs, 

 nor do they think that twin lambs are likely to be much smaller than 

 those dropped singly. They prefer, in most cases, to have young 

 ewes and old ewes raise but one lamb each, but do not object to strong 

 medium-aged ewes having more than one lamb. The more success- 

 ful growers aim to get as many lambs as possible, and one of the 

 best ways of increasing the lambing rate seems to be by selecting 

 along this line. 



SHEEP ON LARGE RANGES. 



The writer's attention has been called to a couple of large ranges; 

 one, embracing upward of 4,000 acres, a large part of which affords 

 fair grazing, being cited as a possibility for a large sheep proposition ; 

 the other, which was said to carry 500 or GOO heep, as a striking 

 ( xample of failure due, as nearly as could be determined, to diseass 

 and lack of care. One drawback to the first proposition, and without 

 doubt to others of its sort, was its lack of tillable land, or at least 

 enough of such land on which to grow the necessary forage for 

 wintering the breeding stock. This difficulty could perhaps be 

 obviated by operating the range in conjunction with tillable farm 

 land in the same or other localities, utilizing the range as pasture 



