10 TEXAS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 



;:";* 



Southdown; Lot 5, Lincoln, and Lot 6, a half-blood Karakule-Lincoln. 

 The ewes in each lot were marked with a special brand designating to 

 which lot the respective ewes belonged. Kemp's Australian branding 

 fluid was used in marking the ewes. 



The breeding season began during the latter part of October, 1914,. 

 and the rams instead of remaining with the ewes continually were 

 turned with the respective lots of ewes at night and removed the next 

 morning. The breeding continued for a period of six weeks. During 

 the breeding season the six lots of ewes were grazed upon separate 

 pasture no additional feed being furnished at this season of the year. 



After the breeding season was over, the entire breeding flock was 

 again placed together and carried through the winter, no additional 

 feed being supplied in the fall and winter months except during periods 

 of almost incessant rains, when a small amount of Sudan hay was pro- 

 vided for them. 



The lambs began to drop March 17, 1915, and parturition continued 

 until well toward the first of May. 



As soon as the lambs reached the age of two to three weeks they 

 were given access to a "creep 7 ' wherein was provided tender alfalfa 

 leaves and a concentrated grain ration consisting of one part cotton- 

 seed meal to six parts threshed milo. The lambs had access to the 

 "creep" throughout the summer months. The ewe flock received one- 

 half pound threshed milo. daily from lambing time until June 15. 

 During this period and throughout the summer, the entire flock grazed 

 the several pastures together, the management of all being identical. 

 The lambs were weaned in September and placed upon an increased grain 

 ration and upon a better pasture. Owing to the shortage of pasture 

 and limited feeding facilities, it was necessary to feed all of the lamb? 

 together during the fattening period; hence the data herein presented 

 do not compare the cost of gains made by the several lots.* All of the 

 lambs were numbered individually and were weighed at regular inter- 

 vals from birth until the termination of the test. 



*At the Iowa Station (Iowa Station Bulletin 35) Curtiss and Wilson con- 

 ducted a feeding test with lambs with the primary object of determining the 

 relative economy of production and the value of mutton and wool compared 

 and the adaptation of some of the leading breeds. These investigators reported 

 on the Southdown, Shropshire, Oxford, Suffolk, Lincoln, Cotswold, Dorset, Merino, 

 and a Shropshire and Merino cross. The investigation covered a period of two 

 years the first test extending over a period of ninety days, and the second one 

 hundred and six days. The average cost per pound of gain for the two testa 

 was as follows: 



Cotswold, 2.65 cents; Lincolns, 2.88 cents; Rambouillet (one test), 2.91 cents; 

 Leicester, 2.93 cents; Southdown, 3.02 cents; Shropshire, 3.02 cents; Oxford, 

 3.15 cents, and the Suffolk, 3.16 cents. 



At the South Dakota Station (South Dakota Bulletin 127) Wilson conducted 

 a test similar to that herein reported, averaging the results of six tests with a 

 total of 344 lambs. Wilson found that the amount of concentrates required 'to 

 produce one pound of gain for the respective crosses was as follows: 



Cotswold, 5.24 pounds; Oxford, 5.43 pounds; Rambcuillet, 5.63 pounds; South- 

 down, 5.64 pounds; Shropshire, 5.75 pounds, and the Hampshire, 5.87 pounds. 



