2SO SECTIONAL ADDRESSES 



(2) Although we now have under grass large areas which most of us 

 would like to see used for some kind of arable or mixed farming, grass 

 is the crop to which soil and climate make a great deal — perhaps most — 

 of our land in Great Britain specially suited. The mild, wet, equable 

 climate of the greater part of the country not only makes cultivation 

 difficult, but favours the growth of grass to some extent throughout the 

 year. Sheep managed in such a way as to meet modern market demands 

 fit in extremely well with grass production. So many fat lambs are now 

 sold in summer that the annual cycle of the sheep population very closely 

 resembles that of production from grassland. Numbers are at the 

 minimum in winter and the requirements of the flock are at their 

 maximum in May and June. Even the autumn flush of grass is met by 

 the influx of sheep from hill grazings. 



(3) Grass sheep not only require the minimum expenditure on labour 

 and feeding stuffs but, compared with other forms of stock, they involve 

 little outlay on buildings, water supply and other permanent equipment. 



(4) Compared with other nations, our consumption of mutton and 

 lamb is very high. The home-produced article has a great advantage in 

 that it can be marketed fresh, whereas practically all imported mutton 

 and lamb is frozen. 



Possible Developments. 



So far, in discussing the sheep industry, I have had in mind our existing 

 methods of sheep management, but we can be quite sure that they will 

 not continue unchanged, and we may devote a few minutes to considering 

 the directions in which changes and developments would be most desirable. 



Winter Lamb. — At present, the weakest point is the low return per 

 unit of the flock. We keep a ewe for two years before she produces any- 

 thing beyond a fleece, and in these days that is worth very little. Even 

 when she is mature, we keep her for twelve months in order that she may 

 breed a lamb or a Iamb and a half, which she suckles for twelve or sixteen 

 weeks. Thus the actively producing period is limited to about a quarter 

 of the year : the product is perhaps 40-60 lb. of carcase. The cow, on 

 the other hand, is producing milk for about ten months in the year. 



The remedy often suggested is to keep sheep which will give two 

 crops of lambs a year. Some breeds, of which the outstanding 

 instances are the Merino, and, among British sheep, the Dorset Horn, 

 will breed at almost any time, and this makes it possible to obtain 

 two crops of lambs in a year. It is quite possible to secure this occasion- 

 ally with other breeds, and I have no doubt that by selection and proper 

 management of the ewes two crops could be obtained fairly regularly in 

 flocks where the lambs are sold at an early age. The advocates of such a 

 system very rightly point to the need for a better distribution of supplies 

 throughout the year. At present there is a huge supply of lambs and sheep 

 on the market from June to October, and very little from January to May. 

 Moreover, the class of meat provided for the winter six months of the year 

 is not the young milk-fed lamb for which there is most demand. They 

 also urge that the production of young lamb in the present off season would 

 enable the farmer to take advantage of the high prices which such lamb 



