8 BULLETIN 573, U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 



gradually increase the quantities of milk and the intervals between 

 feedings. Where a number of lambs are fed from a few bottles, it is 

 convenient to have the vessel holding the milk heated and carried in 

 a receptacle containing hot water, which keeps the milk at the proper 

 temperature, so that it is not too cold when the last few lambs are 

 fed. For a large number of lambs a barrel or tank equipped with a 

 number of rubber nipples at the base is very convenient. 



Carelessness in any detail of feeding is likely to result in scours. 

 The lambs should not be given too much. The temperature of the 

 milk should be about 92° F. The bottles and nipples should be kept 

 scrupulously clean. Scours are best overcome by boding the milk 

 for a few feeds after the trouble appears. Other common remedies 

 successfully employed are the feeding of a small quantity of charred 

 flour or a teaspoonful of lime water in the milk. For severe cases, a 

 tablespoonful of castor oil is given. Boiled milk should not be fed 

 continuously, as it causes constipation. 



Breeds. — Because of the intimate relationship which has existed 

 between the farm sheep industry on the project and sheep production 

 on the adjacent ranges, the breeds grown on the project are those of 

 the surrounding range. In this section the popular range ewes are 

 grades of the C type Merino and the RambouiUet or the crossbreeds 

 of a long-wool buck (Lincoln or Cotswold) and fine-wool ewes. 

 Some range bands contain three-fourths or more of the long-wool 

 blood. As a rule, however, the range ewe that is most popular is 

 the one carrying from one-half to three-fourths of fine-wool blood 

 and the remainder long-wool blood. While there are some differences 

 of opinion among the rangemen, the method followed by most of them 

 is to use RambouiUet and long-wool bucks to keep the desired pro- 

 portion of fine-wool and long-wool blood in the range band. The 

 ewe lambs from these matings are kept to replenish the flocks, while 

 the males are marketed as wether lambs. For the ewes which are 

 to produce mutton lambs, black-faced bucks are used, and the entire 

 lamb crop, both male and female, is marketed, usually early in the 

 season. 



The difficulties of range sheep production have been so acute in 

 recent years that only the more efficient of the range sheepmen have 

 remained in the business. These men are usually progressive and 

 quick to grasp opportunities for increasing their profits. One result 

 of this is that the bucks now used are practically all pure-bred 

 animals of the best quality obtainable. This has resulted in a 

 strong demand for pure-bred bucks from the Minidoka project and 

 has presented good opportunities to sheep growers on the project. 



The production of registered sheep was started on the project by 

 the establishment of a flock of pure-bred Hampshires in 1911. At 

 that time sheepmen were beginning to realize the value of this large 



