128 SHEEP FARMING IN AMEEICA. 



but a mixture of lard and turpentine, or tallow 

 and turpentine, combined in proportion so as 

 to be sott. Tbis will deter germs and make beal- 

 ing more rapid. Tbere should not be a loss 

 from docking and castration of more than one 

 lamb in 500 and it is a satisfaction to have 

 both done so that whatever age the lambs may 

 reach they will not in marketing suffer a 

 "dock" because of their "bucky" condition. 



WEANING. 



As a rule it is not necessary to wean lambs 

 before they go to market. If they are fed 

 right they will while sucking their mothers 

 reach a weight of 75 to 85 lbs., if of mutton 

 breeds. There is nothing better than mothers' 

 milk except more mothers' milk! Lambs that 

 are to remain on the farm, however, should 

 be separated from the ewes when ten or twelve 

 weeks old, or when the advent of warm weather 

 makes parasitic infection a danger. An ex- 

 ception may be made of the ewe lambs, which 

 may in some cases run with their mothers until 

 they are weaned naturally. The advantage of 

 weaning is that it makes possible the separa- 

 tion of the young and old and thus the young 

 things are put by themselves on clean pasture 

 where there can be no contaminated grass 

 and thus they escape infection and parasitic 

 diseases. The proper way to wean lambs is 

 by taking away the ewes, leaving the lambs 

 in the pasture where they are accustomed 

 to run. If there can be built there a 

 small yard or corral having creeps through 



