160 SllEEP FARMING IN AMERICA. 



shepherd himself some of them should be at 

 hand when an early lambing on grass is 

 planned. 



It is desirable to scatter the flock as much 

 as possible at this time, for then the ewes are 

 the more readily kept track of and their lambs 

 are not so often lost through mixing and stray- 

 ing from their mothers. This latter is partic- 

 ularly dangerous in case of twins, seeing that 

 the ewe is often content if she has one lamb 

 with her and seeks the other very little. 



There are exceptions to this rule, however. 

 The writer has known Dorset ewes that seemed 

 to have perfect memories and a knowledge of 

 numbers and would seek as earnestly for a 

 strayed twin as though it were a single lost 

 lamb. 



Seeing that the ewes at this time must give 

 their attention to their lambs and cannot wan- 

 der wide in search of food, it is a good plan 

 to lamb them on some specially good piece 

 of grass. And to aid in keeping them quiet 

 the shepherd may carry with him oats, giving 

 a handful to the ewe wherever he finds her. 

 It is hardly probable that a larger per cent 

 of lambs will be saved by lambing on grass 

 than by lambing earlier, nor will they ever be 

 so good as early lambs pushed from the start, 

 but they may be produced with comparatively 

 little trouble and in some situations are the 

 only ones that it is practicable to produce. 



No lambs should be permitted to be born 

 later than the first of May, except in a high 

 mountainous region where grass starts late 



