WESTERN LAMB FEEDING. 237 



ket with their fleeces on. The gains secured 

 are excellent, lambs weighing 55 lbs. when put 

 on feed often weighing 85 lbs. wben ripe, and 

 better gains are sometimes secured.' They 

 comei to the markets of Kansas City, Omaha 

 and Chicago in solid train loads, and owing to 

 their good quality and even ripeness they sell 

 at the top of the market. 



There seems a distinct quality of goodness 

 diffused through an alfalfa-fed lamb, and it is 

 difficult to make as good on any other ration. 

 The healthfulness of the diet is attested by the 

 very great evenness of lots of alfalfa-fed lambs, 

 though this is in part accounted for by the 

 regularity and moderation of the feeding. 



There are other alfalfa feeding districts in 

 Kansas and Nebraska where the business is 

 carried on very much as in Colorado, having 

 almost as good weather though not usually as 

 good alfalfa. This is owing to the greater lia- 

 bility of rain falling on Nebraska and Kansas 

 alfaJfa and to the careless methods of hay- 

 makers caused in part by scarcity of labor. 

 Corn is plentiful in these Eastern yards and is 

 sometimes fed with greater freedom than in 

 Colorado, though without corresponding in- 

 crease in gain. The truth is that a lamb can 

 not be forced as a pig can by feeding an excess 

 of grain; he must make a large part of his 

 growth from coarse forage and over feeding 

 with grain is a dangerous proposition. 



Then there are regions where men attempt 

 to fatten lambs with wild prairie hay or sor- 

 ghum, with corn. Large, well-developed lambs 



