EAST OP THE MISSISSIPPI EIVEE. 249 



tion witli these are slieariug i(joms and storage quarters. Mr. Bowditcli 

 li-indly furnishes some details of his management : 



I find that a good sized, ragged, well built, grade Down ewo bred to a Hanipshire 

 ram gives me tlie best and cxiiielcest returns in caily lambs. My ewes are coui>led at 

 beginning of July and tlie ram is taken away from tbe flock the 15th of October. 

 We have a few early lambs in December, many more in January, but most of them 

 in February and early March. I generally run a flock of from 600 to 700 grade ewes 

 and keep a little flock of 50 or more thoroughbred Hampshires. In snmmer, if on 

 good pasture or full supply of green foliage, I feed very little grain ; if overstocked 

 I make the ration up with grain, so as to keep my ewes on the gain rather than on the 

 lose. As soon as the pasture becomes thoroughly frosted, I at once yard my sheep for 

 the winter and they are never allowed to go outside the yard until the next spring. 

 I feed before lambing, cut corn stalks, late sown barley, as well as peas and oats, 

 the latter being a most valuable crop when cured for winter feeding. With this dry 

 forage I add a mixture of cob meal and bran — very nearly eq^ual parts — with the addi- 

 tion of a little old process linseed-oil meal, giving of the mixture enough to keep my 

 ewes in the proper condition. As soon as the ewes drop their lambs they are changed 

 into a separate pen and fed with the best of early cut hay and ro wen, and all the grain 

 they will eat of this before-named mixture. In one corner of the pen a small rack to 

 hold rowen and a trough for grain is placed, separated from the rest of the pen by a 

 fence, which prevents the ewes from coming in, but allows the lambs free entrance 

 at any time. The mixture of grain I give my lambs is three parts finely ground corn 

 meal to one part old process linseed-oil meal. If a lamb is from a ewe which is a 

 large milker, with the treatment above named, we expect him to be ready for market 

 at fifty days old and to dress 25 pounds. The price received from the lamb wouldvary 

 from $8 to $10 the 1st of February down to $5 or $6 the 1st of May, prices being in- 

 fluenced, as in everything else, by the demand and supply. One secret which must 

 be observed with the lambs as well as with the sheep is, tney must have a good sup- 

 ply of pure water, good ventilation, and be kept cool and dry. 



Mr. Bowditch keeps running water in each pen, and states that a 

 sheep will drink from 4 to 6 quarts daily. Everything is carried on in 

 a systematic and business-like manner and the profits of the business are 

 very gratifying, running from 40 to 60 per cent. Mr. Bowditch does not 

 devote himself exclusively to early lamb raising, but takes interest in 

 the thoroughbred Hampshires and horned Dorset sheep, keeping flocks 

 of each. He imported the horned Dorsets as early as May, 1887, being 

 among the earliest importers to make a direct importation into the 

 United States, the importation being from the flocks of Thomas Chick, 

 Stratton, Dorset, England. He has also done much by his writings 

 and lectures to revive an interest in sheep culture in Massachusetts 

 and throughout New England, and believes that sheep raising is not 

 only profitable, but almost indispensable to help to bring up New Eng- 

 land agriculture to its proper condition. 



There is a growing sentiment among intelhgent Massachusetts 

 farmers that keeping sheep for the good they do the soil is becoming a 

 necessity; that the soils of New England can be kept up only by the 

 plan pursued in Old England, an advanced system of sheep husbandry 

 and agriculture. Where the relations are reciprocal, the land supports 

 the sheep and the sheep maintain the land. The profits must come in 

 this order : First, in the improvement of pastures ; second, in the sale of 



