354 MANAGEMENT AND FEEDING OF SHEEP 



discriminately commended. If ewes thus purchased are 

 suitably fed, they may be able to produce and rear lambs 

 for one or two years longer than if not thus provided with 

 food suited to their advanced age ; that is, food that is 

 easy to masticate and rich in nutrients. But the fact 

 remains that ewes past the meridian of vigor will not rear 

 lambs of equal excellence with those reared by the same 

 ewes when in their prime. 



The sale and purchase of inferior rams for breeding 

 uses, simply because they are purely bred is a serious 

 mistake. It may bring immediate gain to the seller, but 

 in the end it is sure to react against the reputation of the 

 breeder and of the breed. Such animals ought to be sold 

 for slaughter, every temptation to dispose of them for 

 any other use should be resisted and the same is true of 

 pure-bred ewes of decided inferiority. 



Orders for pure-bred sheep, and especially for pure- 

 bred rams, are very frequently filled b}' mail. They cannot 

 be filled otherwise when the buyer and seller live far 

 apart, because of the expense that would be thus incurred 

 in traveling. Such orders are based on the reputation 

 of the seller, who cannot be too careful to keep his repu- 

 tation unsullied in the way in which the orders are filled. 

 Those who give them should be careful to describe the 

 character of the animal or animals that they want, and 

 those who fill them should be equally careful to fill them 

 in the line of the re,quirements. If they cannot do this 

 they should not try to fill them. Some breeders have been 

 able to build up a very large business on these lines. 

 Other breeders have never been able to do so, the differ- 

 ence in the results being based chiefly on a difference 

 in the methods of filling orders. 



The leading live stock fairs that are held usually 

 furnish auspicious times for the purchase of stock, rams 

 especially; for the purchase of what are commonly re- 

 ferred to as field rams — that is, rams that haA'e been fitted 

 for the show ring. Many breeders take to the fairs a 



