362 MANAGEMENT AND FEEDING OF SHEEP 



usually as to admit of grading the animals before they 

 are shipped. The aim in grading should be: (i) To keep 

 the old and young ewes separate from each other and 

 from the lambs and wethers ; (2) to keep the lambs and 

 wethers apart, and, when the numbers will justify it, to 

 grade the lambs and wethers according to age and size. 

 When the yards are reached where these are exposed for 

 sale, the different classes should occupy different pens. 

 The benefit resulting is that higher relative price which 

 uniformity brings with it. The purchaser of stockers de- 

 sires uniformity, for the reason that an even lot will fat- 

 ten more readily than a mixed lot or a lot similar in kind 

 but differing much in the flesh which they carry, and the 

 uniformity in the feeders purchased will tend much to 

 produce uniformity in the feeders finished. Uniformity 

 in the latter is even more desirable than in the former. 



Sheep are sometimes shipped in a single deck car, 

 and sometimes in one with two decks. The number that 

 a car will carry will, of course, depend on the size of the 

 sheep or lambs, the amount of flesh that they carry and 

 the length of the car. On a car 36 feet long from 120 to 

 130 wethers may be shipped as stockers on a single deck. 

 When shipping old ewes they should not be crowded so 

 closely as in the case of wethers, as they are less able 

 to bear up under untoward conditions than wethers. 

 Stock lambs vary more in size than wethers ; hence this 

 variation is greater in the number that the car will carry. 

 When the lambs are developed so as to weigh 60 to 70 

 pounds, a single deck of a 36-foot car should carry from 

 140 to 150 head. When the lambs are under 60 pounds in 

 weight, the single deck should carry 170 to 180 head. A 

 maximum weight in the load carried is fixed upon as the 

 basis of charge for the car. If the car is not loaded up to 

 this maximum, the shipper is so far the loser; but if 

 loaded to exceed the maximum, the shipper pays propor- 

 tionately for the excess. 



