Winter Management of the Flock 179 



tainable, is excellent sheep feed and is often fed upon 

 the snow. Its value is nearer that of clover than is 

 that of any other straw. The advisability of cutting 

 fodders for sheep can be determined mainly on the 

 value of the fodder and the waste that is saved by 

 so doing. The advantage to the sheep is of no great 

 consequence. British shepherds rely largely upon 

 roots in wintering sheep. Some of them consider 

 that a liberal use of turnips is unfavorable to a good 

 lamb crop, but some form of succulent feed is highly 

 desirable. Corn silage can be used to furnish suc- 

 culence, though some losses and a good deal of trouble 

 have been occasioned by feeding silage. The greatest 

 danger seems to be in using spoiled silage. Sheep 

 are peculiarly susceptible to injury from any moldy 

 or gassy feed, and such conditions are likely to exist 

 when corn is put into the silo too green or has kept 

 poorly. When good dry fodder or hay is used as 

 part of the rough feed, a good quality of silage can 

 be used to good advantage. Account needs to be 

 taken of the amount of grain in the silage, as the 

 ewes may be made overfat if the rest of the ration 

 is of a fattening nature. An experiment conducted 

 at the Wisconsin station several years ago gives a 

 good line on the comparative values of various feeds. 

 In all lots, the ewes were fed one-half pound of oats 

 each per day during the first four weeks, and this 

 was changed to a similar amount of bran for the last 

 four weeks. The results were as follows : — 



