268 Sheep-Farming 



is stated to be more likely to occur in instance of 

 lambs. It has been asserted that the feeding of such 

 food as beans also produces a feverish condition 

 of the system, and that many of the casualties 

 attending the showing of fat sheep have been due 

 to this. The barrenness of show ewes has been 

 attributed to the same cause, and for this reason, 

 some feeders prefer to rely on such foods as tares, 

 oil cake, barley, and oats. I can say that during my 

 experience of over fifty years in preparing show 

 sheep, I have fed most liberally of beans, peas, and 

 locust beans, and I have only observed one instance 

 of any bad effects resulting from feeding them. I 

 also know that John Webb followed a similar prac- 

 tice and that Mr. Hersel, the shepherd of the Duke 

 of Richmond and the best feeder of my acquaintance, 

 fed his prize winners on oats, oil cake, and beans. 

 Only on one occasion during my long experience has 

 barrenness resulted from feeding ewes for show, and 

 that was when four out of seven yearlings that I 

 had fed on locust beans became unfertile. To be 

 safe in this matter, it may be best to assume that 

 the use of beans should be Hmited in extent, espe- 

 cially as it is possible to prepare breeding sheep for 

 show without the use of such foods. 



How Smithfield winners were fed. — Some years 

 ago a neighbor of mine in Scotland, Mr. David 

 Buttar of Corston, the celebrated Shropshire breeder, 

 exhibited a pen of fat wethers at Smithfield and won 



