330 PRODUCTIVE FEEDING OF FARM ANIMALS 
alfalfa alone,1! it requires about 110 to 120 days to fit the lambs 
for the local market; with light grain ration (one-fourth pound 
per head per day), 100 to 110 days; with medium grain ration 
(one-half pound), 90 to 100 days, and with heavy grain ration 
(1 pound), 70 to 80 days. The gains were as great (but not as 
rapid) with one-fourth pound of corn per head daily as with one- 
half pound. The cost of the gain increased, however, with an in- 
crease in the grain ration. Other prominent feeds used for fatten- 
ing sheep in the West besides alfalfa are beet pulp and field peas 
(pp. 121 and 194). 
Western sheep men calculate that the wool pays the cost of the 
sheep feeding, and the mutton and lambs represent the profit of the 
Fic. 94.—Winter scene of range sheep in the Nevada mountains. (Doten.) 
business. Large numbers of wethers are shipped Hast every year 
from these States, especially to Chicago, and either go directly on 
the market, if sufficiently fat, or are fed at some feeding station 
near the market until they are in prime condition or can be dis- 
posed of to good advantage. While at these stations they are fed 
hay, corn, and, generally, grain screenings, at least in past years. 
Value of Various Grain Feeds for Fattening Lambs.—The 
following table shows the results of a large number of trials with 
various grains for fattening lambs, which will be of interest in this 
connection. In the last column of the table the number of feed 
units required per 100 pounds gain are given, assuming 214 pounds 
" Farmers’ Bulletin 504, p. 9. 
