86 Domestic ANIMALS. 
dition, A moderate daily feed of oats or peas, placed in the 
depository racks, would keep them strong, in good plight for 
the lambing season, and increase their weight of wool. 
“ Ruta-bagas, Irish potatoes, etc., make a good substitute for 
grain, as an extra feed for grown sheep. I prefer the ruta- 
baga to the potato in equivalents of nutriment. I do not con- 
sider either of them, or any other root, as good for lambs and 
yearlings as an equivalent in grain. Sheep may be taught to 
eat nearly all the cultivated roots; this is done by withholding 
salt from them, and then feeding the chopped root a few times 
rubbed with just sufficient salt to induce them to eat the root 
to obtain it, but not enough to satisfy their appetite for salt 
before they have acquired a taste for the roots. 
“Tf there is one rule which may be considered more impera- 
tive than any other in sheep husbandry, it is that the utmost 
regularity be preserved in feeding. First, there should be reg- 
ularity as to the times of feeding. However abundantly pro- 
vided for, when a flock are foddered sometimes at one hour 
and sometimes at another—sometimes three times a day and 
sometimes twice—some days grain and some days none—they 
can not be made to thrive. They will do far better on inferior 
keep, if fed with strict regularity. In a climate where they 
require hay three times a day, the best times for feeding are 
about sunrise in the morning, at noon, and an hour before dark 
at night. Unlike cattle and horses, sheep do not eat well in 
the dark, and therefore they should have time to consume their 
food before night sets in. Noon is the common time for feed- 
ing grain or roots, and is the best time if but two fodderings of 
hay be given. If the sheep receive hay three times, it is not a 
matter of much consequence with which feeding the grain is 
given, only that the practice be uniform. 
“Tt is also highly essential that there be regularity preserved 
in the amount fed. The consumption of hay will, it is true, 
depend much upon the weather. The keener the cold, the 
more sheep will eat. In the South, much would als depend 
upon the amount of grass obtained. In many places a light, 
