190 Western Live-stock Management 
lambs than there is pasture for, or perhaps weather condi- 
tions make the pastures poorer than there was reason to 
expect. The use of grain is of more importance in the 
case of pure-bred sheep than with the market sheep, since 
pure-bred lambs must be kept growing after they are 
weaned in spite of the fact that pastures dry up, and the 
only way that this can be accomplished is with the use of 
grain. The lambs, taught to eat grain long before they 
are weaned, have the habit of coming regularly to the 
feed trough well established before it is most needed. 
Pure-bred lambs do their best if fed during this first 
summer at the rate of a half or three-quarters of a pound 
of grain daily with as much fresh pasture as possible, but 
care should be taken not to have lambs off feed during the 
hot summer months. 
Lambs handled in the manner outlined above should 
gain one-half pound a day, while under favorable condi- 
tions, and with extra feed and care, the daily gain may be 
close to one pound a day. When the gain is less than one- 
half pound a day, the feed is becoming a little scanty, 
and the lambs are not quite as thrifty as they should be. 
Shearing. 
On the farms throughout the Northwest, shearing is 
performed during the months of April, May, and June. 
The exact time of shearing will depend on the opinion of 
the owner, locality, season, shelter, and the like. Shear- 
ing should not be done too early or too late, as in one case 
the sheep suffer from cold after shearing and in the 
other, sheep suffer from heat before shearing. Many 
men have the mistaken idea that late shearing, because 
of increased flow of yolk, increases the income of the flock. 
This is true in a certain sense. It does increase the 
