SHEEP EAISING FOR BEGINNERS. 19 
Fig. 5. — Steep on good summer pasture with shade. Sheep need shade in summer days. 
Thej' graze most toward evening and early in the morning. The sheep shown are 
part of a Louisiana grade flock having two crosses of mutton sires on native ewes. 
The average fleece weight of the native ewes was 3 pounds and of the three-quarter 
breds 5.6 pounds. (Photograph from Louisiana Extension Service.) 
poses should be weaned at the same time and put on fresh pastures 
where there is no danger of stomach worms. When the weaning is 
done at this time the ewes can be put in better condition for the fall 
breeding. Earn lambs left in the flock worry the ewes and may get 
some of them in lamb. AYhen lambs are to be kept on the farm the 
best method of weaning is to leave them on the old pasture for three 
or four days and remove the ewes to a scanty pasture to check their 
milk flow. As soon as the lambs cease fretting for their dams they 
may be moved to fresh pastures where the ewes have not been. Ewes 
with Inrge udders should be partially milked once every three days 
until they go dry. 
SUMMER PASTURES. 
The breeding flock in summer needs little but good pasture, shade, 
salt, and plenty of fresh water. Bluegrass is one of the most popular 
pastures, but is likely to be too dry in late summer and too unbalanced 
in its food nutrients for ideal feed. It is at its best when used in the 
spring and fall and supplemented by forage crops in the summer. 
Alfalfa is sometimes pastured in the summer, but is better used when 
cut and fed as hay in the winter. There is serious danger of loss 
from bloating when sheep are grazed on alfalfa or clover. S^veet 
clover is worse than the red and alsike in this regard. Rape makes 
an excellent supplement for bluegrass, but is a forage crop rather 
than a summer pasture, though it may well supplement bluegrass. 
Soy beans are good, and if the flock is changed to another part of 
the field when most of the leaves have been eaten off, the plants will 
