372 
On the Breeding, Feeding, ^-c. of Sheep. 
by tlie same person, and managed alike, and were weighed again 
on the 22nd of February following, when I found the result to 
be as under. 
Experiment, No. 12. 
S lambs in the 5"ard gained each 8 lambs kept in the open field 
on the average in 12 weeks gained each on the average in 
32 lbs. 12 weeks 28 lbs. 
Showing in favour of yard-feeding 4 lbs. each lamb during 12 
w^eeks. This difference is very trifling, and not in the least suf- 
ficient to compensate anyone for the extra trouble and expense 
which must necessarily be incurred by making yards, building 
sheds, taking the straw to a part of the farm where perhaps the 
manure is not wanted, and by the heavy carriage of the turnips, 
which even for a short distance, is costly.* 
I think another obj ection arises to the plan, and that is, if the 
sheep fed in yards during the winter are not made fat enough for 
the butcher in the spring, and have to be turned again to pasture, 
they will suffer much more from the cold winds, having been con- 
fined and kept warm in the winter, than those sheep wintered in 
the usual manner in the fields. It is my opinion also, but I con- 
fess I have no means of ascertaining the fact by way of experi- 
ment, that the wool may be injured by yard-feeding ; for the 
lambs kept in that way have a more unfavourable and unhealthy 
appearance than those fed in the common manner. After these 
trials, and finding no adequate advantage in the practice, I have 
given up the system of feeding sheep in yards. 
The advocates of yard-feeding sheep allege that they eat^less 
food if kept in that way than others do which are fed in the open 
field. During the trial of these experiments no difference was 
observed as to the quantity of food consumed by each lot ; they 
ate as near alike as possible, the food being carried to them in 
scuttles. If one lot of sheep eat less food than another, it is a 
proof with me that they thrive in a less degree — of course I allude 
to sheep of the same size and breed — as I find by weighing my 
sheep monthly which are kept in small lots, that those lots wliicli 
eat less food (and this is often the case without any apparent 
cause, as they are kept in the same way), generally gain less in 
weight than the other lots which feed well. 
Some years ago I made many experiments between feeding 
sheep on grass-land in winter ; viz., by dividing a close of land 
* Haying formerly recommended the trial of shed-feeding, I am bound 
to state that in an experiment like Mr. Pawlett's, I kept ten Dowti lambs 
in a shed and ten out of doors, weighing each lot regularly; but that I 
found the gain of weight rather on the side of the lambs fed out of doors. 
— Ph. Pusey. 
