36 BULLETIN 20, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
RETURNS FOR FEED. 
In economy of production sheep are not surpassed by any other 
domestic animal. Besides converting waste products into nutritious 
food, they will also manufacture a finished product out of the roughage 
and grain of the farm at least as cheaply as other classes of live 
stock. 
EXERCISE AS AGAINST CONFINEMENT. 
Exercise Is necessary for the natural development of the sheep. 
The different parts of the body must be used if they are to attain 
their highest efficiency. Hence, it is evident that the breeding sheep 
should have abundant exercise, even though it requires more feed. 
With market stock, however, the proposition is an entirely different 
one. In fattening lambs or sheep for the butcher, immediate results 
are sought and the farmer is not concerned with anything beyond 
securing the best animal for market purposes. Exercise sharpens 
the appetite and it also dissipates energy. Sheep that are exercised 
while being fattened eat their feed cleaner, and as a rule eat more of 
it, but in most of the experiments along this line they required a larger 
amount of feed per hundred Orn of gain than those receiving no 
exercise. 
SHELTER COMPARED WITH OPEN FIELD FEEDING. 
Since shelter is necessary for the best health of the flock, it is 
natural to suppose that larger gains will be made from a definite 
amount of feed when fed to sheltered sheep than from a similar 
amount fed to unsheltered ones. The protection offered by the 
shelter makes the sheep more comfortable and makes unnecessary 
the wasting of a considerable portion of the ration for keeping up the 
vitality of the sheep. Clean, airy sheds are undoubtedly superior 
to open lots for feeding. 
GAINS AS AFFECTED BY SHEARING. 
The effect of shearing upon the gains of fattening sheep is a subject 
that has occasioned considerable comment. The actual value of 
the practice depends upon the time of shearing, the condition of the 
sheep when shorn, the length of the fattening period, and the climatic 
conditions. When sheep are shorn in the fall, before cold weather, 
slightly larger gains can be secured than when unshorn, but except 
under the most favorable conditions it is doubtful whether the gains 
are large enough to be of very great 1mportance to the farmer. 
FEEDING FOR WOOL. 
The best advice to be given in feeding for wool is to give such feeds 
as will completely nourish the sheep and to give them in such amounts 
and in such a way that the sheep will be kept in uniformly good con- 
dition throughout the year. The wool is an index to the physical 
