Vol. LYII. No. 2510. 
NEW YORK, MARCH 5, 1898. 
*1 PER YEAR. 
A LAMB FOR THE SLAUGHTER. 
START HIM EARUY AND PUSH HIM. 
How One Successful Man Does It. 
Mr. T. H. King-, a well-known farmer of Tompkins 
Co., N. Y., has been engag-ed in raising-and selling early 
spring, or hothouse lambs for 15 years, and his opinions 
are of value because they come from a practical man, 
from one who has pursued the business not as a mere 
fancy, but for profit. He did not make the 
mistake that many have made, viz., the 
purchasing of high-priced purebred sheep, 
and the construction of fancy barns in 
which to house them. He literally com¬ 
menced with what he had, which happened 
to be a basement barn, not different in any 
special way from hundreds of others, a flock 
of common, every-day kind of sheep, with 
no special blood strongly predominating, 
and a good supply of judgment and busi¬ 
ness ability, which have served him well. 
Mr. King now has two large barns, in the 
basements of which he keeps his sheep and 
lambs. The basements are partitioned off 
into pens about 15 x 20 feet, and each pen 
contains from 15 to 20 sheep. No artificial 
heat is supplied, and it is found that, ex¬ 
cepting during the very coldest nights, it 
is not too cold there for the young lambs. 
At first, the practice pursued was to sell off 
nearly all the ewes each year, and purchase others 
for the next year’s lamb supply. But this practice 
was found unsatisfactory owing to the trouble ex' 
perienced in getting the ewes to breed early. It 
is found that, once a flock gets accustomed to breed 
at a certain time, they are far more sure of early 
lambs than a new flock accustomed to breed at then- 
own sweet will. Now the old ewes are kept as long 
as they do well, and grades are bought occasionally to 
keep up the supply. During the past two 
or three years, it has been difficult to 
secure sheep at a reasonable price, as those 
who wished to sell had previously dis¬ 
posed of their flocks. The rams used are 
ordinary mongrel rams. Mr. King states 
that he does not care what kind of a ram he 
uses in his flock, so long as he gets lambs. 
With a flock of 300 ewes, there will be allowed 
to run seven or eight rams. Strong, vigorous 
rams are selected as being of more value than 
lazy, overfed show rams, which have been so 
pampered and petted that they are unfitted 
for the work required. The rams are turned 
in the pasture field with the ewes from the 
first to the middle of July. No special care 
or feed is required at this time, after the flock 
has become accustomed to early breeding. It 
is believed by many that the ewes must be 
given special feed, and kept in close quarters 
previous to mating time. Mr. King has not 
found this necessary with his flock. He uses 
several strong, vigorous rams, and invari¬ 
ably gets the lambs. 
At the approach of Winter, the sheep are 
shorn, and put in their quarters in the base¬ 
ment ; the lambs begin coming in December. 
The ration fed is one opposed to all the 
scientifically figured rations as to what a 
sheep should have. In the morning, they 
receive corn fodder with the ears unhusked, 
and oat straw. At night, they receive clover 
hay. No grain except the corn in the corn fod¬ 
der is fed until after lambing time, when each 
ewe receives one quart per day of oats and 
bran mixed in equal parts. The appearance 
of the sheep and the lambs indicated that they 
were w r ell satisfied with the ration received. 
The way in which the corn fodder is raised is in¬ 
teresting. The corn is drilled in rows 28 inches apart. 
The past year, careful account was kept of the amount 
of fodder produced on a given area, and of the cost per 
ton of producing this fodder. Included in the cost 
were all the items which entered into its production, 
except rent of land, from plowing the ground to the 
housing of the crop. On 10 acres, 50 tons of corn fod¬ 
der were produced, at a cost of $1.50 per ton. This 
was no guesswork, and the figures given are correct. 
In order to keep a large number of sheep, fodder must 
be secured at the smallest possible cost. This fodder 
is corn, and no other crop can be grown which will 
give like returns. The 10 acres of corn will furnish 
one feed a day for 300 sheep to April 1. Many find 
that, when corn fodder is packed away in the barn, it 
becomes moldy, and is not relished by stock. To 
guard against this, Mr. King makes a layer of straw 
or hay alternate with a layer of corn fodder. He 
finds that, in this way, the straw will absorb the 
moisture of the fodder, and the whole mass will be 
preserved. The corn fodder is fed whole, the sheep 
being made to do their own cutting and grinding. At 
the time of my visit, there were 81 lambs in the barn, 
and only four had been lost. This is a good record. 
Very seldom does a sheep have trouble in lambing, or 
suffer from garget, and the ration which is being fed 
these sheep is worthy the study of those 
who are feeding far more costly rations, 
and not securing so good results. 
At two months old, and frequently, at an 
earlier date, the lambs are ready for ship¬ 
ping. Mr. King’s market is New York, and 
he has found by experience, that he can 
get better returns by shipping direct to his 
butcher in New York, rather than to send 
to the commission merchant. He explains 
the difference in this way: If the lambs 
are mussed in shipping, or the market is 
off, and the lambs go to the commission 
man, they are put up and sold for what 
they will bring. When sent to his butcher, 
if not presenting a proper appearance, 
they are put in proper shape before being 
put on the market. If the market is off, 
they are held for a few days until condi¬ 
tions are better. Mr. King has, for several 
years, been shipping to the same man. 
They have come to understand each other thoroughly. 
When lambs are ordered by the New York party, he 
knows that they will be there at the time specified, 
and that they will be of a certain quality. Mr. King 
has come to know the man with whom he deals, and 
would never, for any reason, send a lamb which was 
inferior in any way. Confidence between the shipper 
and his agent is absolutely essential, for in this busi¬ 
ness, the commission merchant or the butcher must b e 
depended upon to make the sales. They, in 
turn, recognize the importance of having a 
source of supply which is sure, and whose 
product is always high grade. Inferior 
lambs will always be found in every flock, 
but these are disposed of in the open market, 
where they are put up and sold on their 
merits, and they are never shipped in response 
to an order for choice lambs. As an illustra¬ 
tion of Mr. King’s careful ways of doing 
business, he once received an order for a con¬ 
signment of lambs to be in New York a cer¬ 
tain morning. The lambs were delivered to 
the express company at Trumansburg, but 
failed to go by the train which would get 
them in New York at the specified time. 
The dealer in New York had sold the lambs 
promising delivery at a certain time, and the 
lambs were on the platform at Trumans¬ 
burg. Mr. King immediately telegraphed 
his agent the cause of the delay, and the 
agent, by being notified, had time to pur¬ 
chase in the general market the lambs neces¬ 
sary to fill his order. Thus by prompt 
action, the agent was relieved from all 
embarrassment, and the good understand¬ 
ing between the parties was in no way 
impaired. 
By careful attention to the business side as 
well as the practical side of the business, Mr. 
King has made a success of early lamb rais¬ 
ing. In securing ewes, he has selected strong, 
motherly ones rather than fancy ones. What 
he has done any man can do who has the 
requisite ability. Many have made failures, 
but in looking for the cause of failure, they 
should not overlook the man who conducted 
or failed to conduct the operations. 
