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VoL. LXXVI. 
NEW YORK, OCTORKK L'7, 1917. 
No. 449 ;;. 
Brief Talks About Sheep 
Things the People Want to Know 
REQUEXT QUESTIONS.—Queries in regard to 
fixing for u crop of lambs next Spring are 
numerous. “When is the proper time to have them 
arrive? How long is the period of ge.-^tation? What 
i)reed of ram is the be.st? What are the character¬ 
istics of Delaine sheep? Is South r>own or Shrop¬ 
shire to be preferred?” and others, which I will 
briefly try to cover. 
arraiige for ours to come the last half of March. 
Soon afterward the mothers can get out and nip 
some grass, and the wabbly little chaps can exercDe. 
All little animals need to play; without it they are 
temler. flabby things, and susceptible to diseases, 
and by the way. if there is any prettier sight than 
the juping and furious circling of lambs I am too 
obtuse to see it 
PERIOD OF OESTATION.—Lambs are carried 
five months and plans .should be made to have them 
arrive as near together as possible, so they will be 
Prize Winning Wi.sconsin Hampshire Rams.^ Fig. 570 
envia)nment and the purpose for which he grow.-, 
them, and all of the.se are influenced by the man’s 
opinion. I have bred both and if I wanted coarse 
wools I would take the one I could get the easiest. 
The Shropshire is the largest and shears the most 
wool, and I do not know as to the comparison with 
the Down in anu>unt of feed, but the Shropshire 
is all right. The Down is the older breed of the two, 
and has had the benefit of loO years of intelligent 
.^election by a high class of owners. It has been 
pasturi'ig the lawns and parks of England for geu- 
LAMBINE TIME.—Lambs may come at any time, 
but the proper time is when the owner can see the 
most money for the purpose to which he devotes 
them. They are coming now to men who will sell 
in a few months for the tables of the rich, or for 
the folk who do not care how high they pay in 
expensive city hotels, and they will keep coming all 
\yintor for hothouse lambs, but for stock sheep, or 
to sell next Summer or Fall, the right time for their 
arriv'al is next Spring. This is the season nature 
sets for wild animals, but with domestic we can 
take liberties and succeed with proper care. We 
one size and grade. It is a case of “survivai of the 
fittest" and "unto him that hath shall be given” 
with sheep, and the smaller and weaker animals 
continue that way. The Arong ones lead the bunch 
and get to the best things first. They should all 
come in a month or less. 
CTIOIUE OF r,REED.—It would be an evidence 
of temerity for a man to state that either Shrop- 
shires or South Downs is the best. Roth are .good, 
as well as a dozen other breeds, and no breed of 
horse.s, cattle or even poultry has a monopoly, but 
maximum success depends on the owner’s education. 
orations, under the supervision of the best-traine<i, 
and hi :Iicst-paid shepherds. 
THE RAM TO USE.—A purebred first and breed 
second. I want to emphasize this and illustrate 
from experience. In my early work, when times 
were hard, I wanted two coarse ram lambs that I 
could buy cheap. I got one, a purebred, nearly, but ;i 
mixture of Cotswold Down and Shropshire, and told 
an old stockman to find me another. He persuadeil 
me that I sliould buy a pure!»re<l. and although it 
was a hard pull, I borrowe.l $.‘15 and hunted a 
Shropshire. I grew 129 lambs in tvw* seasons, pri:;- 
