Handling Sheep in Winter 
And Other Every Day Problems of the Farm 
American Agriculturist, December 27. 1924 
T HE season for the conservation of ewe-lambs 
and of old ewes is past for this year. At this 
time efforts to conserve and increase our farm- 
flocks must be based on methods of flock hus¬ 
bandry that will tend to reduce the losses at lamb¬ 
ing time and to bring,about a general improvement 
in the condition and vigor of the flock. 
Lambing time is literally the flock-master’s har¬ 
vest time, and the thrifty owner of sheep is now 
looking forward and planning for this most im¬ 
portant season. At lambing there are often great 
losses, lambs die at birth or at a few days of age. 
The cause in many cases are lack of thrift on the 
part of the ewes and lack of care on the part of the 
farmer.. With the present prospective wool and 
lamb prices, we must strive to reduce the size of 
the dead lamb pile and bring every ewe through 
the winter that is capable of raising a lamb and a 
crop of wool. 
The winter management of a flock of breeding 
ewes should be accomplished with three main ob¬ 
jects in mind, viz., the maintenance and increasing 
of the bodily vigor of the ewes, the-flevelopment 
and delivery of a robust lamb and the growing of 
a fleece of wool that will in the main if not fully 
pay for the winter up-keep of the flock. The exact 
condition of a flock of sheep cannot be deter- 
lmined by merely looking at them, they should be 
handled and the degree of covering over the loin 
and back will speak eloquently of the difference 
between a flock of ewes properly fed and those 
wintered on oat straw. During the period of 
against confinement, in cold, clear weather sheep 
aften prefer spending the night lying out in the 
open to going under shelter. If ewes are not in¬ 
clined to take the necessary exercise it is a good 
idea to scatter some form of roughage over the 
field at some distance from the barn in order to 
induce them to travel. 
If good clover or alfalfa is available, very little 
grain need be fed until the near approach of lamb¬ 
ing time. A mixture of two parts oats and one 
part bran by measure proves an excellent grain 
feed for breeding ewes, the addition of a little 
linseed oil cake to the mixture will make it still 
better. One-half a pound per head daily of this 
mixture with other feed will be sufficient until 
near lambing. Silage is a valuable sheep feed. 
My experience has been that it stimulates the ap¬ 
petite and aids in bringing the ewes to lambing 
with plenty of milk. It is a practical source of 
succulence. Two pounds of good silage fed in 
connection with a leguminous hay will go a long 
way toward fulfilling the daily requirements of a 
breeding ewe. 
It is the httle things that count in the winter 
management of a flock of sheep and the attention 
to details which will mitigate the probability of 
disastrous results is much more important and 
practical than any procedure designed to remedy 
the evil effects of lack of attention. The indi¬ 
vidual needs of no two sheep or two flocks are the 
same; it is “the eye of the master that fattens his 
cattle.”— Mark J. Smith. 
their technical nature it is not surprising that this 
confusion should occur. It is, however, decidedly 
to the interest of the farmer to distinguish be¬ 
tween the two. He should use the correct term in 
ordering, or he may not obtain the material that 
he desires. 
As is well known, calcium carbide when acted 
upon by moisture gives off acetylene, the illumi¬ 
nating gas used in many farm homes, and the resi¬ 
due is ordinary slaked "lime. Cyanamid when act¬ 
ed upon by. moisture breaks down to form an or¬ 
ganic nitrogen compound with valuable fertilizer 
properties. 
Calcium cyanide, on the other hand, when acted 
upon by moisture gives off hjalrocyanic acid gas, 
LIMING SCHEDULE** WINTER 
NOV 
DEC. | JAN. | FEB. f MAR. 
APR 
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NORTKERhJ STATES 
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DEVELOPING A MINIATURE SQUASH 
Best Time To Lime 
Question: When is the best time to apply lime? 
If applied in the winter, is there apt to be any'loss p — 
„A. L- M., Pa. 
A squash, known as the Kitchenette, has been de¬ 
veloped by the specialists of the department of agri¬ 
culture of the University of Minnesota. The vegetable 
is a diminutive of the historic Hubbard squash "and is 
so named because of its adaptability to the needs of 
the small family. 
The outstanding characteristics of the Kitchenette 
are its small size, averaging from five to seven pounds, 
its uniformity, quality, good appearance, early ma¬ 
turity, good keeping and thinness of shell. The com¬ 
mercial Hubbard weighs from 10 to 30 pounds and be¬ 
cause of being too large for the average family there 
is a consequent waste. This new squash is found easy 
to carry from the market to the home and is proving 
popular on this account. The Kitchenette Squash is 
Been on the middle shelf, while the regular Hubbard 
is on the lower shelf.—A. P. Child. 
gestation every ewe should gain fifteen or more 
pounds in weight, because a ewe within a few 
hours of lambing loses about twice the weight of 
the lamb, therefore if she only maintains her 
weight while carrying the lamb, she is actually 
losing in weight. Another reason for bringing 
the ewes to lambing on the up-grade is to have the 
ewe-in such a condition that there will be plenty 
of milk for the lamb. Much of the trouble with 
regard to ewes not owning their lambs is usually 
with ewes that come to lambing time in poor con- 
^n and consequently with’little milk. A ewe 
i^a full udder is very apt to own her lamb. 
main essentials in successfully wintering 
Wck of in-lamb ewes are: pourishing food, ex¬ 
ercise, succulence, fresh water, plenty of fresh 
air and protection from cold rains and ffrafts. 
Exercise is imperative, ewes confined in tightly 
closed sheds or poorly ventilated barns and base¬ 
ments, come to lambing time in poor thrift and 
give birth to lambs of low vitality, among which 
mortality is high. The nature of a sheep rebels 
T HE best time to apply lime is when the farmer 
„ is most free to haul it and put it on the land. 
On most farms this is in the fall and winter when 
other work does not crowd. As to loss from ap¬ 
plying lime in the winter time, there is none. In 
fact for many crops the best time to put lime on 
is in the winter. This is particularly true of grass, 
hay or pasture lands, for then there is no foliage 
to interfere with even spreading. Winter is the 
best time to take advantage of agencies which 
.work the lime into the soil. Freezing and thaw¬ 
ing does much toward imbedding the lime into the ' 
immediate surface where life processes first start 
and where most stimulation is needed in the early 
days of the spring. Spring harrowing helps this 
process along. 
^Sui face dressing is the only recourse on much 
of our permanent grass land which is too hilly to 
permit of tillage or clover, alfalfa or blue grass. 
Top dressing of a lime material in an available 
form acts as a rejuvenator and stimulator for 
next spring’s growth. Even timothy, supposedly 
a rather acid tolerant plant, responds properly to 
liming on lime deficient soils. 
. Th e tendency of clover to “run out” and of de¬ 
sirable grasses to give way to weeds is generally 
traceable to one of two causes: first, seed that is 
not adapted for our northern climate conditions; 
and, second, lack of sufficient lime in the soil. On 
sour land intended for. spring clover seeding, win¬ 
ter liming comes in the nick of time to convert the 
otherwise inhospitable medium into a favorable 
one. 
hall plowed land offers a good place for lime. 
The tillage operations in the spring will com¬ 
pletely incorporate the lime into the soil. 
Then, too, as we have already indicated, liming 
in winter makes it possible to use farm labor 
at the slack season of the year, and also permits 
the purchase of lime when there is often a reserve 
supply on the market. 
, Fait plouledland 
for corn. 
LEGEND 
INCORPORATE Fs== 
, Fallptool&d land 
for soy bean. 
,. Fat!ptooJed land 
for pals $ clover 
I TOP DRESS 
• V A SL1PHER 
a most effective insecticide and rodent exterm¬ 
inator. ,, 
Note, therefore that cyanamid is used as a fer¬ 
tilizer ingredient, and for that purpose is consid¬ 
ered very valuable because of its high available 
nitrogen content. Calcium cyanide, on the other 
hand, is a poison, giving off a gas which is used to 
kill various insect pests and rodents, such as wood¬ 
chucks, rats, moles artel similar burrowing forms. 
Ihe residue left after all the gas has been evolv¬ 
ed from calcium cyanide is non-poisonous and is 
made up for the most part of slaked lime. 
The gas that is evolved from calcium cyanide 
has long been known and used in the fumigation 
of greenhouses, ships, warehouses and similar 
structures, and for many years has been the stan¬ 
dard method of controlling insect pests of citrus 
trees in California. This same principle is «now 
being transferred to the destruction of rodents 
and a number of insect pests attaching fruit trees, 
vines and vegetable crops. Each small particle of 
calcium cyanide gives off its small portion of gas 
and the destruction of the insect pests is thereby 
accomplished. 
This rhyme will help you remember: 
Calcium cyanide, is an insecticide. 
The Difference-Between Cyanamid and 
Cyanide 
C YANAMID and cyanide are two words some¬ 
what similar in appearance and pronunciation, 
but which designate radically different products. 
Because of the similarity of the two words and 
' Fall Plowing 
O NE of the unfortunate results of the long 
drought this fall was the little plowing that 
was done. There is always some debate as to 
whether fall plowing or spring plowing is best 
for the crops, but there can be no argument over 
the fact that a lot of plowing done this time of 
the year helps to get the work well started in the 
spring. 
To get things coming our way, it is first neces¬ 
sary to go after them. 
