1 Jan., 1899. ] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 17 
Our illustrations show one of the sheds in small paddocks round the 
homestead devoted to this purpose. The sheep, when being fed, are for some 
time before show (unless for exhibition in unhoused classes) shedded at night 
and in wet weather. 
Except for the above sheep and a few of the most valuable stud sires and 
young rams, which are kept in small paddocks round the head station, little or 
no hand-feeding is resorted to in ordinary seasons, but in droughts or excep- 
tionally severe winters a good many of the sheep are fed on hay, chaff, &. 
Molasses has been used with chaff, with good results ; ensilage has also been 
tried, but, though eaten readily by the sheep, the results were disappointing. 
A good deal of Cape barley is grown every year both at East Talgai and 
Talgai West, and at many other places on the Downs, The method usually 
adopted is to treat it as pasture. Sow thickly in March or April, turn the 
sheep in when it begins to stool out and is not more than a few inches high, 
and keep it well eaten down. A good barley paddock will, when thus treated, 
carry up to ten or twelve sheep or more to the acre the season through, and 
double that number can sometimes be carried for a month or two. If autumn 
rains give the crop a good start, it is surprising how well it will stand, even 
in very dry frosty weather. If the sheep are taken off any time before about 
the end of September, when as a rule spring has commenced and the feed is no 
longer required, a good crop can usually be obtained—in fact, Mr. Clark has 
harvested up to ten and twelve bags to the acre from Cape barley that had 
been heavily stocked all the winter. The grain supplies seed for the following 
year, excellent horse and sheep feed when crushed or boiled, and the surplus 
can be sold to pay expenses of working the land. 
Prairie grass is also extensively grown by some of the Downs sheep- 
breeders, but is rather a precarious crop, requiring rain at just the right time 
and apt to fail when most wanted. The usual time for shearing on stud 
places, at any rate as far as the stud sheep are concerned, is earlier than on 
most other Darling Downs stations. East Talgai shears in September, Talgai 
West follows immediately. Sheep intended for sale at Longreach, Hughenden, 
and Sydney are shorn still earlier. 
The principal lambing takes place fron September to November, but at 
East Talgai studs are also lambed in April and May, and indeed all through 
the winter, and for these autumn and winter lambs cultivated paddocks are 
in most seasons a necessity. ‘The lambs from the first stud ewes are all 
carefully numbered and. registeréd in the stud-book, and all the breeding ewes 
are carefully classed every year—in fact, the most important part of the work 
in connection with a stud flock is the judicious mating of the ewes with the 
different sires. 
It is not within the scope of this article to enter into details as to the 
breeding, &c., of any of the flocks on the Downs. A descriptive history of 
the different studs would require more space than is here available ; bat the 
few notes given as to the system of management pursued at Hast Talgai and 
Talgai West would be applicable in a great degree to most of the other stud 
properties. . 
SILOS AND SILAGE. 
One cubic foot of silage weighs about 45 Ib. 
Every 50 cubic feet of the volume of a silo will hold 1 ton. 
A cubic foot of silage per day is sufficient ration for cattle which have the 
run of grazing paddocks. 
For stalled cattle 60 lb. are needed, in addition to some hay or other feed. 
Well-packed silage will shrink to five-sixths of its bulk when first put into 
the silo. 
About 5 per cent. of the silage in the silo is waste. 
B 
