94 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
July  24,  1S02. 
Weaning  Lambs. 
So  many  farmers  make  their  lambs  fat  and  sell  them  to 
the  butcher  whilst  yet  sucking  their  dams,  that  the  difficul¬ 
ties  of  weaning  are  not  very  generally  understood.  At  the 
risk,  therefore,  of  being  accused  of  repetition,  we  propose 
to  make  a  few  observations  on  lamb  management  between 
now  and  Michaelmas.  Farmers  differ  greatly  in  their 
opinions  as  to  the  best  time  to  wean  lambs.  We  ourselves 
do  not  think  that  any  hard  and  fast  line  can  be  drawn  in  that 
respect,  but  due  regard  must  be  had  to  the  state  of  health 
of  the  lambs,  tne  milk  supply  of  the  ewes,  and  last,  but  by 
no  means  least,  the  available  supply  of  suitable  food  which 
can  be  provided  in  lieu  of  that  milk. 
A  lamb  begins  to  graze  at  a  very  early  age,  and,  seeing  its 
mother  enjoying  the  grass,  naturally  nibbles  a  little  itself. 
It  thus  gradually  takes  to  its  natural  vegetable  food,  of 
which,  as  its  requirements  increase,  a  larger  daily  quantity 
is  consumed,  whilst  the  mother’s  milk,  which  of  necessity 
is  at  least  a  stationary,  if  not  a  vanishing  quantity,  becomes 
by  degrees  of  less  importance.  It  is  the  provision  against 
too  sudden  a  withdrawal  of  this  support  that  should  exercise 
the  flock-master’s  greatest  effort  just  now.  For  this  reason 
we  do  not  advocate  very  early  weaning  in  a  season  like  the 
present,  when  all  pastures  are  very  full  of  rank  growth,  and 
it  is  impossible  to  provide  a  bare  one. 
A  lamb  which  has  reached  the  age  of  eighteen  or  twenty 
weeks,  during  the  whole  of  which  time  it  has  had  a  regular 
supply  of  milk,  will  feel  the  withdi’awal  of  it,  not  only  from 
the  loss  of  a  certain,  if  small,  quantity  of  food,  but  from  the 
lack  of  its  digestive  influence  on  the  other  food  daily  con¬ 
sumed,  and  this  lack  is  especially  felt  when  the  grasses  and 
clovers  in  the  pastures  are  of  a  rank,  watery,  and  indigestible 
nature.  It  is  therefore  most  important  that  before  weaning 
other  aids  to  digestion  should  be  introduced,  and  the  lamb’s 
appetite  for  dry  food  stimulated,  so  that  when  it  is  deprived 
of  its  dam  it  may  be  readily  induced  to  eat  mixed  foods, 
which  will  make  the  loss  of  the  mother’s  milk  as  little  felt 
as  possible. 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  acidity  of  the  milk  is  a 
great  factor  in  aiding  the  digestion  of  other  foods,  and 
something  of  a  similarly  acid  nature  must  be  substituted 
for  it.  Malt  in  moderate  proportion  forms  an  invariable 
constituent  of  all  the  best  lamb  food  mixtures,  and  it  may 
be  that  it  is  the  best  substitute  for  the  sugar  of  the  milk. 
Chemists  have  always  maintained  that  malt  was  a  desirable 
food  for  stock,  on  account  of  its  being  an  aid  to  digestion, 
and  its  excellence  in  this  respect  had  much  to  do  with  the 
repeal  of  the  malt  tax. 
When  purchasing  lamb  food,  then,  see  that  you  have  some 
malt  in  it.  Large  farmers  in  some  cases  mix  their  own  lamb 
foods,  whilst  others,  and  these  some  of  the  largest  owners 
of  sheep,  buy  their  whole  supplies.  A  mixture  is  easily 
enough  made,  but  in  mixing  on  a  small  scale  there  is  diffi¬ 
culty  in  procuring  the  small  quantity  of  the  different  con¬ 
stituents  which  is  required. 
A  good  lamb  food  should  contain  gentian,  fenugreek, 
malt,  barley,  oats,  maize,  locust  bean,  and  linseed  cake. 
The  first  three  and  the  last  two  are  most  important.  When 
maize  is  cheap,  and  linseed  cake  dear,  lamb  foods  are  liable 
to  contain  too  much  maize  and  too  little  cake.  How  valu¬ 
able  a  food  locust  bean  is  may  be  readily  understood  from 
the  fact  that  sufficient  pressure  was  brought  to  bear  upon 
the  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  to  induce  him  to  withdraw 
the  import  duty  which  he  proposed  to  place  upon  it. 
As  a  rule,  it  is  not  difficult  to  get  lambs  to  take  to  a  mixed 
food  such  as  we  have  described,  even  if  they  have  not  pre¬ 
viously  been  accustomed  to  trough  food  ;  but  if,  as  should 
be  the  case,  they  are  already  familiar  with  linseed  cake,  the 
only  care  to  be  exercised  will  be  that  of  judiciously  limiting 
the  allowance.  Half  a  pound  per  head  per  day  may  be  amply 
sufficient  on  a  dry  pasture,  and  in  fine  weather ;  but  if  the 
pastures  are  flushed  with  rapid  growth,  and  the  grass  and 
Clovers  very  lush,  give  the  lambs  as  much  as  they  will  eat, 
and  at  two  meals  instead  of  one. 
Especially  necessary  is  it  to  give  a  meal  of  dry  food  early 
in  the  morning  ;  this  should  be  the  shepherd’s  first  work, 
for  if  a  lamb  eats  half  a  pound  of  lamb  food  in  the  early 
morning,  it  will  not  gorge  itself  afterwards  with  unwhole¬ 
some  watery  food,  which  may  be  the  only  form  of  pasturage 
available. 
If  on  the  farm  there  is  a  field  of  Clover  fog  or  after- 
math,  this  may  be  found  most  useful  for  lambs  in  August ; 
but  the  fog  should  be  allowed  to  get  into  flower  before  the 
lambs  are  put  on  it,  and  they  should  not  be  allowed  to  graze 
when  the  Clover  is  very  wet  with  dew.  They  may  be  put  in 
any  bare  pasture,  or  even  a  roomy  yard  at  night,  and  given 
a  good  feed  of  trough  meat  in  the  morning  before  they  re¬ 
turn  to  the  Clover,  and  at  any  cost  their  making  of  the 
latter  a  staple  meal  must  be  prevented. 
Change  of  pasture  does  wonders  for  weaned  lambs,  and 
nothing  is  more  beneficial  than  a  run  in  the  lanes  to  pick  up 
a  few  bramble  leaves  or  other  natural  tonics.  An  acre  or 
two  of  autumn  sown  Cabbage,  which  is  now  ripe  and  well 
hearted,  is  the  safest  of  all  foods.  The  Cabbages  can  be 
given  to  the  lambs  anywhere  with  benefit.  If  the  pastures 
be  bare,  the  succulent  Cabbages  are  most  welcome,  whilst  if 
the  grass  be  too  plentiful  and  rank,  the  Cabbage  will  be 
found  a  wholesome  alternative,  and  may  be  used  for  a 
morning  meal  in  confinement  until  the  Clover  or  grass  has 
time  to  dry.  The  pulling  and  carting  of  the  Cabbage  may 
give  trouble,  but  little  compared  to  the  benefit  gained. 
Work  on  the  Home  Farm. 
The  rain,  which  fell  heavily  shortly  after  we  wrote  last  week, 
was  hailed  by  haymakers  as  anything  but  a  blessing.  As  it  was 
continuous,  or  nearly  so,  for  forty-eight  hours,  it  did  little  harm 
except  to  the  few  cases  where  the  hay  was  made  and  still  lying 
spread  out.  The  wise  haymaker  gets  his  hay  into  cock  as  soon 
as  he  sees  the  clouds  forming.  As  the  season  is  such  a  late  one  few 
meadows  were  cut,  and  they  only  recently.  The  mowing  machine 
has  been  hard  at  work  since  and  has  revealed  some  fine  crops. 
Clover  was  disappointing;  grass  hay  will  be  very  good,  and  with 
a  continuance  of  the  fine  hot  weather  we  are  now  enjoying  should 
be  stacked  in  the  best  condition. 
A  record  hay  crop,  both  for  bulk  and  quality,  should  be  a  good 
augury  for  the  Corn  harvest.  The  grain  crops  are  looking  wonder¬ 
ful  ;  they  have  shot  out  well,  and  except  here  and  there  a  patchy 
piece  of  Wheat  the  fields  present  a  very  full  and  level  appear¬ 
ance.  There  has  been  much  talk  of  a  very  late  harvest,  but  though 
it  will  not  be  as  early  as  the  last  year  or  two,  it  will  be  little  later 
than  the  average,  and  we  think  far  better  from  a  money  point  of 
view.  Considering  the  weight  of  straw  there  is  very  little  laid 
Corn  at  present,  but  wre  shall  not  want  much  more  rain  before  the 
crops  are  cut.  They  will  severely  test  the  qualities  of  our  string 
binders  as  they  are.  There  will  certainly  be  a  much  greater  con¬ 
sumption  of  string  this  year,  and  farmers  who  have  not  laid  in  a 
stock  had  better  be  up  and  doing. 
The  reapers  must  be  overhauled  and  cleaned  ready  for  use,  but 
if  they  were  put  away  in  good  condition  little  more  than  a  good 
oiling  may  be  required  before  they  start  work.  All  worn  sections 
of  the  knives  should  be  replaced  with  new  ones,  and  the  sections 
all  well  ground  up.  Note  should  also  be  ma.de  that  all  parts 
specially  liable  to  breakage  have  their  respective  duplicates  in 
stock.  A  machine  which  can  only  be  worked  for  two  or  three 
weeks  in  a  year  must  not  be  stopped  for  want  of  a  little  foresight 
and  expense  in  providing  duplicate  parts. 
Dairy  cows  are  wrell  maintaining  the  milk  supply,  and  butter 
remains  at  a  lowr  price  for  the  time  of  year.  There  is  so  much 
grass  that  milk  and  butter  cannot  fail  to  be  plentiful  and  cheap. 
Eggs,  too,  are  cheap  for  the  time  of  year  (sixteen  for  the  shilling). 
There  has  been  good  fortune  as  a  rule  amongst  chickens,  and 
prices  for  young  fowls  will  keep  reasonable  this  year. 
- »  —  » - 
State  of  Agriculture  in  Russia. 
A  South  Russian  landowner  contributes  to  the  “  Novoe 
Vremya’  a  most  pessimistic  article  on  the  condition  of  agricul¬ 
ture  in  Russia.  Both  landowners  and  peasants,  he  declares, are  pro¬ 
ceeding  rapidly  alongthe  roadto  ruin  ;  both  classes  have  burdens  of 
debt  from  which  they  can  never  hope  to  liberate  themselves,  and 
neither  class  is  ever  in  a  position  to  pay  its  taxes  punctually 
and  fully.  In  the  winter  there  is  no  work  for  the  peasants  to  do, 
while  in  the  summer  there  are  not  enough  men  left-  in  the  villages 
to  do  the  work  required.  Owing  to  their  financial  difficulties 
many  cultivators  of  land  are  unable  to  keep  horses,  to  employ 
modern  machinery,  or  to  manure  the  ground  properly,  so  that 
not  only  is  the  land  yielding  less  than  it  might  do  in  favourable 
circumstances  but  it  is  in  many  cases  being  exhausted  by  faulty 
cultivation.  The  writer  proposes  that  co-operative  farming  on  a 
large  scale  should  be  introduced  to  remedy  the  evils  of  the  present 
system. 
