The Winter Lamb 
 
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 Tim winter lamb, 
 
 3 1924 003 082 694 
 
B Cornell University 
 B Library 
 
 The original of tliis book is in 
 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924003082694 
 
tbe iUlnter Camb 
 
 BY 
 
 H. H. Miller, H. P. Miller, 
 
 J. E,. Wing. 
 
 FOURTH EDITION 
 
 MECHANIOSBTJRG, OHIO 
 
 J. E. "WING, PUBLISHER 
 
 1910 
 
Cop. 1 
 
 (a)|fcal5 
 
PREFACE 
 
 It has seemed to the authors that, with all the long list 
 of works on sheep, nothing quite met the case of the Dorset 
 Sheep imder American conditions. This work is the result 
 of their experience. They have purposely given prominence 
 to things that in their experience have proved important and 
 alighted others that have not seemed of much importance in 
 their management. Failures with Dorset sheep are usually 
 the result of ignorance. Methods that will result fairly well 
 with some breeds, for instance with ^Merinos, will not do for 
 Dorsets if one wishes to get from them their peculiar possi- 
 bilities in the way of profits. Finally we submit this as an 
 effort towards help and feel that the breeder must be a past 
 master in the gentle art of shepherding not to find some hints 
 here that will be useful to him. And we crave your kind in- 
 dulgence if we have slighted some things and magnified 
 others; we have spent the most time telling of the turns 
 where we ourselves missed the right turnings. 
 
 The "Winter Lamb'' has now been going about the world 
 for nearly a decade, doing, we hope, real service to Dorset 
 breeders of America. In this edition we present consider- 
 able new and revised materials. 
 
 It has been a continual source of gratification to us to see 
 the steady progress of the Dorset sheep in America. Against 
 all prejudice, against ridicule and misunderstanding, the 
 breed has gone right onward and today no one disputes its 
 claim as being one of the principal breeds of America and 
 one having greatest possibilities of profit. We record with 
 pleasure that similar progress is making in other countries, 
 Ireland, New Zealand, and other distant lands. Let's be 
 loyal. Let's not hide our light under a bushel. Dorsets, 
 forward ! 
 
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THE. DORSET E.WE 
 
 COUNTY DORSET is 
 one of the most southerly 
 of the counties of England. 
 It is a warm, sunny, shel- 
 tered county, having hills 
 and valleys, arable lands 
 and pastures. It is one of 
 the oldest civilized parts 
 of England. Here the Ro- 
 mans landed ; here they builded cities and walled them ; to- 
 day some of the walls are standing, and the roads are oiten 
 as laid off by them. 
 
 When the breed of Horn sheep was first introduced into 
 Dorsetshire history does not recount. Doubtless the breed 
 was there in Roman days. It has been there ever since. No 
 other breed has been able to supplant it, though at different 
 times other sheep have been popular in parts of Dorsetshire 
 for a time. They have always had to give way, however, 
 to the old breed of Dorset Horns. Why is this ? 
 
 THE DAIRY SHEEP. 
 
 Go back half a century and more. Sheep were the dairy 
 animals of Dorset, and parts of the adjacent counties of 
 Somerset and Devonshire. The best milking ewes were se- 
 lected, their ewe lambs were retained. Already the Horns 
 were famous for their milking qualities. This use intensified 
 the qualities. From this time and this custom then comes 
 the wonderful milking properties of the Dorset ewe. "I 
 
6 THE WINTER LAMB. 
 
 was raised on Dorset milk," remarked Dick Stone to the 
 
 writer. This milking trait, once so well established, formed 
 the foundation for the somewhat later development of the 
 early fat lamb business. 
 
 THE E.\RLY L.\MB. 
 
 Sheep in a state of nature drop their lambs on grass, 
 and it is hard to induce them to conceive to drop them 
 earlier. The Dorset is so much an artificial production, has 
 been so long under the moulding hand of its shepherds, that 
 it has lost this instinct and now the lambs come in the late 
 Fall or early Winter months. The shepherds have provided 
 abundant winter food for so long the ewes have learned to 
 look for it; the habit has been so firmly fixed that Dorset 
 ewes habitually lamb in November, December and January. 
 And they will lamb earlier than that if rightly treated. This 
 habit is of the utmost importance and value. It is this 
 habit that gives the Dorset ewe her great value in her native 
 land. There her lambs are born out of doors, preferably 
 in the pretty, wind-protected valleys — it is a mild clime, in 
 these sheltered valleys — there is generally some grass, there 
 are turnips and hay, and the little lambs are fed with their 
 mothers upon our corn and \\hat they term "cake," that is 
 oilmeal. The little lambs grow prodigiously, filled to burst- 
 ing by their mother's milk, and eating grain like little pigs. 
 Lambs in Dorset will even get too fat to walk, as little pigs 
 will sometimes in our land. In winter and early spring; these 
 round, plump, sweet, juicy lumps of baby mutton go to the 
 London butchers. They bring good prices, what would be 
 considered fabulous prices in our country. 
 
 Thus it is that the shepherds of Dorset stick by their 
 Horn sheep. It is, perhaps, first a sentiment, it is next a 
 matter of profit. No other sheep in the world has in it the 
 capacity for profit that the Dorset Horn has. And this is 
 true in America as well as in her native county of Dorset. 
 
THE WINTER LAMB. 
 
 GETTING FALL LAiMliS. 
 
 In taking the Dorset away from her native hills it must 
 be borne in mind that you have changed the conditions ma- 
 terially. To get the same results that have been gotten in 
 Dorsetshire then you must in some measure supply similar 
 conditions. How are we to do this? Well, let us start 
 from what we might call a basis of comparison. In Dorset- 
 shire the ram is usually coupled with the ewes during June 
 and July, but in this climate (referring to the Eastern and 
 
 YEARLING RAMS 
 
 Middle States) that any large and uniform success in breed- 
 ing Dorsets as late as June and July will result, we think 
 improbable. Why? Because it is too hot then. Now most 
 seeds require great warmth to germinate ; some, like the 
 sweet pea, prefer cool conditions, so we plant them early. 
 The same reasoning applies to sheep. Their natural time 
 of mating is fall, October and November, cool months. So 
 if we want them to breed in the spring we should select cool 
 periods. This seems a simple thing. Yes, it is. And Hke 
 many simple things is overlooked. When we started with 
 Dorsets we were told and read they would breed any time of 
 the year; also, that June was the month to mate them for 
 fall lambs. We tried them in June for several seasons, but 
 
8 THE WINTER LAMB. 
 
 with partial success only. This experience convinced us 
 that while Dorsets will, in isolated cases, breed any time of 
 the year, that for uniform and complete success the "any 
 time" must be a time when conditions are right. We were 
 now on the true track and realized that for spring breeding 
 we must select a time as near like the natural period of fall 
 as possible, and (equally important) have the ewes as near 
 like their natural fall condition as possible. To meet these 
 desired conditions we suggest the observance of the follow- 
 ing: 
 
 1st. — Have the ram with ewes not earlier than middle of 
 March, not later than middle of May. 
 
 2d. — Put ram with ewes nights, not days. 
 
 3rd. — Use young ram, and feed him well while in service. 
 
 4th. — Do not have ram too fat. 
 
 5th. — Do not have ewes too thin. 
 
 6th. — If ewes were not shorn in fall, shear as early as 
 you dare. 
 
 7th. — Feed ewes green food, such as ensilage, turnips, 
 cairots, mangels, etc., with some corn. 
 
 If ewes lambed previous fall and are dry, this feed is 
 not necessary until a few weeks before you are to put the 
 ram with them. But no matter what the condition of ewes, 
 no matter what you have been feeding, increase the quantity 
 at this time. For remember that during fall a ewe is nat- 
 urally gaining flesh, while during spring the tendency is to 
 lose flesh. Reverse this tendency as far as a little feed will 
 do it, and make that extra food as nearly "green as grass" 
 as you can. And remember, never, NEVER let lambs be 
 born later than April or before September. Separate your 
 rams from your ewes the first of November. Any ewes not 
 with lamb then will breed for next fall and late lambs are 
 of little value as a rule and to be discountenanced among 
 Dorsets. 
 
THE WINTER LAMB. 
 
 GETTING THE PROFITS. 
 
 I have mentioned the feeling of sentiment that doubt- 
 less contributes to the persistency with which the shepherds 
 of Dorsetshire cling to their favorite breed. In our country 
 there is little of sentiment in sheep breeding; we are newer 
 at the business ; we have an immense expanse of land ; a 
 varied climate, and nearly all breeds of sheep in all parts of 
 the country. There is none of that confining of a certain 
 breed to a certain county, or even state or section. And 
 it is this faith in the breeding of one kind of sheep by the 
 inhabitants of a limited area that creates sentiment. But 
 of profit — well, if all haven't it, all want it. And I say 
 again, no breed has a greater capacity for profit than the 
 Dorset. Properly understood, and consistently handled on 
 the basis of such understanding, a small flock will surely 
 add a pleasing sum to the annual income, while a good 
 sized flock, such as the average farm of the Eastern and 
 Middle States could surely carry, will represent a good liv- 
 ing. For instance, I know of one man who for years has 
 realized about $2,000 annually from a flock of about 100 
 ewes. This is equal to the sales from a good sized dairy, yet 
 the cost of feed and labor would be much less. Surely as 
 an early lamb raiser the Dorset is a money maker. When 
 you have studied the breed and business, make a start, you 
 will then realize fully the pleasures and profits. 
 
 RYE AND OATS PASTURE. 
 
 Here is a combination that will furnish most excellent 
 fall pasture. And how the ewes and lambs will relish it! 
 Winter rye is often pastured in the spring; but with oats, 
 sown as a catch crop on odd bit of ground, it is especially 
 certain and cheap as a fall pasture. Unlike rape, rye will 
 grow on poor land, while oats in the fall will grow wherever 
 they're dropped. Everyone can find a place for a few acres, 
 
10 
 
 THE WINTER LAMB. 
 
 If no other available land, after corn is cut, run cultivator 
 or riding harrow over corn stubble and sow broadcast. If 
 your corn is cut clean, not too many ears lying on the ground, 
 you can turn in few hours each day before husking ; how- 
 ever this practice requires watchfulness, for while it will 
 take the lambs a long time to discover and eat corn ears, 
 the ewes will soon nose them out and if left too long at a 
 time may eat too many. When they do get to eating them, 
 if you leave them all day, you'll very likely find a dead ewe 
 or so at night. Some may say, why not pasture a regular 
 crop of rye and not bother with this extra piece? Well, 
 
 you can ; we have ourselves, but the practice has many ob- 
 jections. The crop may not be much injured if it has good 
 top, the young timothy (usually sown with winter rye) 
 will though, and then the ground will be compacted so as not 
 to be in as good condition for clover seeding the following 
 spring. It is much better to have a piece by itself, you'll 
 get two or three times the amount of feed from it and won't 
 worry over possible injury. Just make up your mind to 
 have it and you'll find the land. Sow any time during 
 September, use twice as much rye as oats, put on thick, not 
 less than three bushels to the acre. When up so as to look 
 green and grassy turn on, don't be afraid, as there is no 
 more risk than with grass. It is good practice though, with 
 
THE WINTER LAMB. II 
 
 any special fall pasture, to turn on grass first for a few hours. 
 Your other pasture will last longer, and your sheep will do 
 better. 
 
 SUMMER CARE OF PREGNANT EWES. 
 
 Good summer care is a very simple matter. Three things 
 are necessary, grass, water, shade. In the matter of grass, 
 either good native pasture or a run in clover or alfalfa will 
 do. There is this danger of clover or alfalfa pasture for the 
 ewe not giving suck to a lamb, she is apt to become too fat. 
 There is nothing equal to blue grass at this period. But in 
 using it one should remember the danger of parasitic infec- 
 tion that comes from the use of blue grass. We will speak 
 of this later. Water should be clean, as fresh as possible to 
 supply, kept in raised troughs that can not become fouled 
 with excrements. There is danger of parasitic infection 
 from the drinking water. This is especially true when the 
 sheep are required or allowed to suck up their drink from 
 marshy seeps, tiny streams, grass-bordered or stagnant pools. 
 The excrements roll down and pollute the water, the germs 
 that they doubtless contam are hatched there, the sheep take 
 them in agam and in ever increasing numbers. And while 
 mature ewes will not often pine away and die as lambs will, 
 yet none the less is it weakening to them to be preyed 
 upon by these internal parasites. Not only stomach-worms 
 but tape-worms are spread by the too continual use of pas- 
 tures. It is a safe rule never to stock a pasture to its capac- 
 ity with sheep. Better always keep half on it what it would 
 carry and graze it also with cows, or perhaps horses. 
 
 SH.\DE. 
 
 You may depend upon it that your flock will seek shade 
 and will need it. If you are wise you will train them to 
 come to the barn, or to sheds, where they will get the most 
 comfort and their droppings will be under cover. There are 
 
12 
 
 THE WINTER LAMB. 
 
 two things gained by this. The maniirial value of the drop- 
 pings is saved, whereas if they are piled year after year 
 beneath forest trees they do you very little good, and the 
 
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 danger of infecting the land is much reduced. I know of 
 fields where ewes alwa}s lie along the old fences seeking 
 shade. There is a strip of very rich, rank grass along 
 
THE WINTER LAMB. I3 
 
 these fences. This grass is deadly to lambs and dangerous 
 to ewes because of the parasites that it harbors. The lamb 
 is often hungry. He lies down a little while, then jumps up, 
 goes a little way and nibbles the grass. He takes in the 
 germs and perishes from them in due time. This, if there 
 was no other reason, would lead me to condemn the prac- 
 tice of allowing ewes to shade along fences. 
 
 PUMPKIN FEEDING. 
 
 As fall comes on the grass is perhaps short and dry 
 and there is room for some artificial feeding. Of all the 
 substances that may be grown and fed to ewes and lambs 
 in the fall none compare with pumpkins. First, they may 
 be grown so cheaply. Our practice is to grow them in the 
 corn where they are a catch-crop of almost clear profit. We 
 find it necessary to plant a great many seeds in order to get 
 what pumpkins we need, owing to the ravages of the small 
 striped bug, and this is the only secret we have ever ob- 
 served in getting a crop of pumpkins. Certainly, they need 
 rich soil. In feeding we never remove the seeds as they are 
 the richest parts and the part that give to pumpkins their 
 great value to the shepherd. Pumpkin seeds are among 
 the best vermifuges known. They destroy and expel tape 
 worms, and I think clear out many forms of worms ; certainly 
 I do know that you may take an old ewe, her skin white, 
 her eye dull, every appearance of her being diseased, feed 
 her all the pumpkins she will eat for a few weeks and she 
 will renew her youth. When we have them in abundance 
 we haul them out by the ton, simply strewing them about 
 the pastures and allowing the sheep to gnaw into them at 
 their pleasure. 
 
 CARE IN PUMPKIN FEEDING. 
 
 Like many another good thing, however, pumpkin feed- 
 ing may be carried too far. There is danger that the preg- 
 
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 THE WINTER LAMB. 
 
 nant ewe may become too fat if allowed all the pumpkins 
 she will eat. This is the only danger and the remedy is easy. 
 
 PUMPKINS FOR MILKING EWES. 
 
 After the little lambs come is the time when pumpkins 
 come in good play. There is nothing so good for the milk- 
 ing ewe. Soon, too, the little lamb will begin to nibble them. 
 They will do him no harm, though he will need stronger 
 food with them, grain of some sort. These pumpkins will 
 keep indefinitely, and may be used until about Christmas. I 
 give this much space to the pumpkin because it is of such 
 easy culture and surely no farm.er who is keeping sheep need 
 try to do without this help. 
 
 THE RAPE PLANT. 
 
 Quite often rape will be a great help. 
 If a small field can be sown early to tide 
 over the hot, dry part of summer and 
 fall it will be of great use, and it may 
 be sown in the corn at the time of last 
 cultivation where it will to a large extent 
 keep down weeds and after the corn is 
 cut it will come on if the season is favor- 
 able, and make a lot of fall and early winter pas- 
 turage. It will be necessary to haul away the corn 
 before sheep can be turned in, as they soon learn to hunt 
 for the ears and gorge themselves. In truth in cutting the 
 corn, or in husking it from the stalk, unusual care should 
 be taken not to let too much corn remain scattered on the 
 ground. Dorset ewes have the sharpest eyes and the best 
 appetites of any sheep and will glean every ear before they 
 do much else. There is danger, of course, of their getting 
 too much corn. Rape is generally safe feed, though there are 
 times when it will bloat the ewes. It is not usually safe to 
 allow them to remain constantly on it for they will become 
 
THE WINTER LAMB. 1 5 
 
 too fat. This is not true after lambing. We have seen 
 them bloat to distress on rape but have never had any die, 
 and there is probably little danger from feeding it at any 
 time. It should never be turned on when frozen, not that 
 it will hurt the ewes so much but each leaf that is bent or 
 disturbed when frozen, will be killed and wasted. It takes 
 a cold of about 12 degrees to kill rape. In selecting a field 
 for rape good land should be chosen and it should be remem- 
 bered that ewes will need to run thereon when it is moist 
 so that if it is a field of clay, apt to pack hard, it may be 
 unwise to sow to rape. If the sheep are taken off at Christ- 
 mas, however, there will generally be time for frost to liven 
 up the packed land. 
 
 "Rape may be sown with oats, barley, winter rye or 
 wheat. If sown with winter rye or wheat, harrow the rye 
 field in early spring and sow about two pounds of rape 
 seed per acre, harrowing lightly again after the seed has 
 been sown. Such harrowing will usually be helpful to the 
 rye crop. Rape seed can be sown with oats or barley, but 
 if this is done the growth of rape is liable to become so rank, 
 especially if the season is a wet one, that the plants will 
 grow as tall as the oats or barley. When this happens trou- 
 ble occurs at harvest time owing to the green rape plants 
 being cut and bound in the sheaves, causing them to rot 
 under the bands. The following is a better plan : Eight or 
 nine days after sowing the oats or barley, when the young 
 grain plants are three or four inches high, run a slant-tooth 
 harrow over the field to loosen the soil. Then seed two or 
 three pounds of rape and harrow lightly again. By seeding in 
 this way the grain crop has so much the start of the rape that 
 the latter is kept small and spindling until grain is harvested. 
 After harvest the rape plants getting the benefits of sun and 
 moisture begin to grow, and in good season the field will 
 soon be covered with ^reen forage. Rape seed can be sown 
 broadcast any time from April until August. For broadcast 
 
i6 
 
 THE WINTER LAMB. 
 
 seeding prepare the land as for oats and sow three or four 
 pounds of seed per acre and harrow in hghtly. Land on 
 which rape is sown broadcast should be comparatively free 
 from weed seeds and in good condition generally." — Henry. 
 
 CARE OF FALL AND WINTER LAMBS. 
 
 Fall lambs come strong and can look after themselves ; 
 there is little or no trouble with the ewes, the most important 
 
 A GOOD TYPE 
 
 thing is to watch their udders, for they have full ones at 
 that time. We make a practice of putting the ewes on thin 
 pasture a few weeks before the lambs are due, then as fast 
 as they drop the lambs we take them to the barn, where they 
 are kept for a few days, getting a bite of hay and a bit of 
 grain. As soon as the lambs take all the milk, the ewes can 
 be put on full pasture of grass, rye and rape, until snow flies. 
 One thing to bear in mind is, these lambs should never get 
 wet ; fall storms are not like summer showers, and they are 
 very severe on young lambs, even the heavy dews of fall 
 nights where the pasture is tall and heavy should be avoided. 
 
THE WINTER LAMB. 
 
 I? 
 
 For this reason and also because it is safer for the ewes, pas- 
 ture the rye, rape and new seeding of grass during the day, 
 and put them on the short grass at night. The best way of 
 all is to bring them to the barn for over night; they will 
 have shelter in case of sudden storm, and anyway when the 
 lambs are a few weeks old you will want to teach them to 
 eat grain ; the barn is the place to do this. They should 
 have a room or space all to themselves; it should be shut 
 off from the main building by a door that slides up and 
 down. This door should have a space for a creep that can 
 be opened and shut independent of the door. When all the 
 lambs are in their room, shut the door and make them stay 
 there until they have eaten all their feed. The creep can 
 then be opened so they can run in and out to nibble at the 
 hav. This method is much more effective in results obtained 
 than using the creep alone. With the latter only many of the 
 lambs, especially the younger ones, will spend most of their 
 time creeping in and out, while the others eat all the feed or 
 muss what they do not eat. Another advantage with Dorsets 
 is that fewer horns are broken, the lambs never rushing and 
 crowding through the creep. It is very easy to teach the 
 lambs to go into their own room. At first you may have to 
 catch a few, but they will soon learn to run right in, one fol- 
 lowing the other. 
 
 The time the ewes and lambs can run on pasture will of 
 course vary with the seasons. But as long as they are on 
 pasture one feed of grain per day will be sufficient. And 
 the way the lambs will grow with the pasture and the one 
 feed will be a revelation to all who have only handled spring 
 lambs. 
 
 GRAIN FEEDING BEFORE LAMBING. 
 
 If ewes are in good heart it is never necessary to feed 
 grain before lambing unless in small amounts. It is not 
 often safe to feed much grain to the pregnant Dorset ewe. 
 
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THE WINTER LAMB. I9 
 
 The result of too much grain feeding is apt to be a weak 
 lamb, hard to induce to live, whereas Dorset lambs are, when 
 their mothers are rightly managed, the strongest lambs in 
 the world. Dorsets are hungry sheep. They will always, if 
 not sick eat everything before them. There is no sheep with 
 a better appetite or digestion. The inexperienced shepherd 
 is quite apt to over-feed them. Good, sound clover or alfalfa 
 hay is quite good enough for tiie pregnant ewe after green 
 stuffs are gone. Let her have a plenty of it. If you must 
 feed some grain to keep her in flesh because of the badness 
 of your hay, feed oats and bran, equal parts by weight. 
 There is no sheep easier kept in flesh if she is not worm- 
 infested. If she is cared for as she should be she will not 
 be that. 
 
 HOUSING. 
 
 It is not well to keep the pregnant ewe very closely 
 housed. She ought to have a good run and every day when 
 it is not actually storming she should be out. Sometimes the 
 run of a dry feed-lot, with coarse fodders to pick over in 
 tlie yard will be sufficient, and this course has the advantage 
 of the flock being always in view and stray lambs being 
 born are apt to be seen. With others a bit of grass of ten 
 acres or more, not too closely grazed in the fall, will be pro- 
 vided and on this the ewes will take a great deal of pleasure 
 and get quite a good deal of nourishment. They must at 
 all times be in the mind of their shepherd, for lambs may 
 be born out on the grass or in the snow, but you must not 
 let this fear deter you from giving them their daily run out 
 of doors. It must not be thought, however, that because 
 a certain amount of outdoor life is good no shelter at all is 
 better. A comfortable barn is needed, and, in truth, in the 
 Northern states indispensable. 
 
 SHEDDING. 
 
 A comfortable shelter, closed tight on the north, west 
 and east sides, with chance to open well on the south and 
 
20 THE WINTER LAMB. 
 
 preferably with considerable glass where it will let in the 
 sun, is what you need. It need not be an expensive structure. 
 It is better to have storage for hay above. There must be 
 ample provision for fresh air to come in from the south, so 
 that cold blasts will not come with it. Let there be a yard 
 attached, preferably on the sunny side. Water may be in 
 the barn, or in the yard unless in a very cold country. Every 
 night the flock should be confined to their barn. It will be 
 found that the lambs will mostly come in the night. And if 
 the doors are open it will generally be found that the ewes 
 will come to the barn to drop their lambs. Too close shut- 
 ting in will work harm to the flock. Too much exposure will 
 cost you their thrift and the loss of some lambs in severe 
 weather. In the South, Dorsets thrive with no shelter at 
 all save that afforded by hill, tree and shrub. Yet, in general, 
 it will be found that it will take less feed and the flock will 
 keep in better condition to shelter them especially from all 
 rains in cold weather. 
 
 WINTER FEEDS — ENSILAGE. 
 
 There is great diversity of opinion as to the value of 
 ensilage for sheep, or rather to be more accurate, the differ- 
 ence of opinion is more as to whether it can be fed with 
 safety, for the ensilage itself is generally admitted to oe a 
 good feed. Some sheep feeders will not use it at all ; some 
 of our experiment stations condemn it as a sheep feed. For 
 our part, we have fed it for many years to both lambs and 
 ewes, and consider it both safe and of much value, especially 
 so for ewes with lambs by side. But it must be used ^^ith 
 judgment, which nieans not'' to feed too much or too often. 
 Our practice is to feed once a day during winter or cold 
 weather only ; we take daily from the silo the amount of a 
 day's feed, put it by itself and let it remain for a few hours 
 until it becomes cool to the touch. Late in the spring or 
 
THE WINTER LAMB. 21 
 
 during hot weather we would not feed it to sheep. Also, let 
 sheep feeders beware of it when taken from near the bottom 
 of the silo; it is then very wet and chuck full of acidity, a 
 slow poison for sheep. You don't need a silo in the sheep 
 business, but you can use one if you have it and want to. If 
 you keep Dorsets they will thrive without ensilage, so will 
 you., 
 
 ROOTS. 
 
 Sheep without roots ! Hamlet without the Ghost ! Car- 
 rots, turnips, mangels, there is no question about the value 
 and safety of this trio. I name them in the order of their 
 excellence as sheep feed. I might add that carrots are the 
 hardest to grow, the best to feed; turnips the easiest to 
 grow, the most universally fed ; mangels the surest to grow, 
 the poorest to feed. They all need rich ground, all will do 
 better on a rather heavy soil, but you can get a good crop 
 from light soil well enriched. Carrots should be sown about 
 corn plainting time in rows two and a half feet apart, the 
 rows slightly ridged, this ridging facilitates weeding, makes 
 easier pulling ; sow quite thick to insure good stand, as they 
 are shy starters ; when up a few inches thin with a broad 
 hoe, leaving little bunches between strokes of hoe ; thin these 
 bunches by hand to one plant. After this there is little work. 
 Use the large stock varieties, not the table carrot. Turnips 
 can be sown from middle of June to middle of July in, rows 
 two and one-half or three feet apart, either flat or ridged 
 high ; sow them thin but even ; they are quick, easy starters ; 
 when well up, thin at once (don't let 'em get big) with hoe to 
 one plant twelve or fifteen inches apart. An occasional cul- 
 tivation afterwards is all that is needed. Use the Swede 
 varieties. Mangels should be sown early in the spring; sow 
 same as turnips, only thicker, as they are slow to start and 
 many seeds will not sprout if a bit dry ; care for them same 
 as turnips, but thin farther apart. The ewes and especially 
 
22 THE WINTER LAMB. 
 
 the lambs, will be crazy for the carrots, and you are not apt 
 to have enough to feed too many. They will eat the turnips 
 eagerly, too, and many shepherds think you can't feed them 
 too many ; we have had large experience in feeding turnips, 
 having used them in unlimited quantities for ewes, rams and 
 lambs. We think pregnant ewes can be fed too many, and 
 that it is better to limit them to one moderate feed per day 
 until after lambing, when they can safely have as many as 
 
 they'll eat. iMangels contain the most water of the three, 
 and are rather chilly eating on a cold winter's day ; they are 
 perhaps the best keepers, though, and are very acceptable to 
 sheep in late spring, although we have the idea they do not 
 like them as well as turnips, and know that carrots are "pie" 
 to them compared with mangels. Care must be used in feed- 
 ing mangels to rams, as in quantity they have deleterious 
 effect upon the bladder. If you keep Dorsets, grow jonie 
 kind of roots. Dorsets are the alchemists among sheep, and 
 will turn them into gold for you. 
 
THE- WINTER LAMB. ^3 
 
 CLOVERS AND LEGUMES. 
 
 You are engaged, now, in making milk and baby flesh. 
 Each is largely composed of protein, to produce which you 
 must feed protein. That means to buy large amounts of 
 wheat bran, gluten feed or oil meal, or it means to produce 
 your own protein supply. You can do this most easily by 
 growing red clover, alfalfa, soy beans or cow peas. 
 
 ALFALFA. 
 
 Alfalfa hay is the foundation of profitable sheep hus- 
 bandry in America. It makes the best hay for sheep of any 
 because alfalfa is so full of protein, so full of what makes 
 milk and flesh and fat. We would prefer to have good alfalfa 
 hay with no grain than timothy hay or corn fodder with all 
 the grain you cared to feed ; we would get better sheep ; 
 fuller of milk; the lambs would grow better on just a ration 
 of alfalfa hay, early cut, nicely cured. Every farmer can 
 grow alfalfa, should grow alfalfa if he keeps sheep. The 
 secret of its success is to choose well drained land or else 
 deeply underdrain a piece, then if it is not already very 
 sweet with lime put on enough lime to make it sweet, and 
 a little more than sweet. Ground limestone or carbonate of 
 lime is best and safest, one can use as much as 8 tons of 
 it to the acre, it is cheap ; or he can use 2 tons or more 
 of fresh burned lime. Lime heavily for alfalfa, it comes 
 from desert regions that have alkaline soils. ■ Then make 
 the land rich, as rich as you can. Plant early potatoes as 
 early as you can, cultivate clean, dig early, disk the land 
 well and sow in July or early August, if you can, 20 pounds 
 of good alfalfa seed to the acre. 
 
 If you wish more information on alfalfa growing write 
 Wing Seed Co., Mechanicsburg, Ohio, for their free booklet 
 on growing it, or get "Alfalfa Farming in America," pub- 
 lished by the Breeder's Gazette, Chicago, ($2.00). This 
 book ought to be in every farm library. It is full of stuff 
 that sheep owners need. 
 
 There is absolutely no danger in feeding alfalfa hay, but 
 
THE WINTER LAMB. 25 
 
 there is need of care in pasturing green alfalfa. The danger 
 comes from bloat and that is the result of indigestion, caused 
 by the animals eating too greedily of the delicious green 
 feed. We let the alfalfa grow up about twelve inches tall, 
 then, when the sheep are full of green grass, and at about 
 ten o'clock, when the sun is warm, turn them into the alfalfa. 
 They remain there constantly except that they come to the 
 barn to shade during the heat of the day. Tliey go back 
 as soon as they care to graze. Treated in this way, we have 
 had no loss from bloat, but have had magnificent results in 
 development of our young sheep. Caution. — After frost 
 alfalfa should never be grazed, as it is apt to cause indiges- 
 tion and death. There is no crop that will return so much 
 feeding value per acre as alfalfa, if.you are on alfalfa land, 
 or will take the trouble to make your land alfalfa land. If 
 your land is deficient in lime it should be well limed after 
 it has been well manured ; lime alone will not make alfalfa 
 land of it. If it is based on shale, close to the surface, it 
 may not pay to sow alfalfa, which roots quite deep. 
 
 RED CLOVER. 
 
 What will secure a stand of alfalfa will also secure a 
 stand of red clover, though, as it is a biennial, it need not be 
 expected to remain in the soil more than two seasons. It 
 has a rich nutritive value and should always be cut for 
 sheep before the heads are brown. 
 
 SOY beans. 
 
 In the Northern states the soy bean is a rich gift. Planted 
 in drills about 22 inches apart, cultivated once or twice, cut 
 with a binder and threshed, they yield from 15 to 30 bushels 
 per acre of extremely rich beans, which will go far towards 
 balancing a ration. Sheep are very fond of these beans, and 
 
26 
 
 THE WINTER LAMB. 
 
 also of the leaves and stems, if saved without rain. John B. 
 Peelle, who is a leading hot-house Dorset lamb producer re- 
 lies greatly on his soys and saves immensely in his feed bill 
 
 READY FOR NEW YORK AND GOOD FOR $10.00 
 (From Peelle's Place) 
 
 thereby, besides producing $10.00 Iambs in abundance, 
 early varieties north. 
 
 cow PEAS. 
 
 Sow 
 
 In the Southern states and along the border there are 
 regions where neither red clover nor alfalfa are to be de- 
 pended upon and where soils need building up to fit them for 
 other crops. Here the cow peas come in exceedingly well. 
 They are great soil builders, rich in protein, make good sum- 
 mer or winter forage and are the great reliance of the South- 
 
THE WINTER LAMB. 27 
 
 ern shepherd. Cow-peas sown among ensilage corn help to 
 balance that ration ; sown among soiling crops of rape or 
 sorghum serve to balance them and enrich the soil at the 
 same time. They must not be sown until after the land is 
 warm in the spring. 
 
 CANADA FIELD PEAS. 
 
 There is sometimes a confusion of terms. The Canadian 
 field peas are much like ordinary garden peas, and must be 
 sown very early, on good soil, with oats or barley as a soiling 
 or pasture crop. Cow-peas are really beans, must be sown 
 late, will grow on soil that will not produce Canada peas. 
 The Canada peas and barley make an ideal soiling feed, or 
 the lambs may run through creeps and eat the mixture, and 
 will thrive thereon first rate. Theadvent of hot, dry weather 
 finishes the Canada peas, however. 
 
 PUTTING THE LAMBS FORWARD. 
 
 A good old English practice is to hurdle the field with 
 creeps so that the lambs may '"run forward" of their mothers, 
 thus getting the first bite of the fresh feed. From time to 
 time the hurdles, or panels of movable fence, are moved up 
 and the lambs' ewes clean up what the lambs have been over. 
 This is a good way to make fine lambs at small expense and 
 to keep them free from parasites. The best of all for the 
 babies always. 
 
 SHEARING. 
 
 There is no sheep easier to shear and shear well than 
 the Dorset. The wool cuts easily ; the operator can as well 
 as not leave a smooth, close-cut surface. The machines work 
 well on Dorset sheep, and some of the best American flocks 
 are shorn by machines altogether. The use of the machines 
 is most discouraging to ticks, which are almost certainly 
 cut in two and destroyed. Care should be taken not to 
 
28 THE WINTER LAMB. 
 
 shear too close after flies are troublesome, as there is not 
 enough wool to protect the sheep after the machine shear has 
 been over her back. The last week in Jilarch or early in 
 April is a good time to shear the flock ; in warm climates it 
 is often well to shear again in late August. This double 
 shearing does not make much more wool, perhaps no more 
 at all, but it is a relief to the overburdened sheep. 
 
 MARKING. 
 
 The English method of marking by branding figures in 
 the horn is a good one but slow, and necessarily the horn 
 must first grow so that some means of marking the lambs 
 must be adopted. Ear labels of various sorts are on the 
 market, and all are open to the objection that they lose out. 
 Some breeders use the tattoo mark with success, though 
 others fail in using it. The secret of success with the tattoo 
 mark is, first, see that the jaws are exactl}' parallel. They 
 may be made so by careful use of the file. The points of the 
 letters should indent evenly a thick piece of paper. Next, 
 plenty of India ink should be used. The points should be 
 firmly pressed in and immediately the ink must be rubbed 
 into the wounds. The advantage of the tattoo mark is that 
 it does not deface the ear, is absolutely permanent and can 
 not be transferred by any trickster from one sheep to an- 
 other. Tattoo markers are made by F. S. Burch^ 178 Alich- 
 
THE WINTER LAME. 29 
 
 igan Street, Chicago, 111. The first cost is rather heavy, but 
 in the long run there is a saving, as the ink is cheap. 
 
 WEANING. 
 
 Don't be in a hurry to wean lambs that are to be kept. 
 There is nothing like mother's milk, unless it is more 
 mother's milk ! Let the lambs have access to all the bran 
 and oats they can eat; all the green feed and the mother's 
 milk, too. You can shorten the time of development at least 
 one year by liberal feeding. It takes less feed to make a 
 sheep if it is fed in one year than if it had been fed in two 
 years. Wh'en the lambs are separated 
 from their mothers take away the ewes ; 
 the lambs fret very little. If there is yet 
 milk in the ewes remove it a few times, 
 not quite clean. 
 
 DIPPING. 
 
 "A man ought to bathe once a year, 
 whether he needs it or not." So of the 
 sheep. Dip them once a year, whether they netd it or not. 
 There are almost surely a few ticks, maybe a few lice on 
 them. Dipping costs but a trifle. Provide a steel tank, 
 galvanized. Sink it in the floor of your sheep house. When 
 not in use cover it with good planking. A tank six or eight 
 feet long will answer for a small flock, and as they are all 
 narrow it takes but little stuff to fill them. Have the draining 
 pen long and narrow, so that as the sheep walk up one at a 
 timic they may be let out ahead. Pen with movable hurdles 
 or panels. Half a day with three active men will dip a flock 
 of a hundred. The carbolic dips are safe and good. There 
 is no profit in ticks, though there is much money in them, at 
 present ! 
 
 ^ MATING. 
 
 "The sire is half the herd ; if he is a poor one he is all of 
 it." Get a vigorous sire. Do not think too much of size. 
 
30 THE WINTER LAMB. 
 
 Look that he is active, muscular, aHve all over. See that he 
 is big through the heart. See that he has a straight back, a 
 well sprung rib, a good, short, straight leg. See that his 
 horn is strong, well turned. See that his neck is thick and 
 muscular. Have him well wooled all over. Study your scale 
 of points. Don't quibble about the price, but be a stickler for 
 quality. If he is not right you will regret it all your life, 
 maybe, for it takes ten years' weeding to undo one year's 
 bad breeding. And every year send to the butcher the ewes 
 that you know are inferior. 
 
THE WINTER LAMB. 
 
 SCALE, OF POINTS. 
 
 Adopted by Continental Dorset Club. 
 
 HEAD — neat, face white, nostrils large, well covered 
 
 on crown and under jaws with wool 5 
 
 HO'RNS — small and gracefully curving forward rather 
 
 close to jaw 5 
 
 EYES — prominent and bright 2 
 
 EARS — medium size, covered with short white hair .... 2 
 
 NECK — short, symmetrical, strongly set on shoulders, 
 
 gradually tapering to junction of head 5 
 
 SHOULDERS — broad and full, joining neck forward 
 and chin backward, with no depression at either 
 point (important) 15 
 
 BRISKET — wide and full, forward, chest full and deep 8 
 
 FORE FLANK — quite full, showing little depression 
 
 behind shoulder 8 
 
 BACK AND LOIN — wide and straight, from which 
 
 ribs should spring with a fine, circular arch 10 
 
 QUARTERS — wide and full, with mutton extending 
 
 down to hocks 10 
 
 BELLY — straight on under line 3 
 
 FLEECE — medium grade, of even quality, presenting 
 a smooth surface and extending over belly and 
 well down on legs 12 
 
 GENERAL CONFORMATION— of the mutton type, 
 body moderately long; short, stout legs, placed 
 squarely under body, skin pink, appearance at- 
 tractive , 15 
 
 Total , ic- 
 
THE WINTER LAMB. 
 
 DISEASES OF SHEE.P. 
 
 THIS is not meant for a scientific 
 discussion of diseases and remedies ; it 
 is merely an effort to group the com- 
 mon ailments under their common 
 names in alphabetical order. The 
 remedies given are tried ones and the 
 directions brief and simple, just as if 
 we were talking to each other. Where there is no prac- 
 tical, tried remedy known, no attempt is made to appear 
 erudite by naming possible ones. In such cases prevention 
 is indicated, which after all is the Great Sheep Remedy. 
 
 ABC Ailments and Remedies. 
 
 Abortion — Strictly speaking this is not a disease, but the re- 
 sult of disease or accident. Among sheep it is seldom 
 epidemic. If the contagious form appears the cause 
 must be ascertained in order to apply any remedy for 
 checking the spread. In cases of epidemic abortion you 
 should get the ad^■ice of a veterinary. Individual cases 
 are mostly the result of crowding the animals through 
 narrow spaces; rough handling; fright or injury from 
 any cause. 
 
 Braxy — This is a disease of sheep ; but the term is so 
 various!)' applied in different sections that it is not wise 
 to specify causes or remedies. 
 
 Bloating — Give tablespoonful baking soda, and half table- 
 spoonful ground ginger in pint of water. Fasten mouth 
 open with band of straw or piece of corn cob ; straddle 
 the animal and gently but regularly knead or work the 
 extended sides. Use the trocar as a last resort. 
 
THE WINTER LAMB. 
 
 33 
 
 Barren Ewes — Too much flesh is usually the cause. Force 
 constant exercise; reduce feed for month or more be- 
 fore breeding ; then feed liberally. 
 
 Choking — Give small doses of linseed oil, and work throat 
 gently with hand. As a last resort, bunch securely a 
 rag on end of piece of whalebone or other flexible sub- 
 stance, oil, and push carefully down throat. 
 
 Casting the Withers— See Prolapsus Uterus. 
 
 ^_ i. LL.-4JfclK.^4 
 
 :*r 
 
 HOW THEY RUSTLE, SNOW OR NO SNOW. 
 
 Diarrhea-Scours — Give teaspoonful to tablespoonful castor 
 oil to suckling lambs. For older sheep change pasture or 
 feed. Protracted cases can be helped by giving handful 
 wheat flour in feed. Diarrhea of weaned lambs and 
 mature sheep is often caused by worms ; also by certain 
 weeds in pasture or hay. In such cases the cause must 
 be removed. 
 
 Docking — Use the docking irons or pinchers. About a week 
 old is good age to operate. But if the lambs are strong 
 any age from few days to fortnight will do. 
 
34 THE WINTER LAMB. 
 
 Foot Rot — Cut carefully away every particle of the diseased 
 part, and apply salve made of blue stone and lard. Tie 
 coarse bagging around foot to keep salve on and dirt 
 out. When the rot extends into the flesh above the hoof, 
 wash with a 50 to i solution of carbolic acid, and apply 
 powdered burnt alum. Running sheep through fresh 
 slaked lime watered to the consistency of paste is great 
 preventive of foot rot. Dry lime put around feeding 
 and watering places is helpful also. 
 
 Garget — This often follows neglected caked-bag, particularly 
 apt to if ewe is exposed to wet and cold. If udders are 
 properly looked after at lambing and weaning time it 
 will seldom occur. For general treatment see Caked- 
 Bag. 
 
 Goitre — There is no known remedy that will prevent this 
 serious trouble. Fortunately it seems to be prevalent 
 only in certain parts of this country. As it is hereditary, 
 afifected animals should never be used for breeding pur- 
 poses. Iodine will reduce the swellings. 
 
 Constipation — For sucking lambs give castor oil, teaspoonful 
 to tablespoonful, according to age and severity of trou- 
 ble. For mature sheep use epsom salts, 4 to 6 ounces in 
 pint of warm water. Never give salts when there is 
 evidence of pain. Substitute raw linseed oil, or^ better 
 yet, castor oil. The use of stimulants in small quantities, 
 such as brandy, gin or whisky, will increase the action 
 of the cathartics. 
 
 Castration — From two to four weeks old is convenient and 
 safe age to operate. Apply an antiseptic after opera- 
 tion, such as the carbolized non-poisonous sheep dips. 
 
 Colds — Give teaspoonful carbonate iron, as much quinine as 
 nickel will nicely take up, and wine-glassful of whisky. 
 Repeat every other day for a week or so. 
 
 Caked-Bag — Keep udder milked out, and do not allow ewe to 
 
THE WINTER LAMB. 
 
 35 
 
 be exposed to cold and wet. Apply to udder a lini- 
 ment made by mixing i quart tincture of arnica, 6 
 ounces tincture of belladonna, and 4 ounces spirits of 
 camphor. Rub on vigorously with palms of hands. If 
 a ewe has a very large, extended, hard-feeling udder 
 before lambing, do not hesitate to milk it out some. 
 Never change suddenly from low feeding to high feed- 
 
 CROSS-BRED DORSET-SHROPSHIRE LAMBS. 
 Ready for Market on Woodland Farm. 
 
 ing in a Dorset ewe ; the result is apt to be caked-bag. 
 Too much corn feeding is inducive to this trouble. 
 
 Grub in the Head — This term is usually applied to a grub that 
 is laid alive in the sheep's nostrils by the Sheep Gad Fly, 
 during the hot months of summer. The grub works its 
 way upwards, causing much distress and "snotty noses." 
 There is no complete cure. The preventives are any con- 
 trivances that help the animal to escape the fiy. Tar on 
 the nose repels the fly ; but it is a difficult thing to keep 
 the noses always tarred. Shady places and strips of 
 
3© THE WINTER LAMB. 
 
 plowed ground to lie on, and long grass are helps to the 
 sheep. Death seldom results, but great distress and 
 worry does. These grubs cannot possibly reach thehead 
 proper or brain cell. There is a grub, though, that gets 
 there by way of the spinal canal. There is no practical 
 cure for this kind of grub in the head. It is sure death 
 to the animal. A skillful surgeon might resort to 
 trepanning, but, aside from the expense, this would be 
 a doubtful operation, as often the grubs are three, four 
 or more in number, and lodged in different parts of the 
 brain cell, so all could not be removed. 
 
 Gid or Staggers — Some authorities call grub in the head by 
 this name, as in its advanced stages the sheep's brain is 
 affected and it staggers about. These symptoms follow 
 the grub in the head proper, not the grub in the nostrils, 
 which commonly goes by the name of grub in the head. 
 There are several ailments which cause sheep to stagger 
 and stumble, and each of them is often called by this 
 name. Highly fed sheep will sometimes accumulate 
 blood too' fast, and it will go to the head, causing this 
 staggering symptom. Generally when the sheep acts 
 this way it is surely going to die, no matter what the 
 cause. 
 
 Hoose or Husk — Another name for lung disease. See 
 Paper Skin for treatment. 
 
 Impaction — Young suckling lambs are subject to this, espe- 
 cially the richly nourished ones. The milk becomes hard 
 or impacted in the intestines. When a fat lamb hangs 
 its ears and mopes around it is very likely impaction. 
 Give tablespoonful castor oil ; if this does not move the 
 bowels, give injection of warm soap suds. For mature 
 sheep give wheat bran, with little salt, made into a 
 mash. For severe cases, two or three ounces each of 
 raw linseed oil and molasses will make a strong purga- 
 
THE WINTER LAMB. 
 
 37 
 
 tive. Mature sheep are not subject to this ailment if 
 fed at all properly. 
 
 rnflammation of the Stomach- -This may follow neglected 
 cases of impaction. The sheep's evidence of distress and 
 pain in the stomach will indicate this trouble. Two 
 
 ounces castor oil, with half ounce of laudanum, will re- 
 lieve somewhat the pain. If there is fever, as is prob- 
 able, five to ten drops of aconite will be of help. Keep 
 all feed away for day or so, and then feed lightly of 
 succulent, laxative food. 
 
 Knotty Guts — See Nodular Disease. 
 
38 THE WINTER LAMB. 
 
 Liver Fluke — This is a disease of the Hver caused by internal 
 parasites. In its advanced stage it is hopeless to give 
 medicines. The source of infection must be ascertained 
 and destroyed or sheep removed from same. The drink- 
 ing of stagnant water is common cause. 
 
 Lice — Use any of the standard sheep dips as directed. Dal- 
 matian powder applied with powder gun is effective for 
 red-headed louse. 
 
 Lung Disease — This is a disease of the lungs caused by in- 
 ternal parasites. Some writers refer to it as paper skin. 
 The animals lack blood, the skin looks white, also the 
 lips and eyeballs under the lids. As with most other 
 internal parasites, there is no known cure for this. For 
 general treatment of anaemic condition see Paper Skin. 
 
 Nodular Disease — Knotty guts : This is a disease caused by 
 internal parasites. An examination of the intestines will 
 reveal numerous little tumors or knots growing to same. 
 Many sheep are more or less affected with this, and no 
 apparent harm results. At times and in certain sections 
 it is very destructive. No positive remedy is known. 
 All that can be done is to give extra care, change of pas- 
 ture, and avoidance of any possible source of infection. 
 This disease is more common and fatal in the South than 
 in the North. 
 
 Paper Skin — Properly, this is the name for lung disease. 
 Generally, though, it is applied to sheep in an anaemic 
 condition, and this condition is the result of various 
 diseases. Thete is a lack of blood in the system, causing 
 the skin to appear white and lifeless like. Carbonate of 
 iron is a blood builder, and a tonic of this with equal 
 parts each ground ginger and gentian is very excellent 
 for the anaemic condition. A tablespoonful of the mix- 
 ture once a day in feed for a week or so. A sheep in 
 good health has a pink, inviting skin. When the skin 
 
THE WINTER LAMB. 39 
 
 gets pale or white it is a sure sign of some ailment. As 
 soon as this symptom appears start at once and give 
 extra care and attention, and feed with above tonic. 
 Prolapsus Uterus — Falling or protruding of the womb. Many 
 cases called this are merely the inversion of the vagina — 
 literally the turning inside out of the .lining membrane. 
 The rectum also sometimes protrudes. Give laxative 
 foods. Thoroughly cleanse the protruding parts, anoint 
 with raw linseed oil with little laudanum in it, knead 
 gently and return. Give internally four ounces of raw 
 
 linseed oil with tablespoonful of laudanum. If above 
 is not successful after a few trials, it will be necessary 
 to fix straps or harness so as to hold the protruding parts 
 in for a few days. 
 
 Rheumatism — Young lambs are occasionally affected with a 
 stiffness and lameness of joints. It may be lamb founder ; 
 but m early spring is apt to be caused by lambs lying on 
 cold, damp ground. Keep yards well bedded with corn 
 stalks or other roughage, so lambs cannot lie on bare 
 ground. 
 
 Scours — See Diarrhea. 
 
 Scab — Use any of the standard dips as directed. 
 
 Sore Mouth — Rub scab off and apply a non-poisonous car- 
 
I-O THE WINTER LAMB. 
 
 bolic sheep dip. Powdered burnt alum is also efifective 
 where it can be made to remain on. The seat of this 
 trouble makes it difficult to apply remedies. It will, 
 however, usually disappear of itself. 
 
 Sore Eyes — Cleanse with warm water and drop little witch- 
 hazel in and around eyes. 
 
 Scum on Eyes — Usually will disappear without treatment. 
 Introduction of any substance to cut the scum is cruel 
 practice of very doubtful necessity. Relief can be given 
 by washing as for sore eyes. 
 
 Snotty Nose — A symptom of Grub in the Head or a Bad 
 Cold. For treatment see both these headings. 
 
 Swelling Under the Jaw — This is not a disease, but the 
 symptom of several ailments. Often it accompanies an 
 anaemic condition. For general treatment see Paper 
 Skin. 
 
 Scanty Urine— Rams and wethers may have trouble in mak- 
 ing water. Give from one-half to one ounce sweet spirits 
 of nitre ; put pinch of powdered saltpetre in feed for 
 several days. Do not feed mangels. 
 
 Stone in the Bladder — This is another ailment of lambs and 
 wethers. Like goitre, it seems to be largely confined to 
 certain sections of country. There is no positive cure 
 for this ailment. Mangels cause it, and aggravate mild 
 cases, so they should not be fed in any great quantity. 
 
 Stomach Worms — There are many kinds of stomach worms. 
 Usually, though, the term is applied to the strongylus 
 contortus, among lambs, one of, if not the most fatal 
 of all internal parasites. An efifective remedy is ben- 
 zine or gasoline given in sweet milk for three consecu- 
 tive days. A dose is from teaspoonful to tablespoonful, 
 according to age of lamb. Add to each dose about half 
 glass of sweet milk. Shake well together. Shut lambs 
 
THE WINTER LAMB. 
 
 41 
 
 up over night so as to give on empty stomach. Have as- 
 sistant set lamb on rump when you give the medicine, 
 and be sure he holds head in natural position for the 
 posture, otherwise strangulation may result. See chap- 
 ter on Parasites. 
 
 Ticks — Use any of the standard dips as directed. 
 
 Tape Worm — At times and in some localities this worm 
 proves very destructive. Ordinarily, though, a few tape 
 worms seem to be a necessary accompaniment of a lamb's 
 growth and do no harm. If numerous they can be 
 expelled with any recognized vermifuge, such as pow- 
 dered araca nut in one to two dram doses on empty 
 stomach. Follow in from twelve to twenty-four hours 
 with a cathartic. Pumpkins are good, as the seeds act 
 as vermifuge. 
 
42 
 
 THE WINTER LAMB. 
 
 LAMB FOUNDER. 
 
 There is a peculiar dis- 
 ease of lambs that causes 
 them to become very stiff 
 in their joints. It may at- 
 tack one joint or all the 
 limbs may be affected. They 
 lie around a great deal and 
 move painfully. They sel- 
 dom die, but are checked 
 sadly in their development. 
 The cause of this distress- 
 ing ailment is to be sought 
 in the ewe. She has been 
 unwisely fed. Most prob- 
 ably she has been allowed 
 to gorge herself on grain, 
 or her feed has been 
 changed abruptly from a 
 light ration to a heavy one. 
 This creates indigestion and a peculiar poison in her system 
 that shows itself most in the lamb. There is no cure but 
 time, and an avoidance of the contributing causes. So far 
 as wc have observed a high feeding of corn is most apt to 
 cause this disorder. 
 
 While the suckling ewe should be well and even highly 
 fed, she should never be changed suddenly from a light ra- 
 tion to a heavy one, nor should she ever have a large allow- 
 ance of corn. 
 
 BROKEN HORNS 
 
 may cause the death of the lamb. Sometimes a sort of blood- 
 poison sets in that causes the head to swell so that the eyes 
 are even swelled shut. There is no help for it but time 
 after the infection has occurred, but if at once when the 
 
 The Lambs so Gentle the Girls Pet Them. 
 
THE V/INTER LAMB. 
 
 43 
 
 horn is noticed to be broken the stub be smeared with some 
 carboHc sheep dip there will be no infection and no bad re- 
 sults. One should plan his pen so far as possible to be tight 
 and smooth so as not to catch and break the horns, which 
 are very tender at a certain stage of development. 
 
 DOCKING TAILS. 
 
 There is but one right way to dock tails, that is with 
 the docking pinchers made by F. S. Burch, 178 Michigan 
 
 Street, Chicago, 111. These iron 
 pinchers are heated to redness 
 and the tails severed ; no bleed- 
 ing occurs, and the tails may be 
 made very short. This is best 
 done at about ten days of age. 
 If there are flies a smear of tar 
 or sheep dip will deter'them un- 
 til the wound is healed. It 
 heals very qaickly when the 
 pinchers are used. Take a board 
 six inches square, bore an inch 
 hole through the middle of it, thrust the tail through this 
 hole and cut as close as you can. The board holds the tail 
 and prevents scorching the lamb. 
 
 CASTRATION. 
 
 For the winter market to .go from their mothers' sides 
 it does not matter whether the lambs are castrated or not. 
 Some growers always castrate, others never do. It is prob- 
 able that if the castration is done carefully and soon enough 
 the lamb may fatten faster than if his testicles were left in. 
 The castration of lambs a week old or less is a simple mat- 
 ter ; the end of the scrotum is cut off, the testicles drawn out, 
 cord and all, a little lard and turpentine placed in the wound 
 and in a short time the wound is healed. 
 
44 
 
 THE WINTER LAMB. 
 
 Later in the season, when ram lambs have been let go 
 and some have turned out badly and are not fit for breeding 
 rams they are hard to castrate without loss, but the docking 
 pinchers may be used again, taking off the entire scrotum, 
 as you would dock the tail. I have never seen ill results 
 follow this operation, and have castrated rams six years old 
 in this manner. Care should be observed to have the pinch- 
 ers quite hot. 
 
 SORE .MOUTH. 
 
 There is a contagious sore mouth that affects lambs and 
 sometimes sheep. Warty scabs form on the lips and nose, 
 making it difficult for the lambs to eat. Similar sores appear 
 
 A Grade " Rent Payer." 
 
 on the ewe's teats. The cure is simple. Rub off the scales 
 and apply some carbolic sheep dip. ;\lilk-oil, made by F. S. 
 Burch, 178 Michigan Street, Chicago, has proved effective 
 in the experience of the writer, and one application has 
 always been sufficient. There is another form of this sore 
 mouth that is confined to the lambs. It is more difficult to 
 cure, but after running its course will quickly disappear. 
 
 SORE EYES. 
 
 The contagious sore eyes that sometimes appear among 
 *ke flock in Winter are also easily and quickly cured by a 
 
THE WINTER LAMB. 45 
 
 tiny drop of sheep dip dropped in the eye. It should be di- 
 luted about ten times with water and not only a little allowed 
 to penetrate the eye, but the face should be scrubbed with it, 
 especially wherever the tears have run down the cheeks. 
 There is no excuse for allowing these and similar petty dis- 
 eases to spread and become formidable ; a little watchful care, 
 a little disinfecting with carbolic dip, and the disease is cured 
 and its spread stopped. Milk-oil, or some similar carbolic 
 preparation, should always be at hand in a bottle ; or, better, 
 an oil-can on a shelf in the sheep barn. 
 
 INTERNAL PARASITES. 
 
 Would it were as easy to keep the inside of a sheep 
 clean as the outside. Unfortunately this is not so. Sheep 
 suffer greatly from a number of internal parasites, but in 
 America the chief and almost only important one is the tiny 
 stomach-worm. The lambs that are dropped in fall and 
 kept on clean pastures until cold weather are seldom trou- 
 bled with these pests ; the lambs dropped early in winter and 
 fattened and sold before June are safe, but tlie late lambs 
 that must run with their mothers on grass are apt to become 
 affected. The symptoms are a general lack of thrift, a 
 sunken condition of the fleece, a paleness of the skin, the 
 eating of earth and rotten wood, a slight cough, sometimes 
 scours, at other times constipation, emaciation and often 
 death. 
 
 One should never see a lamb die on his place without 
 dissecting it to learn the cause. If it is stomach-worms, they 
 may be easily found in the small fourth stomach, the place 
 where the intestines begin. Stomach-worms are small, hair- 
 like worms, about three-fourths of an inch long, twisted in 
 the middle, from which they take their name, Strongylus 
 Con tortus. They may be present in sheep having apparent 
 good health ; they may even in small numbers distress the 
 
46 THE WINTER LAMB. 
 
 lambs ; they may be found in immense multitudes, blocking 
 the intestinal canal. . They seem to greatly disturb the 
 digestion and assunilation, and no lamb will thrive with these 
 pests within him. 
 
 The infection is nearly always from the grass or from 
 stagnant water fouled by sheep's excrements. The ewes 
 are apt to be slightly affected, the worms discharge immense 
 numbers of eggs, perhaps at all seasons, certainly in spring 
 and summer. The immature worms in some way cling to 
 the grass and are taken in by the lambs when grazing. In 
 some mysterious way nature aids the older and stronger 
 sheep to throw off most of these pests, while the smaller and 
 weaker lambs become affected very easily. The lesson is 
 that all small, grassy yards, where sheep love to lie and 
 where the grass is thick and tender, are unsafe, almost surely 
 fatal to the lambs. Unfortunately the short, sweet grasses, 
 such as Kentucky blue-grass and white clover, are the very 
 worst and most dangerous from the point of infection, as 
 the sheep bite them so close. Red clover, alfalfa, orchard 
 grass, bromus-inermis, timoth}-, oats and barley and rape, are 
 all bitten higher up, and there is much less risk of infection. 
 Also in soiling sheep there is hardly any danger if the racks 
 are not soiled by the sheep excrements. On Woodland Farm 
 there has been a notable decrease, almost a disappearance of 
 this pest, since alfalfa pasture has been the main reliance. 
 It is also a good plan to let the sheep shade in the barn, as 
 then their droppings are not soiling the grass about some 
 shady tree, where the grass will grow up rank and sweet 
 and be nibbled at by the unsuspecting lambs with fatal re 
 suits. Care should at all times be taken that the sheep should 
 not drink from stagnant pools or small, slow streams fouled 
 by the droppings. Troughs are much the safest watering 
 places, and they should be kept clean. 
 
 As to medication, it should be prompt upon the first sign 
 of infection. The old remedy of turpentine and milk is 
 
THE WINTER LAMB. 
 
 47 
 
 Dorset and Shrop Blood Mingled. 
 
 rarely effectual. It is 
 not worth administering. 
 C. C. Jones of Fillmore 
 Farms gives sometimes 
 an ounce of a coaltar 
 sheep dip (Milk oil, 
 though doubtless Zeno- 
 leum, Naptholeum, etc., 
 are sufficiently similar) 
 in four ounces of water 
 to a lamb weighing 60 
 pounds. This he thinks 
 the most efficient exter- 
 minator of stomach worms of anything that he has tried, 
 but that clean pasture makes all medicine unnecessary. The 
 writer introduced the gasoline treatment in America, and 
 it is yet considered the standard remedy ; whatever is given, 
 best administer through a small rubber tube. Let the sheep 
 stand in natural way with head only a little raised. For the 
 tobacco treatment, see page 77 . 
 
 Either benzine or gasoline may be used. The dose is two 
 teaspoonfuls to a 50-lb. lamb, mixed with four ounces of 
 either sweet milk or thin flaxseed tea (cold), well shaken 
 together. Give after fasting for 16 hours. Be careful not 
 to strangle by pouring down too fast or getting in windpipe. 
 Repeat 'the dose daily ^for three days. It has ho ill effects 
 on the health of well lambs, and is sure to remedy the droop- 
 ing ones if stomach worms are the cause of their illness. 
 Dose the old sheep as well. They will take a tablespoonful. 
 Better to use a 5c measuring glass (sold at druggists) rather 
 than try to measure in a spoon, which holds an uncertain 
 amount. 
 
 GRADE DORSET EWES. 
 
 While pure-bred Dorsets are extremely profitable to 
 those who will give them care, and while there must of course 
 be breeders of registered stock to supply the need of Dorset 
 rams, yet it must be remembered that the grade ewe is the 
 rent-payer, the money-maker, and tn common hands more 
 
48 THE WINTER LAMB. 
 
 profitable than the pure-bred ewe. Indeed, there are some 
 curious things about the grade ewe. If she is a Merino 
 grade, from large, roomy Merino ewes and blocky, vigorous 
 Dorset ram, she will prove a surer breeder, if possible, than 
 the pure-bred Dorset ewe. In truth, not many growers of 
 winter hothouse lambs but prefer Dorset grades from the 
 Merino foundation to any other ewe, the pure-bred ewe not 
 excepted. These ewes are again bred to pure-bred Dorset 
 rams, and the result is a very blocky, easily fattened lamb, 
 born at the right season and ripe for the right market. These 
 grade ewes are great milkers and hardier than pure-bred 
 ewes, and altogether more desirable for mutton-makers. 
 There will come a time when ranchmen will make a specialty 
 of producing ewes of this type, as there is already a demand 
 for them in all the early lamb-producing regions, and they 
 are hard to buy. These grade Dorset ewes will continue 
 profitable for at least ten years and often longer. 
 
 Another very profitable grade Dorset ewe is the Dorset- 
 Shropshire grade. This is a magnificent ewe, lambs early, 
 but not quite so regularly as the Dorset-Merino, is a better 
 mother than the Shropshire, with more milk. Ewes of this 
 cross are becoming quite common now. They are usually 
 white or li^ht brown in face and hornless. Sometimes the 
 three-quarter blood Dorset-Shropshires have horns. These 
 are better ewes than the first cross, having, indeed, many of 
 the best characteristics of the pure-bred Dorsets. 
 
 USING GRADE RAMS. 
 
 However profitable grade ewes may be, it is never safe 
 to use grade rams. They will revert in unaccountable ways 
 to remote ancestors, and there is simply no telling what the 
 product will be. 
 
 Of grade Dorsets John B. Peelle, a famous hothouse lamb 
 grower, says : 
 
 "The grade Dorset with me is not a question of senti- 
 
THE WINTER LAMB. 49 
 
 ment, but one of business. The questions I ask of a ewe 
 are: Can you produce lambs in November or December? 
 Can you produce one or more at a time? Can you provide 
 the lambs with an abundance of milk, so that they will be 
 i-eady for market in sixty or seventy days? It is only the 
 ewe that can answer to all these questions 'yes' that is at all 
 desirable as a mother of hothouse lambs." 
 
 John B. Peelle's Man Utilizing the Ewe's Spare Milk After Her 
 Lamb Has Gone to Market. 
 
 The first question is most important of all. The best and 
 only remunerative market for hothouse lambs is during the 
 first ten weeks of the year, so the lambs must be here before 
 the snow flies if we want large profits. The October lamb 
 is too early and will only sell as a lamb and not as a fancy 
 product, and the late January and February lambs are too 
 late in the season for the high prices. 
 
50 THE WINTER LAMB. 
 
 So far as I have been able to learn the Dorsets and their 
 grades are the only breed of sheep that will breed with any 
 reliability at the right time. The hot weather that causes 
 most sheep to miss the oestrual period does not seem to affect 
 the Dorsets. In fact, the mating often occurs during the 
 hottest of hot weather. Twenty-four lambs is the record of 
 one of our Dorset rams on one of the hottest of June days, 
 and this occurred in a flock of fifty ewes. 
 
 It is not claimed that no other variety of sheep will breed 
 in hot weather, but that the Dorsets will breed more readily 
 and uniformly than any other. If the lambs come scatter- 
 ing along all winter they are a constant care and worry, but 
 when they come in a shower, as ours usually do, it is a 
 pleasure to care for them. 
 
 In regard to the number of lambs produced, single lambs 
 from mature ewes are the exception. Triplets are common. 
 Thomas Shaw says : "The Dorsets will probably drop and 
 raise more lambs than any other breed." 
 
 As Milkers — The Dorset or grade always has an abund- 
 ance of milk. Some are such persistent milkers that it takes 
 sev^al weeks to dry them up, but this is a good thing for 
 pets and thieves (see cut preceding page). It is easy to teach 
 the lambs whose supply is short to come at the call. I mean 
 the twins, triplets, and those whose mothers are out of con- 
 dition, and then, while you hold the ewe, the lambs do the 
 rest. Often the best milking ewe can be made to raise an- 
 other lamb after her own goes to market. 
 
 Recapitulation — The virtues of the grade Dorset may be 
 summed up as follows : She has size and that counts when 
 she is put on the market as mutton. She has constitution 
 and vigor, and that means long life and lots of service. A 
 nine-year-old gummer raised the best part of lambs we had 
 this year. It is no burden to shell corn for her. She is 
 a good rustler. One season's experience showed us that the 
 Dorsets and Merinos have no business in the same barn. 
 
THE WINTER LAMB. 
 
 51 
 
 The Merinos simply had no show in the rush for feed. She 
 will produce her lambs at the proper time for them to reach 
 the market when prices are highest. She is a fluent milker, 
 the more milk the quicker the lamb goes to market. Our 
 best ewes, if perchance they have single lambs, will have 
 them ready for market in less than fifty days. 
 
 BUILDINGS. 
 
 One can do with a very common and cheap building or 
 he can use a good, warm, convenient building to good 
 advantage. The more expensive buildings are needed in 
 the cold, frozen North; in the South very slight protection 
 against cold is needed, but wet is to be guarded against, 
 A safe rule is never to allow the flock to suffer a wetting, 
 unless the wool is very short at the time. It is a very 
 depressing thing to a sheep to carry about a wet fleece, and 
 unfortunately not all or many sheep know enough to come 
 in out of the rain. The illustration of the barn at Wood- 
 land Farm (page 12) shows one type well adapted to a 
 Southern situation. The barn is 36 feet square, 18 feet 
 to the eaves, with a half-pitch roof and an open center. 
 
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 LVtMP e»«eP 
 
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 Plan of Bam at Fillmore Farms. 
 
52 
 
 THE WINTER LAMB. 
 
 The lower story is 8 feet in the clear and divided by- 
 means of racks into compartments as desired. It will be 
 seen that it is light and airy and cool in summer, and when 
 the doors are let down it is fairly warm in winter. This 
 barn cost to build less than $200, with a good shingle 
 roof, no floor but natural earth below and rough flooring 
 for the mow. It accommodates fairly well about 75 ewes 
 and their lambs. The hay is taken in from the end and 
 the open doorway is turned to the southeast, so that little 
 or no storm ever blows in. It could easily be closed, 
 however. 
 
 THE BARN AT FILMORE FARMS. 
 
 Fillmore Farms ( W, G. Appleby, Manager, Benning- 
 ton, \'t.), Mr. Colegate's place, has an ideal large barn for 
 cool climate. The ground plan shows quite clearly the 
 arrangement of the lower story, 45x100 feet. This barn 
 shuts up tight in cold weather, four ventilation shafts run 
 up the purlin posts and then to cupolas, taking off the foul 
 
THE WINTER LAMB. 
 
 53 
 
 air and not making drafts. The outer doors slide, and 
 there are slatted doors that also slide up out of the wa) ; 
 when it is warm the solid doors are back and the slattetl 
 ones in place. The root house is not a cellar, though dug 
 down the depth of the foundation, but is double boarded, 
 with paper between and two air spaces, and is frost proof. 
 It is convenient to store wool in, and in the feed room is a 
 good shearing floor. The passage is a handy place to pen 
 and catch sheep when sheafing. 
 
 The feed racks used on Fillmore Farms, the Tranquillity 
 
 f^cm 
 
 Diagram of Combination Feeder. 
 
 Farms and some other places are illustrated herewith. 
 There is probably nothing better for Dorsets, as the lambs • 
 cannot soil the hay nor are horns broken in this rack. Here 
 are the specifications : 
 
 Trough is 6 inches wide at bottom — 14 inches at top, on 
 slant. 
 
54 
 
 THE WINTER LAMB. 
 
 Trough is 7 inches high at front — 11 inches at back. 
 
 Slats 2 inches wide, i inch thick, rounded sHghtly at 
 corners. 
 
 Spaces between slats 3 inches. 
 
 Slanting board at bottom of rack i inch thick. 
 
 Slats are of hard wood ; rest of trough may be soft 
 wood or not, according to price, etc. 
 
 Front board of trough is beveled at top. 
 
 Frame 2x3 or 3x3. 
 
 Trough may be made any length to fit spaces, or in 8, 
 10 or 12 foot lengths, to be easily moved around, and back 
 to back they make partition with feed trough and rack on 
 each side ; or can be put out doors and make yard with 
 rack, etc. 
 
 Cheapest in end. Last forever. Xo waste hay. Feed 
 roots, grain or anything without loss. 
 
 Combination Feeder. 
 
THF WINTER LAMB. 
 
 55 
 
56 
 
 THE WINTHK LAMb. 
 
 The Ideal Low=Cost Sheep House. 
 
 For the following plan we are indebted to the Breeder's 
 Gazette, where it is illustrated in issue of April 10, 1901. 
 
 
 
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THE WINTER LAMB. 
 
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58 
 
 THE WINTER LAMB. 
 
 It comb'ies low cost with convenience and usefulness of 
 hign order. The building is 20 feet wide, as long as de- 
 sired, 16 feet high at the eaves, with a lower story. 8 feet 
 in the clear and an upper story with half-pitch roof and 
 15 feet in height at the peak. There are no obstructing 
 cross-ties and the hay carrier works on the track in the 
 peak without hindrance. The floor joists are put in length- 
 ways of the building and are of 2x8 or 2x10 while the 
 joist-bearers are 2x16, and the manner of spiking through 
 the joist-bearers into the ends of the floor joists 
 making the upper edges flush saves Cjuite a good deal of 
 head room. This is clearly illustrated in the cut; the floor 
 joists are spiked to the joist-bearers before it is let down 
 to place, then all is firmly spiked together. No floor is 
 used but the hard earth, which is better if rounded up a 
 little so that water will run away from all sides, aiid a gen- 
 erous projection of rafters helps the appearance and the 
 usefulness materially. There are no divisions to the house 
 except such as are made by the placing of racks or panels 
 across. Hay is thrown down at convenient places through 
 chutes reaching up to the rafters, and at the bottom a pen 
 of hurdles should restrain the sheep from getting on the 
 hay as it is thrown down. 
 
 HOW THE SAJH 
 0PEN3.AND 
 JHVT5 
 
 Device for Opening Sash- 
 Ideal Sheep House. 
 
 Putting in Floor Joists— Ideal Sheep House. 
 
THE WINTER LAMB. 
 
 59 
 
 At each side there is a continuous window three feet 
 high with sash and glass hinged at the bottom and opening 
 inwardly so as to allow a continuous stream of air to pass 
 over the sheep. These sash are fastened by means of a 
 jointed rod to a continuous rod running through the barn, 
 the familiar green-house sash fixtures, and by turning the 
 rod all the sash are opened at once, either a tiny crack or 
 wide to let the summer breezes through. While this feature 
 may be omitted and wooden windows opening at the bottom 
 and hinged at the top be substituted, yet I think the satis- 
 faction of having it right will in a short time pay for the 
 sash and fixtures, which may be had of any builder of 
 green-houses. 
 
 Doors permit the driving of teams clear through the 
 building to clean out the manure and the over-hang of the 
 roof protects the upper doorway through which hay is 
 taken. This building finished well, 20x60, should cost 
 about $300. 
 
 Dorsets for Crossing and on the Range. 
 
 While the Down ram on the Dorset ewe gets fine lambs, 
 yet the reverse cross is as good, Dorset sire on Down ewe. 
 The lambs of this cross grow very rapidly and fatten very 
 easily and are usually hornless with white or. gray faces. 
 A neighbor who used one of our Dorset rams on pure-bred 
 Shropshire ewes lambed in May, sold the lambs before 
 Christmas at 1 1 5 pounds average weight, from grass with 
 a trifle of grain at the latter end of their feeding. 
 
 On the range the Dorset is new yet, but wherever tried 
 the lambs, usually from grade Merino ewes, have been 
 more than satisfactory. In Colorado, L. E. Thompson, of 
 Las Animas, reports that his grade Dorset lambs are first 
 to become fat and go to market. They are in demand 
 among Colorado lamb feeders wherever they have become 
 
6o THE WINTER LAMB. 
 
 known. The Range Valley Cattle Co., of Woodside, Utah, 
 has this season a lot of grade Dorset lambs, in comparison 
 with lambs from Shropshire and Rambouillet sires. The 
 Dorsets are much the most blocky, smooth and heaviest, the 
 best sellers. There is need, however, of care in taking 
 Dorset rams to the ranges ; they ought to be young and they 
 
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 Prize Winners at the Royal. Dorset-Shropsiiire Cross Brads. 
 
 ought to le sent to the "buck herd" at least a month before 
 needed to get accustomed to range life. It would even be 
 better if they were grown on the range. There is no sheep 
 such a rustler as the Dorset, and this makes him pre- 
 eminently suited to range conditions. The ranch that is 
 marketing feeders or fat lambs cannot afford to overlook 
 the Dorset, 
 
 There is another use for the Dorset blood on the range to 
 infuse good milking properties into Merino> flocks. Even 
 a small percent of Dorset blood in the ewe makes her a 
 good mother and profuse milker, and her lamb therefore a 
 good one. It is unfortunately true that many flocks of 
 Merinos are poor milkers, some so markedlv so as to be 
 quite unprofitable ; there an infusion of Dorset blood 
 
THE WINTER LAMB. 
 
 6i 
 
 will work a revolution, for while it will not cut down the 
 pounds of scoured wool it will add to the size, hardiness 
 and mutton qualities of the flock. The grade Dorset ewe 
 has proved herself in Texas, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, 
 California, Washington and Oregon to be the best of all 
 rustlers and mothers, producing always the strongest and 
 largest lambs. 
 
 AS THE. E.WE. LAMBS 
 
 it is well to have some 
 close pens for use m 
 cold weather ; these 
 may be made of 
 matched lumber 6 or 
 8 feet square, and a 
 very little ventilation 
 will suffice. By put- 
 ting a ewe in here and 
 hanging up a lantern 
 above her, her lamb 
 will not chill in the 
 coldest night. Some- 
 times one can tell 
 when a ewe is about to lamb and separate her from the 
 flock. This is not always practicable, however, for many 
 ewes will apparently be all ready for weeks and others 
 that have made little show will lamb before them. Let 
 them alone at lambing time, yet keep near by and watch 
 them. If they have not been frightened by dogs or crowded 
 through gates they may not have wrong presentations and 
 the lambing gives no trouble, especially is the danger of 
 trouble lessened if the ewes are strong but not too fat and 
 have plenty of out-door exercise. Yet now and 
 then a lamb will be presented wrong and your help will be 
 
 The Ewe that Won Over All Breeds at Omaha. 
 
62 THE WINTER LAMB. 
 
 needed. The right presentation is head first, front feet 
 on each side. Hind feet first can be taken with no harm 
 to lamb or ewe. Other presentations must be straightened 
 out. Don't wait too long to do this ; be slow, careful, think 
 what you are doing, use plenty of lard on your hand, and 
 you may save a valuable ewe and her lamb, too. 
 
 A CHILLED LAMB 
 
 will be found now and then. If it is too stiff to suck 
 take it at once to a large bucket of hot water, not warm 
 water, but hot as you can bear your hand in. Immerse 
 him all but his nose. Put in more hot water after he has 
 cooled it off. I have revived them after they were appar- 
 ently dead. Dry thoroughly, perhaps give a wee drop of 
 whisky, then the mother's milk. Don't ever give anything 
 but the mother/s milk if you can avoid it. If you must 
 give cow's milk, dilute it half with warm water and add a 
 tiny bit of sugar. A lamb that can't have a good lot of 
 some ewe's first milk is not apt to live. 
 
 Another handy thing for lambs not so badly chilled is 
 a half barrel with a lantern or jug of hot water in it and 
 a blanket thrown across it. When the ewe has twins you 
 can keep one warm while she is licking off its mate. Once 
 dry and full of milk there is not much danger of chilling 
 in the most severe weather. 
 
 In lambing a lot of ewes in cold weather one loses very 
 few lambs if he will go to the fold at lo in the evening 
 and again at 4 in the morning. If the .lambs are sired by 
 a vigorous ram, and the ewes treated right, not one lamb in 
 ten will need your attention or help. First Iambs are often 
 more trouble. But remember, AL\\'AYS milk out the ewe 
 after the lamb has filled up, and do this not once but daily 
 for a week if she has surplus milk. Stagnant milk in a 
 gorged udder is surely fatal to the lamb. And Dorset ewes, 
 
THF, WINTER LAMB. 63 
 
 if rigVitlv fed, are great milkers. It is more trouble at 
 first But when the lamb does take it, what a pleasure to 
 see nim swell and grow ! 
 
 If you have a large number of ewes to lamb in winter 
 you should provide a lot of pens, about 4 or 6 feet 
 square. These are best made of little panels 3 feet high 
 and 4 feet long, hinge two of them together at one end 
 and then they shut up and lay away until needed, when 
 they are opened out and hooked to the corner of the barn, 
 enclosing a space 4 or 6 feet square. Another pen goes 
 
 Panels Opened B To Make Pen. 
 
 I_ 
 
 alongside, and so on -as there is need. Ewes with twin 
 lambs ought always to have one of these pens to keep her 
 family together until they know her. 
 
 TRANSFERRING LAMBS. 
 
 Supposing you have a ewe that loses her young lamb, 
 you should at once remove its skin, taking it off as near 
 whole as you can, rub it dry on the flesh side and sprinkle 
 it with salt, take a twin lamb that needs more milk and 
 slip it into this skin, put the ewe and odd lamb in a pen 
 together, and the chances are mighty good that she will 
 adopr the stranger with joy. After a few days the skin 
 may be removed, though it is well to take it off a piece at 
 a time. 
 
 If the ewe has a large lamb to die this plan may not 
 work, but to put her in a pen and confine her head between 
 stanchions, which may be two small round stakes driven 
 into the earth and confined at the top with a cord, will be 
 the surest and easiest plan. Turn the lamb with her; she 
 cannot refuse to let it suck. After a time, when her milk 
 
64 
 
 THE WINTER LAMB. 
 
 has given it a new odor, she will own it. This takes from 
 two days to a week. 
 
 ALWAYS separate the ewes with lambs from the ewes 
 yet to lamb. You can't feed the same ration to each lot 
 with success. 
 
 Woodland Dorsels on Alfalfa. 
 
 THE. WINTHF. LAMB. 
 
 By H. P. Miller. 
 
 About ten years ago I iirst learned that a few men in 
 New York were raising what were called "hot-house" 
 lambs, which they sold at what seemed to me fabulous 
 prices. They were said to get eight to ten dollars each for 
 Iambs as many weeks old when hog-dressed and sent to 
 New York City. I thought the demand only a passing one 
 
THE WINTER LAMB. 65 
 
 and that the supply would soon exceed it, so was slow to 
 engage in it. There were other reasons for my delay. 
 Dressing them seemed to demand the services of' an 
 expert. I could dress a sheep for our own use, but I was 
 not an expert butcher. Then the distance from Central 
 Ohio to New York City seemed too great to safely send 
 dressed meat. Again I did not see how I could find a 
 market for them. I did not realize that they were a regular 
 product upon the provision market and could be sold 
 through commission merchants. But the prices that were 
 obtained year after year by those engaged in growing this 
 product incited me to read everything I could find about the 
 business. I found that the market was increasing, that I 
 was only a few hours from New York, that some commis- 
 sion merchants were as honorable as men in other business. 
 I finally had the whole theory but did not have the lambs. 
 We had from my earliest recollection been growing Merinos 
 of the Delaine type, having the lambs born in March and 
 April. We iet a flock of ewes run over one fall without 
 breeding, and turned the ram with them the following 
 Spring. We found they conceived as well in May as in 
 October. Bear in mind our ewes at that time were all 
 pure Merinos of the Delaine type. A further surprise, and 
 one quite as agreeable, was that the lambs born in the fall 
 grew more rapidly and when sent to market at three to 
 four months old brought more than lambs of the same 
 breeding born six to eight months earlier. Still we did not 
 get the prices we had read about. We used a mutton sire 
 of a Down breed, but our lambs were not prime. The 
 lambs had too much wool before they had size or were fat 
 enough. The ewes were not good enough sucklers to make 
 the lambs choice. It seemed reasonable that the pure or 
 grade mutton breeds would be more profitable for this busi- 
 ness. We provided ourselves with small flocks of three 
 
66 THE WINTER LAMB. 
 
 of the leading mutton breeds, but February, with an occa- 
 sional lamb in January, was as early as we could get lambs 
 from them. That was not early enough for best prices. 
 
 One year I tried twenty-five young ]\Ierino-Southdown 
 ewes, putting them with an equal number of pure Merinos, 
 and turned ram with them in June. The first lamb from 
 the cross-bred ewes was dropped in March, after most of 
 the lambs from the Merinos were marketed. 
 
 We had before this learned the merits of the Dorset 
 and had secured a ram. The half-blood lambs pleased us 
 in appearance and in profits. The next step was to get some 
 half-blood ewes. We have them, use them and are satisfied. 
 The Merino-Dorset ewe is the right one for growing winter 
 lambs. 
 
 May is a favorite month with me for breeding. I would 
 prefer to breed a month or six weeks later, but the ewes or 
 ra-m, or both, are not so favorable to it. I would prefer 
 not to have the lambs born until the ewes go to their winter 
 quarters. The lambs then entirely escape the stomach 
 worms and they can be gotten to eating grain younger. The 
 only special treatment I have found necessary to induce the 
 ewes to breed is such care as will insure improvement in 
 condition. They do not need to be fat, but should be 
 GETTING fat. Indeed, I have found it advisable to put 
 the ewes on a very light, dry ration as their lambs are 
 slaughtered so as to reduce their condition. Then remove 
 their fleeces with the first settled warm weather in April and 
 turn upon good pasture. 
 
 I endorse the recommendation given on page 8 in refer- 
 ence to breeding, but it is not always practical to remove 
 the ram every morning and return him to the flock in the 
 evening. You can change rams once a week, or if rams 
 are cheaper than your own time, place two.with the flock at 
 once. Jealousy will incite them to watch the flock closely. 
 
THE WINTER LAMB. 67 
 
 This, of course, is hard on the rams, and recommended only 
 as an expedient. At this point re-read the chapter on 
 "Summer Care of Pregnant Ewes." As the lambs appear 
 remove them with their mothers from the main flock. With 
 the Dorset and grade Dorset ewes, if they should have but 
 a single lamb their udders will need to be watched for 
 the first week and surplus milk removed. There will nearly 
 always be some lambs in the flock that will' need it and will 
 quickly learn to take it as shown on page 49. As soon as 
 the lambs are taking all of their mother's milk feed the 
 ewes to produce all the milk they will take. The ewes need 
 a milk cow's ration. So long as the grass remains good, 
 supplement it with corn, oats or barley and wheat bran; or 
 substitute for the latter the gluten feed in small quantity. 
 It is worth about twice what wheat bran is to feed in con- 
 nection with corn and should be mixed with com in pro- 
 portion of one to two. 
 
 The lambs will begin to eat at about three weeks of age, 
 some of them younger. There is nothing' they like better 
 than cracked corn and wheat bran. We occasionally add to 
 this combination oats, barley or gluten meal or feed. A 
 variety induces them to eat more, and the more the better 
 at this early age. I have never known one to over eat. We 
 formerly used a self-feeder — that is, a trough so devised 
 that the feed becomes accessible as fast as eaten, but have 
 discarded it as the feed is liable to become foul. We find 
 the lambs do better if the feed is given them fresh in a 
 clean trough three times a day. Nice clover hay is almost 
 indispensable for both ewes and lambs. Alfalfa or soy bean 
 hay may be substituted. The lambs must not be compelled 
 to eat their hay close. It must be changed three or four 
 times a day. The little lambs as well as their mothers need 
 to have both salt and water accessible. We have fed ensi- 
 lage three winters with entire satisfaction. Indeed, we 
 would not think of trying to raise winter lambs without it. 
 
68 THE WINTER LAMB. 
 
 It is altogether the cheapest feed we can prepare, is rehshed 
 perfectly by the sheep and little lambs as well, and it makes 
 fat lambs. We feed it twice a day with a little gluten meal 
 sprinkled over it. With a light feed of hay once a day this 
 constitutes the entire ration of the ewes after they go to 
 winter quarters. Neither the ewes nor the lambs leave the 
 barn from the time they enter it until after the lambs are 
 slaughtered. Some other nitrogenous feed might be sub- 
 stituted for the gluten meal. The determining consideration 
 is the cost. The term "hot-house" formerly applied to these 
 early lambs led many people to think they must have an 
 artificially heated house. This is not necessary. They need 
 a stable into which the wind cannot blow, one with con- 
 siderable glass on the south and west sides. But the stable 
 does not want to be closed all the time, only, indeed, upon 
 very cold days. Pure air is essential. If the air is ever 
 noticeably foul on entering the stable from the outside get 
 some pure air into it at once. To prevent the escape of 
 ammonia from the accumulating manure there is nothing 
 else as effective as acidulated phosphate rock, just such as 
 is sold for fertilizer. The free sulphuric acid in it com- 
 bines with the ammonia in a somewhat stable combination, 
 vet one that is available as plant food, so that the fertilizer 
 is not lost. Bedding should be used in sufficient quantity 
 only to keep the stable clean. Any excess encourages heat- 
 ing. If possible have the lambs' private apartment where 
 the>' are fed hay and grain so situated that the direct rays 
 of the midday sun fall into it. This should be shut off 
 from the old sheep i)y a creep. Alake this of slats placed 
 perpendicularly 8 to lo inches apart. Let nothing disturb 
 the lambs or their mothers. The lambs should do nothing 
 but eat and sleep, not e\en play. During the early part of 
 the season forty-five pounds live weight is large enough. 
 But weight is not the only consideration. They must be 
 
THE WINTER LAMB. 
 
 69 
 
 fat. There is a very limited call for them for Christmas 
 dinner, but the general demand opens after the people 
 have recovered from the poultry glut of the holidays. The 
 demand for them continues strong until settled warm 
 weather. 
 
 Arrangements should be made with some reliable com- 
 mission firm unless fortunate enough to get a good private 
 customer. The commission charged is 5 per cent. They 
 
 A Pen of Royal Winners.— (Courtesy Farmers' Advocate.) 
 
 must be shipped to arrive at the commission store as early 
 as Friday morning. We formerly shipped by express at 
 the rate of $1.50 per hundred, but the past year they went 
 through in equally good condition by refrigerator freight 
 at just half the charge. 
 
 The preparation for market requires some skill, yet only 
 such as almost anyone can develop after carefully studying 
 
^O THE WINTER LAMB. 
 
 directions. We have greatly simplified our method of 
 preparation and the lambs apparently sell as well. 
 
 It is very important to have them thoroughly bled out. 
 To secure this we have found it advantageous to suspend 
 the lamb by the hind feet in killing. Suspend a short 
 single-tree about six feet from the ground. Loop a small 
 rope or strong twine about each hind leg and attach to the 
 hooks of the single-tree. With a shirp-pointed knife sever 
 the artery and vein in the neck close above the head. Be 
 sure to sever the artery. Bright red blood is the assurance. 
 The venous blood is dark. Severing the head with a broad- 
 ax would perhaps cause, less suffering and insure a thor- 
 ough bleeding. I remove the head with a knife as soon as 
 the lamb quits struggling. Clip the wool from the brisket, 
 and strip four or five inches wide upward to the udder or 
 scrotum, also from between the hind legs as in taggmg 
 sheep. Now open the lamb from the tail to the brisket. 
 Slit the skin up the inside of the hindquarters about four 
 inches and loosen the skin from the underl}ing muscles for 
 two inches on either side of the openings in the skin for 
 the attachment of the caul fat. This should be removed 
 from the stomachs before they are detached, and in very 
 cold weather placed in warm water until ready to be used. 
 Next remove the stomach and intestines. In the early 
 part of the season the liver, heart and lungs are not 
 removed, but when the weather gets warm they must be. 
 Carefully spread the caul fat over all the exposed flesh. 
 Good toothpicks should be provided for attaching it and 
 holding in place. Make small slits in it over the kidneys 
 and pull them through. This part of the work is the one 
 that requires skill to make the carcass look attractive. Now 
 hang it in a cool place for 12 to 24 hours. In extremely 
 cold weather 12 hours will be enough, but better make 24 
 the rule. Then neatly sew a square yard of clean muslin 
 
THE WINTER LAMB. -j ] 
 
 about each lamb so as to cover all exposed surface. We 
 formerly wrapped each one in burlap and attached to a 
 stretcher, but now place three in a light crate and tack the 
 burlap over the top. We line the crate with heavy paper. 
 Prepare them as shortly before shipjiing as possible. In 
 warm weather ice may be put between the lambs, not in 
 them. Send them as they are ready, three or six at a time. 
 The market varies greatly, depending upon weather and 
 the number arriving. It is useless to try to get them all in 
 on a high market. Aim to slaughter regularly each week 
 if you have lambs in condition, and keep your commission 
 tirm informed as to how many you will probably send and 
 when. 
 
 Attention to details is the secret of success. 
 
 A SYSTEM OF MANAGEMENT THAT INSURES A HEALTHY 
 
 FLOCK 
 
 Two men in America fought stomach worms all through 
 the disastrous years of the 90s, when little was known to 
 help; they found light, they conquered the pests in a meas- 
 ure, and kept on keeping sheep and studying flock manage- 
 ment. Finally each made a journey to England and studied 
 the conditions there with a view to solving the problem for 
 America. There they found hurdling the best answer to 
 the question. Independently of each other they reached the 
 same conclusions as to the practical solution of the question 
 in America. Dr. H. B. Arbuckle of West Virginia and the 
 writer were the two men. But they wish to give all due 
 credit to the Department of Zoology of the Bureau of Ani- 
 mal Industry at Washington for at least giving accurate de- 
 tails of the history of the Haemonchus contortus (for- 
 merely called Strongylus contortus) for without the details 
 that we now have no certain plan could have been formu- 
 lated. 
 
72 THE WINTER LAAfB. 
 
 The basis of this plan is the fact that lambs are born 
 free from parasitic infection ; they are healthy. It is only 
 necessary to keep them healthy by preventing infection. 
 Their mothers carry over in their bodies the germs that will 
 infect them in the form of mature stomach worms, which 
 when ripe pass away in the droppings and thus infect 
 the pasture. \A'hen the temperature is below 40 degrees the 
 eggs will not hatch. When it is above that they will hatch 
 out in a few hours or in a week or so, depending upon how 
 warm it is. Freezing or drying soon kills the unhatched 
 eggs. So it is seen that ewes will not pollute a field in 
 winter, their droppings are sure to be soon frozen, at least 
 in the region where sheep are mostly kept. But if the tiny 
 worm hatches from the egg it feeds for a time upon the 
 material of the manure and continues to grow till it is 
 about one-thirtieth of an inch long. Then it creeps up on 
 a blade of grass and waits to be swallowed by some lamb, 
 after that it finishes its growth within the fourth stomach 
 of the lamb, and, incidentally, finishes the lamb as well. 
 
 Now how to manage a flock with safety and profit on 
 natural grass. To begin with the ewe flock should be treat- 
 ed for stomach worms. This is best done in the fall, when 
 they come from pasture. It may be again done in the spring 
 before their lambs come. Remedies for treatment will be 
 found under the heading "Diseases of Sheep."' The writer 
 is of the opinion that use of some of the coal tar dips, in 
 small doses, much diluted, will eventually be recognized as 
 most efficient. This treatment alone h.as double' 1 the weight 
 of lambs in some experiments in Kentucky. Next, the flock 
 should at the approach of spring weather be confined to the 
 yard and shed. There are two reasons for this ; the one that 
 it is better for the grass, and thus in the long run better far 
 the flock, and the other that there is no contamination of land 
 r';cr which the lambs will later feed. If it were possible 
 
THE WINTER LAMB. 73 
 
 to wholly eradicate the worms from the ewes by treatment 
 this care would not be needed, but unfortunately it seems 
 almost impossible with our present knowledge to kill all of 
 the worms by any medication. While confined to the yard 
 the lambs will probably be born. It is essential that the 
 flock be well fed at this time so that the ewes will be full 
 of milk. If desired there may be provided a run to a rye 
 field, or to some grass pasture that will not be afterwards 
 used that summer, to help stimulate the milk flow. By 
 May 15 probably the grass will be so forward that the flock 
 may be turned out for good. Now begins the new manage- 
 ment. Instead of turning the flock to a large pasture to 
 roam over it at will turn them on a very small part of it. 
 How best to manage this will depend upon circumstances. 
 The writer thinks that in our land of small supply of labor 
 and much hurry and turmoil during the summer season it 
 is safest to divide the pastures by permanent wire fences. 
 These are not costly and need not be very high. We will, 
 then, turn the whole flock together into the first division ; 
 none shall be scattered about. Of course there may be two 
 flocks, one with lambs and a dry flock, but the dry flock 
 had better be put apart somewhere or else put with the 
 ewes. It will not do to let anything interfere with the regu- 
 lar rotation of these pastures. Now once in this pasture 
 the flock will be allowed to eat it down close to the ground. 
 That win not hurt the grass, for all will go in a short time 
 and the grass may spring up again. This is how pastures 
 are often managed in England by hurdles. 
 
 Dr. Ransom says that sheep may probably be safely left 
 on May pasture for two weeks. We will shorten this time 
 to ten days, to make sure. That is, the germs falling to 
 the earth could not before ten days find their way back into 
 anv sheep or lamb, and we are going to rnove the flock on 
 before they are able to get in. 
 
74 THE WINTER LAMB. 
 
 Now in the division between this pasture and the next 
 we will place creeps so fixed that the lambs can readily pass 
 through to the next enclosure. This they will early learn 
 to do, and so they will be eating the fresher parts of the 
 herbage in advance of the ewes. ^ 
 
 In ten days then the whole flock will go forward one 
 pasture, the lambs yet having access to the fresher feeding 
 on ahead. Doctor Ransom says we will need for this sure 
 treatment the following divisions : 
 
 For May, 2 pastures. 
 
 For June, 4 pastures. 
 
 For July, 4 pastures. 
 
 For August, 4 pastures. 
 
 For September, 3 pastures. 
 
 For October, 2 pastures. 
 
 That makes nineteen enclosures in all and insures that 
 the flock shall be kept in absolute freedom from infections 
 throughout the year. 
 
 However, one will not absolutely need so many enclos- 
 ures as that. By June many of the lambs will be ripe, by 
 July many of the others, and even when the lambs are born 
 late, when managed in this way they should all be ripe as 
 _ peaches by the middle of August. After the lambs are gone 
 the ewes can be managed a little less carefully, especially if 
 they are in strong condition, though there is a comfort in 
 knowing that every stomach worm germ that falls to the 
 earth must die from lack of a host. 
 
 To make this thing doubly successful put flat bottomed 
 troughs in the pastures ahead, where the lambs run, and 
 put feed in them ; any sort of grain, corn, oats, barley, bran, 
 coarse-ground or broken cake or oil meal. Thus the lambs 
 will grow like weeds and pay many times over for their 
 grain. Thus more sheep may be carried on the same ground 
 than would be possible under ordinary treatment. There 
 
THE WINTER LAMB. 75 
 
 is scarcely any limit to the number of sheep that can be 
 safely kept on an eastern farm under this system of manage- 
 ment. The limit is, of course, the size of the farm and the 
 amount of grass. Even this can be greatly helped by soil- 
 ing. Racks may with great profit be placed in the fields 
 and the ewes fed with green crops, fresh mown oats, peas, 
 clover or alfalfa. Thus twice as many ewes may be kept as 
 the grass alone will support. The writer would suggest 
 that about 400 ewes would keep one man nicely busy in 
 caring for them and their lambs, hauling water to them, 
 soiling somewhat, and feeding the lambs. He would not 
 hesitate to undertake the management of 400 ewes on one 
 farm in any part of the corn belt, the regions most infested 
 with stomach worms. There is no business more sure of 
 profit than this. Lambs sell remarkably well and the pros- 
 pect is that as the western ranges are diminished that they 
 will sell better for the ravages of the stomach worm deter 
 eastern farmers from going into the business. The two 
 serious obstacles to be overcome are : first, the question of 
 water and next, the question of shade. Water is readily 
 hauled in mounted tanks as it is usually in England. Shade 
 is not absolutely essential. The writer has seen very 
 fat sheep in the San Joaquin valley of California confined 
 to the alfalfa meadows and with no shade whatever. Prob- 
 ably a system of canvas sheds, long and narrow, would not 
 be very expensive nor too troublesome for one man to 
 move and set up unaided. Any sort of grass will serve. 
 Kentucky blue grass is to be preferred, perhaps brome 
 grass (Bromus inermis) is better, clovers may be utilized 
 and oats sown to be grazed off, with peas. 
 
 The writer does not hesitate to say that he looks for- 
 ward to seeing many sheep farms established in the corn 
 belt each carrying from 200 to 500 ewes and managed 
 nearly under this system. He feels confident that no other 
 
76 THE WINTER LAMB. 
 
 branch of the live stock industry holds forth better pros- 
 pects. 
 
 It should be borne in mind that the earlier the lambs are 
 born the sooner they will be gone to market, and thus the 
 fewer pastures will be needed. Also the market is usually 
 best in June and July, after the flood of fed lambs has passed 
 and before the new crop from the ranges has started to 
 come. 
 
 Besides the stomach worm there is the worm that makes 
 the nodular disease of the intestines. Any observant man 
 who has dissected a mature sheep has often noticed on the 
 small intestines little nodules or "knots." These are really 
 small tumors, filled with a greenish, cheesy substance. They 
 do not do much harm when the}' are few in number but the 
 trouble is a cumulative one and the numbers of the nodules 
 increase until after a time digestion and absorption are much 
 interfered with. Sometimes parts of the intestines become 
 calcified, that is, so impregnated with lime salts that they 
 are almost like stone. Death ensues in a longer or shorter 
 time from the nodular disease. It does not work quickly 
 as does the disease caused by the stomach worm. The worm 
 causing these tumors is called cesophagostoma columbi- 
 anum. 
 
 This nodular disease is a hard one to cure, if indeed it 
 is possible to cure it at all after it is established. Pre- 
 vention is about all that we can do. Dr. W. H. Dalrvmple 
 of the Louisiana Experiment Station has shown, however, 
 that it is readily communicable from affected ewes to their 
 lambs through the medium of the pasture. He has also 
 demonstrated that where diseased ewes are kept confined to 
 the barn and their lambs allowed to run on clean pasture 
 not contaminated by the presence of any old sheep, the lambs 
 remain healthy and thus a new healthful stock can be had 
 even from a diseased flock. None of these diseases origi- 
 
THE WINTER LAMB. JJ 
 
 nates spontaneously. There are no other known hosts of 
 these diseases than sheep, goats and perhaps deer, so it is 
 merely a question of starting with the lambs, born free of 
 all parasites, and keeping them in health by putting them on 
 fresh and uninfected pasture. 
 
 Since the third edition issued we have learned of a new 
 agent for keeping down stomach worms, tobacco. Tobacco 
 feeding seems very helpful indeed, and if sheep and lambs 
 are fed regularly all the cheap, waste tobacco they will eat 
 the beneficial results are remarkable. Tobacco will not pre- 
 vent tape worms, it will often seem to eradicate stomach 
 worms. Either "trash" or cheap leaves, dust or stems 
 from cigar factories may be fed. To get results feed as 
 much as possible at all times. To encourage the sheep to 
 eat a lot dip the tobacco in weak brine, just salty water, and 
 place in a box of convenient access. Give no other salt. 
 Do not use strong brine because then the sheep could not 
 eat tobacco enough without getting too much salt. If dust 
 is used mix 1 part by weight of salt with, say, 10 parts of 
 dust. Do this, and yet relax no vigilance in management 
 and the flock will thrive. Dorsets have proved themselves 
 about the most resistant of any mutton sheep in America. 
 They have outlived many breeds tested alongside of them. 
 And at the International Exposition of 1909 really the finest 
 cross-bred lambs shown were Dorset grades from Merino 
 mothers, shown by the University of Wyoming. 
 
 In this little manual only the most essential things have 
 been sought to be presented. The flock owner who wishes 
 to know more of detail of management is advised to secure 
 the new and complete book by Joseph E.Wing,called "Sheep 
 Farming in America." It is published by the Sanders Pub- 
 lishing Co., 358 Dearborn St., Chicago, and the price is 
 $1.00. This book is very fully packed with practical in- 
 
78 THE WINTER LAMB. 
 
 formation and results of experience, not only with Dorsets 
 but with other breeds and crossbred sheep. 
 
 The Continental Dorset Club publishes the Hock register 
 for pure-bred Dorset Horn Sheep in America. Information 
 concerning registration, or lists of breeders in America may 
 be had of the secretary, Joseph E. Wing, Woodland Farm, 
 Mechanicsburg, Ohio. 
 
 FINIS