\ier 37^. : C:^ S2H VET SF 375 .5 C2 S84 LIBRARY NEW YORK STATE COLLEGE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE ITHACA, NY. Dominion of Canada Department of Agriculture Branch of the Live Stock Commissioner SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN CANADA BY J.B. Spencer, B.S.A. Cornell University Library SF 375.5.C2S84 Sheep husbandry in Canada / 3 1924 001 690 241 DOMINION OF CANADA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE BRANCH OF THE LIVE STOCK COMMISSIONER EIEEP HUSBANDKT IN O^N^D^ BY J. B. SPENCER, B.S.A. BXJLLETi:Nr No. 12 Published by direction of the Hon. SYDNEY A. FISHER, Minister of Agriculture, Ottawa, Ont. MI^Y, 1908 2514—1 375 .5 S"^^ N.Y.S. COLLEGE OF NOV 2 1979 ^ /v^yS ^5^27^ Ottawa, May 1, 1908. To the Honourable, The Minister of Agriculture. Sir, — I have the honour to present the accompanying treatise, prepared by Mr. J. B. Spencer, B.S.A., of this Branch, with the object of encouraging a revival of the sheep industry, which, for some time back, has not been progressing as rapidly as might be wished, especially in view of the fact that many districts in Canada are eminently suitable for the profitable pursuit of this branch of animal husbandry. It will also be most useful as a means of supplying information regarding the breeding and care of sheep, a subject on which enquiries are being constantly received from all parts of the Dominion. I herewith transmit the "copy with a recommendation that it be published and printed for distribution as Bulletin No. 12 entitled ' Sheep Husbandry in Canada.' I have the honour to be, sir. Tour obedient servant, J. G. ETJTHERFORD, Live, Stoch Gommissioner. 2514— IJ Cornell University Library The original of tiiis 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/cu31924001690241 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS For valuable assistance rendered the Live Stock Branch toward the preparation of this bulletin grateful acknowledgments are due to the following authorities: W. A. Hamilton, Lethbridge, Alberta; J. A. McCaig, Edmonton, Alberta; John McQueen, Brandon, Manitoba; A. W. Smith, Maple Lodge, Ontario; the several provincial Departments of Agriculture; sheep buyers, and abattoir companies; wool dealers and woollen manufacturers, besides a large number of sheep raisers throughout the Dominion. Grateful acknowledgments are also due the ' Farmers' Advocate,' the ' Scottish Farmer ' and the ' American Sheep Breeder ' for the use of photographs of certain breeds illustrated in this bulletin. CONTENTS Page Acknowledgments 5 Introduction 13 The Mutton "Sheep 15 Viewed from market standpoint 15 The f eedeK's side 16 Scale of points for mutton sheep 16 Points of the sheep IS Leading Breeds op Sheep 19 The Leicester 19 The Cotswold 21 The Lincohi 22 The Oxford Down 23 The Hampshire Down , 24 The Shropshire 25 The Southdown 2Y The Sufiolk 2Y The Dorset 28 The Cheviot 29 The Merino 30 Establishing a Flock of Commercial Sheep 33 Selecting a ram. 34 The size of the flock 34 Time to purchase ewes 34 Mating 35 Wintering' . 35 Lambing time 35 Shearing and dipping 36 The flock at pasture 36 Weaning 36 Precautions in Eape feeding 36 Gulling out 37 Types of Mutton Sheep 38 Mutton Production in Great Britain 41 In the South of England 42 Mutton m.aking in Scotland 42 Flocks renewed each season 43, 7 8 Page Fattening Sheep in Canada 45 Winter fattening 45 Eeed to a finish .... 46 Spring market good • 47 Fattening on screenings 47 From the Block to the Table 49 The butcher's animal 49 Preparation for killing. ... . . 50 Avoiding the woolly flavour. ... . . 50 Skinning and dressing " 50 Cooling and cutting 51 Keeping the meat 52 Maturing and curing . 53 Corning mutton 53 Spiced mutton hams 53 Handling Sheep 55 Dipping 56 The Great Neglect 58 Comparison on the block 59 Methods of castration .■ 59 The tails 60 Feeds and Feeding 61 Clover . 61 Alfalfa 61 Vetches . . . . 63 Eape 63 Cabbage 64 Turnips 64 Mangels 65 Com 65 Com Silage . 66 Peas 66 Oil Cake 67 Oats 67 Sheep Barns 69 The plan described. 69 The construction 69 Doors and windows 71 Construction of roof 72 Ventilation 73 An inexpenive shed 74 Sheep as Weed Dbstrotees 76 Sheep improve the grade of wheat 76 Blue Weed and Wild Mustard 77 Weeds increase as sheep decrease 77 Pace Sheep as Weed Desteoyers — Ooniinued. Young weeds relished. 78 Sheep help to clean the corn field Y8 Wild Mustard good sheep feed 79 Sow Thistle overconie by sheep 79 Eagwort — the source of Pietou Cattle Disease 79 Animal Enemies op the Sheep • 81 The pestiferous dog 81 Methods of protection 82 Predatory animals 83 Poisoning ... 83 Precautionary measures 84 The Statutes in Western Provinces respecting exposing poison 84 Timber wolves, bears and panthers , 85 The Industry in the Different Provustoes 86 Prince Edward Island 86 Nova Scotia ... 86 .New Brunswick 88 Quebec 88 Ontario 90 Early importations. 91 Pure-bred flocks . 92 Commercial mutton flocks 92 Need of a revival 94 Manitoba .. 94 Great need for sheep 95 Saskatchewan 96 Winter feed 97 Eanching 98 Alberta 98 Farm flocks 98 Ranching 99 The lambing season : 100 Shearing 100 The outlook • 101 Difficulties . . 101 British Columbia 102 Importation by private individuals 102 Importation of mutton . . . 104 The industry under varying conditions 104 The lower mainland 104 Feeding for market. . . , 105 Ranching 105 Pure-bred flocks 105 Wool 106 10 Page British Columbia. — Continued. ■ififi Predatory animals Diseases Ascociations • • The outlook 10^ Diseases op Sheep ^^' Scab lor Toot rot 10^ Ticks and lice ^^^ Stomach worms ^ The grub worm ■'■■'•" Tapeworm ^^^ Gid ; Ill Acute indigestion H'^ Spasmodic colic H" Constipation or stretches US Inflammation of the bowels US' DiarrhoBa 113 "Wool balls lis Derangement of the urinary organs 114: Abortion 11* Eversion of the womb 11& Sore teats 115 Caked udder 11& Inflammation of the udder (5r garget 115 Abscesses 11® Goitre 11® Catarrh 116 Soreness of the eyes 11 ' The Canadian Wool Industry 118 The annual crop 118 The export trade . . . . _ 119 Domestic consumption 120 Defects of Canadian wool 120 Lack of uniformity 120 Chaff, burrs, &c 121 Cotted wool 121 Second growth 122 Tying with binder twine 122 Eange wools 122 Pulled wool 123 Shearing 124 The outlook 124 The Last of the Flock 125 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Fig. 1. Eesting at midday. 2. Points of the sheep (side and front view). 3. Points of the sheep (rear view) . 4. Representatives of British breeds of sheep. 5. Leicester ram. 6. Leicester ewe. 7. Leicester ewe lamb. 8. Gotswold ram. 9. Pair of Gotswold ewes. 10. Lincoln ram. 11. Lincoln ewe. 12. Oxford ram. 13. Oxford ewe. 14. Hampshire ram. 15. Hampshire ewes. 16. Shropshire ram. 17. Shropshire ewe. 18. Group of Shropshire rams. 19. Southdown wethers. 20. Southdown ram. 21. Southdown ewe lambs. 22. Group of Suffolk ewe lambs. 23. Dorset ram. 24. Dorset ewe lamb. 25. Dorset ewe. 26. Cheviot ram. 2'(. Cheviot ewe and lamb. 28. Merino ewe. 29. Meriao ram. 30. A flock of Hampshire lambs. 31. Group of scrub ewes. 32. Scrub ram. 33. Group of scrub lambs. 34. Group of grade ewes. 35. Group of grade lambs. 36. Leicester ram at head of grade flock. 37. Oxford ram at head of grade flock. 38. Group of finished ewes. 39. Cross section of a carcass much too fat. 40. Cross section of a carcass too thin for the trade. 41. Cross section of a finished carcass. 11 12 LIST OF ILLUSTEATIONS— Ooniinwed. Tig. 42. Diagram showing method of cutting up a carcass of mutton. 43. Catching a sheep. 44. Throwing a sheep. 45. Leading a sheep. 46. Catching a sheep with a shepherd's crook. 47. Shepherd's crook. 48. Cross section of dipping tank and pens. 49. Plan of dipping plant. 50. Outline of metal dipping tank. 61. Ram lambs marketed as culls. 52. Wether lambs, ' market toppers.' 53. Wether lambs peacefully devoting their energies to body building. 54. Sheep barn, ground floor plan. 55. Plan of upper floor. 56. Longitudinal section. 57. Cross section. 58. The Rutherford system of ventilation. 59. A cheap sheep shed. 60. Floor plan of shed. ■61. Group of flock headers in Nova Scotia. €2. Southdown flock near Pictou, N.S. 63. Salting time on an Ontario farm. 64. A mutton flock in Manitoba. 65. The presence of sheep helps the yield of wheat. 66. A range band in Saskatchewan. 67. Grazing in the foothills of sunny Alberta. 68 Merino grades in British Columbia. 69. Three lusty lambs. 70. Sufiolk ram. 71. Southdown ewes. « bo I INTRODUCTION. Tte steep industry of Canada dates back almost to the beginning of her agriculture. The first settlers as early as possible established little flocks of sheep to supply both food and clothing for their families. Even when the bears and wolves were plentiful she^p were kept by a much larger proportion of the farmers than at the present time. There is probably no country in the world better adapted than Canada to sheep raising, and no country offers greater opportunities for the development of the industry. The physical features, the soil, the climate and the agricultural population are all favourable to the production of mutton and wool of the highest quality. Canada is as favourable for the raising of vigorous sheep as healthy cattle, horses and hogs, yet we find each of these latter classes of the live stock industry have been forging ahead, while the first named has been falling back in almost every province of confederation. Prom 1881 to 1901 the numbers of horsra, cattle and swine in all Canada increased from about 30 to about 50 per cent, while during the same period the sheep decreased about 17 per cent. In 1881 the total sheep population of Canada is given as 3,048,678, and in 1901, the year the latest Dominion census was taken, 2,510,239. With the exception of the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan, until recently known as the Northwest Territories, the falling off has been fairly uniform over the Dominion. Various reasons are advanced for the falling off of sheep keeping. The Canadian farmer is credited with a lack of steadfastness in his business, and in this he does not differ from the farmers in many other countries. This tendency on the part of the Canadian stock grower no doubt goes a long way to explain the reduction in sheep. Mutton and wool prices fell, and sheep keeping conducted in the old haphazard way on many farms, brought very little revenue. The thorough-going sheepman did not find it necessary to abandon sheep keeping, and these men have reaped the reward of good prices and incidently cleaner and richer farms. It is true the pestiferous dog discouraged many sheep keepers, especially near centres of population, while the substitution of the barbed wire for the old rail fence drove many out of the business. There are other reasons why sheep keeping has not kept pace with other branches of the live stock industry that have in their turn had ups and downs. The very fact that sheep are so easily kept has caused a lack of interest in them. No end of effort has been made to assist the hog industry and the keeping of cattle, but the sheep are so easily kept and so harmless they have been allowed to drift with the current of indifference. The very obstinacy of the hog and the narrow margin of profit possible under average treatment have played their part in stimulating the swine raiser in his work. The never-ending labour incident to dairying has helped the cow, while the risks and slow returns in horse breeding have borne fruit for the betterment of the equine industry. The sheep that is able to return two crops in a year under semi-neglect and poor housing has not called for a fight for its perpetuation and has suffered in consequence. Again it would appear that the sheep industry thrives best under two widely different conditions. In the days of primitive agriculture the system of home economics rendered the sheep to furnish clothing as necessary as the cow to yield milk. Practically every farm in the early days had its little flock of sheep, which was given better treatment than many flocks receive at the present time. As the necessity for home-grown clothing passed away only those farmers possessing the shepherding instinct or the keen commercial spirit retained their flocks. The other extreme favour- able to sheep raising exists in the most advanced agriculture, such as is found in 13 14 Great Britain at the present time. There the rents, taxes and other expenses render it necessary that every foot of land yield the maximum of revenue. Under these conditions the value of the sheep as an aid to agriculture is recognized and sheep keeping holds its place with the raising of heef, iwrk and other live stock products. Canadian agriculture in many districts occupies the intermediate position, and unless in the most progressive sections the keeping of sheep is conducted in a half-hearted manner. As it emerges into the more definite, highly organized business, calling forth the exercise of the skilled stockiften it will grow into a leading branch of agriculture in Canada, as it has done in Great Britain. It is exemplified by the excellence of flocks in all parts of Caifada that each and every province is adapted to sheep breeding. It is also proven by the excellence of flock masters that the industry may be profitably conducted in all parts of the Dominion. This is true on high priced arable land where the cow, the hog, and the wheat field flourish abundantly. It is not, however, under these circumstances that the industry has its brightest outlook or room for expansion. It is the rugged pasture land not easily tilled that awaits the shepherd. In most of the provinces there are thousands upon thousands of acres of rugged country that are at present yielding practically nothing. If stocked with sheep in large bands or small flocks many of these districts could be made to yield handsome returns. Owing to the improved market for both wool and mutton there has been in many quarters during the past two years a growing tendency to stock up and improve the flocks, and it is probable that the next Dominion census report will show an improved state of affairs. The sheep breeding industry is looked after in a more or less definite way throughout Canada by live stock and sheep breeders' organizations. Provincial sheep breeders' associations have been organized in Quebec and Alberta. In Manitoba one association looks after sheep and swine, while in Saskatchewan and British Columbia this branch of live stock is supervised by general live stock associations. Other organizations of western sheep breeders are the Alberta "Wool Growers' Association, with headquarters at Lethbridge, and the Vancouver Island Flock Masters' Associa- tion. In the Maritime Provinces the one association for aU classes of stock has some slight supervision over the sheep industry of the three provinces. The industry in the Province of Ontario has for many years had the supervision of the Dominion Sheep Breeders' Association. While Dominion in name this organization has until recently been little more than an Ontario sheep breeders' association. In 1906, however, this body secured Dominion incorporation under the Pedigree Act, which gives it a stand- ing over the entire Dominion. It is under this organization that sheep registration is carried on under the National Record System. The breeds for which records have been established are as follows: — Lincoln, Ootswold, Leicester, Oxford, Shropshire, Southdown, Hampshire and Dorset. Eecords for Cheviots, Black-face and Suffolk breeds are in process of organization. Informa- tion with regard to the rules of entry and other matters pertaining to registration may be secured from the Accountant, National Live Stock Eecords Ottawa. THE MUTTON SHEEP. The production of mutton has become very largely a question of furnishing lambs to the market. As in beef and pork, the demands of the market call for young meat and comparatively light weights of carcasses. The premium paid for baby beef and bacon hogs applies with even greater force to sheep. Thick, fleshy, but rather light joints are what the cook calls for whether for the home table or the restaurant. The tastes of the consumer have been cultivated to discriminate in favour of the tasty, tender lamb until we find that from 70 to 80 per cent of the sheep that reach the market are less than one year old. The age of heavy mutton appears to have passed — a con- dition most favourable to the sheep raiser, who is thiis enabled to reap quick returns from his flock. In the very nature of things there will always be mature sheep sold as mutton as the breeding stock must, sooner or later, reach the block. The increasing demand for lamb mutton augurs well for the future of the industry, provided care is taken to keep up and improve the grade of the product. What is needed is careful attention to not only the production of the rapidly growing lamb, but that it possesses the qualities called for by the high-class trade. A prime lamb is in demand and will always command a high price, while the skinny, lank, bare-backed sheep is not wanted at all. The market wants flesh in any case, and when it comes from the back, the loin or the leg so much the more is it prized. The raising of lambs for the market requires first of all a strong uniform flock of ewes that are active foragers, uniform and regular breeders, and copious milkers. It is also important to pay some attention to the shearing qualities of any flock of sheep. As with other classes of stock, the matrons of the flock must be vigorous in order to produce lambs that will take hold of life courageously. In addition a ewe requires a strong maternal nature which is shown in prompt and ready care of the newly born offspring and a copious supply of milk. Such ewes are deep and wide in the chest, fairly compact but with sufficient length to give considerable size to their middles. Their heads should be pronounced in breadth between the ears, they should have large, mild, wide open eyes and well expanded nostrils. They should be free from coarseness, as also over refinement which suggests delicacy of constitution. These are the characteristics which the breeder needs to look for in order to get thrifty, well-doing offspring, but the other side of the question — that of the market — ^has also to receive attention. Viewed from Market Standpoint. To form a basis for estimating the good and bad qualities of sheep, it is best to consider the carcass and that from the point of view of the butcher. The different parts of the lamb show a wide variation from the butcher's standpoint. The most valuable meat is found over the back, loin and hind-quarters. The butcher, therefore, requires a broad back, a broad full loin and a heavily fleshed leg of mutton. The shoulder is not so valuable as the cuts farther back. The neck is a cheap part and is valuable according to thickness, but since it sells for little it is not important to breed for neck development. On the other hand, a thin neck is to be avoided, because such indicates weakness of constitution, and a thin neck usually goes with a slenderness of body. The neck, therefore, should be short and thick, which condition is likely to characterize the entire carcass. The carcass is usually divided by the butcher between the second and third ribs. The front part is worth about two cents per pound less than the hind part. It, therefore, follows that from the market standpoint the develop- ment of the back, loin and hind-quarter must be kept in mind. In all the parts smoothness of conformation is important. Eoughness or angularity invariably go with 15 16 bareness of back and an excess of bone in the carcass. A rough sheep is usually very- open at the top of the shoulder, showing a pronounced depression between ^e shoulder blades. This part for six or seven inches should be flat and well covered with flesh in a fatted sheep. The ribs should show good spring and be well covered with firm flesh. The back bone should not stand prominent at any point in a sheep even in only moderate flesh. A groove over the spinal column frequently seen in well fleshed sheep is not objectionable, although flatness and smoothness are rather to be preferred. While a full, fleshy loin is most desirable a high arching loin is not the formation to be looked for and perpetuated. The level smoothness recommended for the shoulder and back over the ribs, should characterize the loin. A hia;h loin is inclined to be bare rather than fleshy, or the loin may appear high in comparison with a low, sagging back which is always to be condemned as bad formation. The loin should have width and thickness in order to yield a good quantity of flesh. Among the common flocks of the country drooping rumps are frequently seen. This is most undesirable whether the falling away is towards the tail head or down the thigh. The hind-quarter should continue straight and full both on the top and side lines. From the hip to the hock a sheep in good flesh should be especially strong. Not only should the ' leg of mutton ' be plump and full with muscle on the outside, but between the legs, in the twish, the flesh should flll well down to the hock, compelling the hind legs to stand well apart. When grasp- ing the leg of mutton on the inside a decided plumpness should be found in a mutton sheep. The Feeder's Side. From the market standpoint the chest, breast or underline require little considera- tion, but from the side of the feeder or breeder these parts are of great importance. A sheep to be profitable to the feeder must have vigorous constitution and be able to consume a large amount of food and transform it into valuable meat at the lowest possible cost. These characteristics are invariably associated with a wide, deep chest, good depth of barrel, and well sprung ribs to give ample room for the lungs, heart and digestive organs. The wise feeder or breeder will also look for good size, because he wants an animal that will attain a good weight at an early age. A short, broad head, full, bright eyes, an open nostril, strong lips and a short, thick neck, deep body and short legs all go to indicate a vigorous, thrifty animal which will give a good return for food consumed and kill out a valuable carcass of mutton. The breeder who wishes to establish a pure-bred flock, besides requiring all these marks of excellence which the butcher and feeder require, needs to pay much attention to the character of the fleece, the colour and covering of the head and legs, the colour of the skin, and correctness of the breed type. Scale of Points for Mutton Sheep. A. General appearance, 24 points. Estimated weight, lbs. Score according to age and breed 4 points. Form— long, deep, broad, low set, and uniformily smooth ; top line, from neck to turn of rump, and underline from point of brisket to hind flank, straight and parallel 8 " Quality — bone fine and clean-cut; hair on face, ears and legs soft ; skin, fine and mellow ; all fleshy parts well developed, showing even covering of firm flesh. ... 8 " Style — active, alert, vigorous but not restless, exhibiting aristocratic bearing 4 " lY B. Head and neck, 9 points. Muzzle — well defined; moutli large and strong; lips, strong without coarseness; nostrils large 1 points. Eyes — large, prominent, clean and placid 1 " Face — rather short than long, features clear-cut and ^ attractive 1 " Forehead — ^broad and prominent 1 " Ears — fine in texture, medium size for the breed, carried with lively back and forth movement. . 1 " Neck— short, thick, round with full neck vein, free from folds at throat, carrying the head well erect; stronger and more arched in rams than in ewes 4 " C. Forequarters, 6 points. Shoulders — ^large, plump and smooth; wide above rounded out from above, forward and below to the centre, well filled before and behind, uniting with neck and back imperceptibly 4 " Legs — arm broad and well muscled; leg straight, short, wide apart and yet well placed under the body, standing firmly on hoofs of good shape and quality 2 " D. Body, 30 points. Ohest — deep and full, indicating abundance of heart and lung capacity; breast full; brisket promin- ent and broad; heartgirth, large 9 Back — ^level, wide, well covered with firm flesh, with spinal column hidden and even depressed from the loin to the tail head 9 Eibs — well sprung from backbone, nicely arched and well covered with flesh 4 Loin — ^broad, full and thick 6 Flank — well developed in thickness and even with side and underline 2 E. Hindquarters, 16 points. Hips — far apart, level, smooth, well covered with flesh. 2 Eump — long, broad, carrying width and topline well back to tail, deeply and evenly fleshed 4 Thighs — broad, and well filled, carrying plumpness well down to underline of body 3 Twist — full and deep, nearly as low as flank. ... 3 Legs — short, straight and strong, wide apart, yet well under the body, standing firmly on hoofs of good shape and quality; pasterns, strong and only slightly sloping 2 Skin, a rich pink in colour and possessed of mellow handling qualities 2 F. "Wool, 15 points. Quantity — ^long for the breed, dense and even. .... 6 Quality — fine for the breed, pure, crimp regular and uniform 5 Condition — bright, sound, clean, soft and lustrous. 4 2514—2 18 Points of the Sheep. 1. Muzzle. 2. Mouth, 3. Nostril. Lips. Nose. Face. Forehead, 8. Eye. 9. Ear. 10. Neck. 11. Neck vein or shoulder vein. 12. Top of shoulder. 13. Shoulder. 14. Arm. 15. Shanks. 16. Brisket or breast. Fig. 2. — Points of the Sheep (side and front view). lY. Top line. 18. Crops. 19. Eibs. 20. Girth, or heart girth. 21. Fore flank. 22. Back. 23. Loin. 24. Hind flank. 25. Underline. 26. Hip. 27. Eump. 28. Pin bones. 29. Dock or tail. 30. Thigh, or leg of mutton. 31. Twist. Fig. 3. — Points of the Sheep (rear view). LEADING BREEDS OF SHEEP. THEIR ORIGIN, DEVELOPMENT AND CHARACTERISTICS. There are a great number of varieties of domestic sheep, all of which are doubtless descended from one wild form. Domestication of this class of animals commenced almost at the beginning of the human race, when the second son of Adam chose sheep herding as an employment. With the migration of the human family sheep were taken to different parts of the world and under the varying environments in which they were perpetuated they assumed characteristics and properties quite different from one another. With improvement in agricultural practice sheep as well as other farm animals were kept and developed along special lines. This going on simultaneously in different portions of Europe and Asia it was but natural that varieties of quite different characteristics would be evolved. The probability is that domesticated sheep originated through the domestication of several races in many parts of the world, the peculiarities and valuable properties of each having been developed by selection, until a more or less perfect type was obtained. The crossing of species of sheep originally distinct has no doubt still further increased the number of our recognized breeds. The leading breeds of sheep found in Canada, with the exception of the Merino, which is kept to some extent only in the northwestern provinces, have been developed in Great Britain. They are classified as long and medium woolled, the Merino in its various forma being classed as fine-woolled. Throughout the British Isles there is found in a state of greater or less purity more than a score of breeds, the chief of which are as follows : Black-Face, Herdwick, Gray, Lonk, Devon, Longwool, Exmoor, Welsh, Cheviot, Suffolk, Leicester, Lincoln, Cotswold, Oxford, Shropshire, Hampshire, Southdown and Dorset. Of these only the last eight breeds named are at all common in Canada. A small number of Black- Faces, Suffolks and Cheviots are also to be found, but neither of these is increasing to any appreciable extent. The Lincoln, the Leicester and the Cotswold are known as the long-wool sorts, while the Oxford, the Shropshire, the Dorset, the Hampshire and the Southdown are classed as medium-woolled, the fleece shortening in length in the order named. The fleece of the Cheviot and also of the Suffolk is medium in length, but the former is the longer of the two. These two sorts are, therefore, placed with the medium-woolled varieties. The Leicester. The Leicester is the oldest of the long-wooUed races of sheep. It appears to have inhabited Leicestershire, England, and the adjoining comities even prior to 1660, when the districts referred to were noted for the excellent quality of their sheep, which are said to have possessed large bone, rangey frames and heavy fleeces of strong texture. They were slow to mature and to fatten. It is generally believed by authorities that the sheep found in these counties, known as the Midlands, were used by Eobert Bake- well, of Dishley, as the foundation of the New Leicester or Dishley breed. ^ Mr. Bakewell commenced an improvement of the sheep of his district in or about 1Y55. The merit of his work consisted in his realization of the fact that the properties 19 20 of parents may be transmitted to their offspring until fixity of type is the result; also in his innate power of discerning by an animal's external form and ' quality ' that it possessed the properties he desired to perpetuate. He was able to discriminate between size and quality and had always an eye for the latter when selecting breeding animals. In order to render permanent the desired qualities of the selected stock he resorted to in-and-in breeding to an almost incestuous degree. The qualities sought by Bakewell were greater symmetry of form, improved qualities of fattening, and an earlier maturity, a reduction in the proportion of bone and of fat, and a greater development of the parts of the carcass of most value on the block. These characteristics were undoubtedly secured, but others of great importance were to some extent overlooked; these were strength of constitution, prolificacy, as well as quantity and quality of fleece. The breeders of Leicesters in later years have overcome these defects. It is recognized that no other breed possesses a greater expansion of heart girth than the Leicester. Nor is prolificacy lacking in the present day Leicester, as triplets are of frequent occurrence, and from 150 to 175 per cent of increase is not uncommon in well kept flocks. Whatever weaknesses marked the fleeces of Leicesters in Bakewell's time these have long since been overcome in well kept flocks. As a rule good speci- mens are thoroughly covered in all parts except head and legs; length and density are also present in a high degree, while the wool of no other breed excels in lustre. In order to extend the blood of the improved stock as rapidly as possible, Mr. Bakewell instituted a system of hiring rams of his flock for the breeding season to farmers in the district. During the first year or two farmers were slow to take advantage of the use of the improved sheep, and all Mr. Bakewell could get for the season's use of rams was some 17 shillings and 6 pence each, but the improvement effected by these crosses was so evident that in a few years the demand for the sheep became so keen that the price rose to one hundred guineas per head, and in a single season, 1789, it is said that six thousand guineas were obtained for the services of Bakewell rams. The Leicester sheep as it came from the hands of Mr. Bakewell, near the end of the eighteenth century, is described as a white-faced, hornless race of excellent mutton sheep, with short thick neck, wide level back, thick deep chest, deep quarters and fine bone and bearing a fleece measuring about seven or eight inches in length of somewhat lashy wool, but terminating with a short twisted curl. About the time of Bakewell's death, one George OuUey commenced using Leicester rams from Dishley on the Teeswater breed, which was at that time in high favour as a long-woolled sheep. The stock evolved from this cross is believed to have been the foundation of the Border Leicester, although on account of the proximity of the home of the Cheviot it is not unreasonable to suppose that in the early years of the Leicester the blood of its white-faced neighbour entered into many of the best flocks. Border Leicester rams soon became as popular as Bakewell's had been, as much as one hundred guineas being paid for the use of a single animal for a season. From that time until the present the Border Leicester has stood in high favour as a mutton and wool produc- ing breed. The Bakewell Leicester, later becoming known as the English Leicester, was perpetuated in its pure state and is to-day raised in large numbers in Great Britain and in other countries. The difierence between the English Leicester and the Border Leicester is seen in the head, which in the Border variety is white, and boldly carried, the nose slightly aqulhne, the muzzle full, the nostrils wide and the ears erect. The head is clean and free from wool. The English Leicester usually carries a tuft of wpol on the head and It 13 also wooUed on the shanks. The English Leicester has a bluish-white face: whereas the Border Leicester's face is clear white. In carcass the Border Leicester IS larger and longer and the belly is not quite so full in outline, being carried rather more highly. No other race of sheep has been so largely employed as a means of improving other breeds as the Leicester; the Cotswold, the Lincoln, the Shropshire and the Hampshire and many others directly or indirectly have through its blood been improved 2514— p. 20. Fig. 4.— Representatives of British Breeds of Sheep. (Reproduced from an English Live Stock Publication.] Fig. 5. — Leicester Ram. Fig. 6. — Leicester Ewe. Fig. 7. —Leicester Ewe Lamb. rig. 8.— Cotswold Ram. Fig. 9.— Pair of Cotawold Ewes. Fig. 10. — Lincoln Ram. Fig. 11. — Lincoln Ewe. 21 Canadian Leicesters are among the best of the Leicester family. Nowhere in the world are finer specimens to be found. This is largely due to the fact that until recent years the American demand for Canadian Leicesters has not been strong and the Canadian breeders have retained in their flocks the best of each year's crop of lambs. By selection and careful weeding many good flocks have been built up. The excellence of the Leicester proves conclusively that if the Canadian breeders of other breeds of sheep would follow the same practice the Canadian flocks of all sorts would equal or excel those to be found elsewhere. The characteristics of the Leicester should, like all mutton breeds, conform in a general way to the standard for mutton sheep appearing in the first part of this work. The Leicester is one of the large breeds, the average weight for mature rams in good fiesh being 250 to 300 pounds, and for ewes 1Y5 to 200 pounds. The head is small for the size of the body and is carried with pronounced erect- ness and stateliness. The nose is slightly Roman in rams but almost straight in ewes. The ear is thin, moderately long and carried decidedly erect and alert. The head and legs are snowy white in young animals but become darker with age. The Leicester is classed among the long-woolled breeds; its fleece, however, is of somewhat less length than that of the Cotswold or the Lincoln. The wool is glossy and of good fibre and should cover the entire carcass save the head and legs, although a small amount of quite short wool on the forehead and the shanks is allowable. The wool of this breed hangs in dense spirals which carry their crimp or wave to the skin ; the fleece should consist of a mass of distinct curls all over the body and without the ' parting ' at the back as in some other long-woolled breeds. The Cotswold. The Cotswold sheep takes its name from a range of bare hills in the counties of Gloucestershire and Worcestershire, England, which it has inhabited for a very long period. It is said that the hills take their designation from the sheep rather than the sheep from the hills. They derive their name from ' cote,' a sheep-fold and ' wold,' a naked hiU. Historians of the breed describe the original stock as being long-necked, rangey, square of build with strong bone and clothed with fine, soft wool. As early as 1464 sheep of the Cotswold breed were by royal consent exported to Spain to the great advantage of the Spanish flocks. This and other evidence seems to point to a fine-wooUed breed quite dissimilar to the long-woolled specimens of modern years. For a period subsequent to the date mentioned there seems to be nothing definite written about them. Two or three centuries later Professor Low, writing of the Cotswold sheep, gives the impression that they are the offshoot of the Midland long-woolled breed inhabiting the level lands. From the accounts of the various writers it appears safe to infer that the blood of the original fine-woolled Cotswold and the longer-fleeced Midland sheep were fused in the Cotswold of the eighteenth century. Then the blood of the Leicester was intro- duced wliich worked a great improvement in the breed from a mutton standpoint. About this time many of the old pastures were being broken up, turnips and cereals began to be cultivated, bringing about conditions favourable to an increase in weight of carcass and length and strength of wool. Cotswold breeders have for a long time preferred and bred for a bold and open curl in the fleece rather than the close spiral of the Leicester. In the early years of the breed grey or light brown speckles on the face or shanks were not looked upon with disfavour, and even at the present day these markings are to be seen in individuals of many of the best flocks, although the Cots- wold is looked upon as a white-faced breed. Whatever the origin of this sheep it is certain that for the past seventy years at least it has been kept pure, so that the type has long since been thoroughly fixed. The Cotswold may be described as a big, upstanding sheep. Compared with the Leicester the Cotswold is somewhat larger and stronger of bone. It is not so broad in the back but possesses greater depth of body. In addition the hind quarters are more squarely developed. A distinguishing characteristic of the Cotswold is the topknot 22 or forelock -which is never shorn close to the head but allowed to hang over the face, extending in some cases to the point of the nose. The fleece is heavy, wavy and rather coarser ttan that of the Leicester, and should weigh from 10 to 15 pounds, of fairly clean but unwashed wool. It should cover the body in all parts. As a rule the best specimens are clothed to the fetlocks of the hind legs. Like in the Leicester the head is carried quite erect. The neok is rather longer and in many cases shows lack of plumpness, giving a ' ewe necked ' appearance which should be reduced as rapidly as possible wherever it is found to exist. The Cotswold breed stands in high favour both in Great Britain and abroad. Numerous flocks of pure-breds and grades are to be found in France, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Canada. They are quite hardy and sufficiently prepotent to stamp their characteristics upon their ofispring when crossed with other breeds. The average weight of a mature Cotswold ram in good flesh is about 250 to 300 pounds, and of a ewe 190 to 225 pounds. Highly fltted show-yard specimens reach higher weights than these. They require good pasture but do well on moderate elevations that are not too rugged. The mothers are, as a rule, good nurses and are, therefore, adapted to the production of lambs for the early market. The fattening qualities of the breed are good although the flesh is only moderately fine in grain if allowed to reach more than maturity. As a rule stock that is not to be kept for breeding should be fattened and marketed before they are fifteen months old. The Lincoln. The origin of the Lincoln breed was a race of heavy-bodied sheep that inhabited the low alluvial lands of Lincolnshire, and the adjoining localities, on the eastern coast of England. These sheep were large and coarse, carrying ragged, heavy fleeces of oily wool that nearly swept the ground. They had fiat sides, hollow flanks and big shanks and feet and were deficient in the leg of mutton. They grew and fattened slowly but made much inward fat, although their flesh is credited with being well flavoured and flne in the grain. When the improved Leicester came into prominence, toward, the end of the eighteenth century, leading Lincoln sheep breeders obtained rams which they crossed upon their flocks. By this means the coarseness of their stock was much reduced and in time a new and finer type of the breed was produced. With improvement in the sheep stock there came a more advanced system of farming, in which heavy crops of roots and fodders were the chief production. With the consequent better feeding of the stock and the increased care given to breeding the improved Lincoln became fixed in character as the heaviest producer of mutton and wool in the world. It is chronicled that in the early days of the breed two-shear sheep frequently dressed over 90 pounds to the quarter, and a lamb 14 months old gave a fleece weighing 26| pounds. The Lincoln was first recognized as a pure-breed by the Royal Agricultural Society of England in 1862. Previous to that date all of the long-wooUed breeds were shown together, and according to reliable history the Lincolns were usually victorious. They were then, as now, an excellent breed of wool and mutton sheep. They mature early, fatten easily and make rapid gains for the food consumed, but on account of their size require plentiful supplies of food. Their flesh inclines to coarseness after the animals have reached maturity, but lambs and yearlings dress well and produce meat of good quality. The wool of the Lincoln is unexcelled for weight of fleece and length of fibre, and its fineness is about equal to that of the Cotswold. It is highly valued for the manu- facture of coarse worsteds and is in special demand for braids and other manufactures which call for long fibre and great strength. The usual clip of well kept flocks runs from 10 to 14 pounds for ewes, and 12 to 18 pounds for rams, of unwashed wool. A year's growth of wool is about eight inches. As a grading sheep the Lincoln stands high where greater weight of carcass and fleece are desired, but for the best results the grade offspring should not be kept on sparse or rugged pastures. Lincoln rams have for many years been in keen demand 23 for increasing the size and fleece of grade Merinos in the Western States of the American Union, Argentina and Australia. At the annual sales of some of the leading breeders in England rams bring very high prices, many of the best specimens going to Argentina. The chief outlet for the Canadian breeders is the -western range States which each year take a good number at paying values. The breed is white-faced and has a conspicuous tuft on the forehead. The head is massive but not coarse ; the nose is somewhat arched and bare of wool. The brisket is full and deep, the body round and well proportioned, and while it is a heavy sheep it is not coarse. It does not reach the weights of its progenitors in carcass or fleece, but on account of its improved quality, brought about by many years of continuous, careful breeding, it is very desirable for its mutton and wool and for the improvement of the common flocks. Mature rams in good flesh reach average weights of 2S0 to 300 pounds, while good specimens of ewes tip the scales at from 220 to 250 pounds. Highly fitted show-yard specimens frequently reach greater weights. Compared with the Leicester and the Cotswold, the Lincoln is more massive than either but more nearly resembles the latter in outline. It is rather less active, carrying the head lower on account of possessing a shorter, thicker neck. The Oxford Down. The Oxford Down sheep is the product of a cross between the Hampshire Down and the Cotswold. The union was deliberately made by two or three distinguished sheep breeders about the year 1833. It was the desire of these men to combine in one breed the diverse qualities of the long wool and the short wool classes of sheep. In great measure they were successful inasmuch as a large sheep of dark countenance and legs, with Down conformation, and wool of moderate fineness has been evolved. The founders of the breed were Messrs. Samuel Druce, of Eynsham; John Gillett, of Braize Norton; William Gillett, of Southleigh, and Nathaniel Black, of Stanton Harbour. These leaders in the sheep breeding industry lived within half a dozen miles of each other and were joined in their enterprise by Messrs. John Hitchman, of Little Hilton, and J. L. Twyman, of Whitechurch Farm, Hampshire. It is claimed by historians that Southdown blood entered into the foundation stock, but since this breed and the Hampshire Down inhabited districts only a short distance apart, and the type of neither was well fixed at that early date, it may be safely inferred that neither was strictly adhered to in the search for suitable animals for the Down cross. In the first crosses the male was Cotswold and the female Hampshire Down, or in a few cases Southdown. There appears to have been a good deal of intermingling of blood before Oxford Down breeders settled into a line of their own. Mr. Druce decided that best results were secured when cross bred animals on both sides were employed. It was not uncommon for cross bred rams to be used on cross bred ewes that possessed the desired qualities; ewes that were undersized were bred to Cotswold sires, and Down rams were mated with the graded females of coarser type. •For many years the breed was known by various names. As late as 1853 they were known by some as ' Half Breeds,' and by others as ' Down-Cotswolds.' Some four years later at a meeting of breeders held in Oxford the name ' Oxfordshire Down ' was agreed upon. Soon after this the more easily pronounced ' Oxford Down ' designation was adopted. Since that time no outside blood has been introduced, development and improvement being accomplished by perpetuation of carefully selected stock within the breed itself. For many years the flocks of various breeders bore dissimilar characteristics indicated in fleece and face due to a preponderence either of the long or the short wooUed parentage. This, however, had practically disappeared before the close of the past century. The speckled face has given way to an even brown which may vary slightly in shade without risk of disfavour. The finely cut profile and thinner nose, together with the long and moderately fine ear are undoubtedly vestiges of the Cots- wold parent, while the dark face and comparatively close fleece are derived from the Down. Until recent years the upstanding characteristics of both parent breeds were 24 conspicuous in tlie Oxford, but the winnera at leading shows at the present day are of more compact form not unlike the larger type of Shropshire in general conforma- tion. This more solid form has been striven for in the effort towards earlier maturity in accordance with the general tendency in the breeding of all meat producing animals of the farm. The Oxford Down is one of the largest and heaviest of the Down breeds, approach- ing very close to the Hampshire in this regard. A well fleshed typical ram should weigh from 250 to 275 pounds and a ewe about 175 to 220 pounds at maturity. On account of its large size and the environment of its home the Oxford Down is better adapted to arable than rugged land. It matures early and fattens well on moderate feed. Its flesh resembles that of the Down in fineness of quality and even admixture of fat and lean. As a grading sheep the Oxford Down finds favour when increased size and good mutton quality are desired and the lambs are to be reared amid luxuriant pastures or rich forage. Ewes of the breed are prolific and good nurses. The wool is longer and coarser than that of any of the other Down breeds and is less dense over the body. In well kept flocks the average fleece, unwashed, should weigh from 9 to 12 pounds. "Well developed rams frequently exceed these weights at their first shearing. Compared with the Shropshire, which breed they most nearly resemble, the Oxford is larger in every way; its fleece is more open and longer at shearing time; its head and face are not so dark nor so completely covered with wool, and the head and the ear are longer. Oxford Downs are to be found in almost every country where improved sheep are reared. They are numerously kept in almost all the provinces of Canada, the United States, Australia and South America. The Hampshire Down. The Hampshire Down and the Southdown are closely related. The ancestors of the two breeds inhabited the chalk lands of the South down counties of England since the time of "William the Conqueror. The soil on the more easterly of these counties was thin and rugged, furnishing scanty herbage. The sheep raised on these were small in size, compact in form, and noted for the excellence of their flesh. These were the progenitors of the- modern Southdown. As the chalk lands extended westward into Hampshire, Berkshire and "Wiltshire, the soil became deeper and more fertile, affording better pasturage and heavier cultivated crops. The sheep reared on these lands were larger and coarser than the Southdowns. These were the progenitors of the Hampshire Down. Farther west were to be found in those early days the horned sheep of Dorset and Somersetshire. Through generations the sheep along the border lines of these territories intermingled to some extent so that a well-defined division of breeds was impossible. Early writers state that the flocks of the more northern and eastern of the Hampshire district were more compact and symmetrical in form, with finer wool, than were those in the western portion, where white and speckled ears and faces and curling horns were not uncommon. Further east horns were unknown and the faces and ears of the sheep were of very dark colour. These differences existed through the period from 1815 to 1835. About this time farming lands began to be enclosed and more careful attention was given to stock rearing. A class of sheep was desired that would thrive well on exposed pastures and when put on roots or other cultivated crops would take on flesh of a high quality economically. It was observed that where the blood of the Southdowns had long been merged with their horned neighbours in Berk- shire and "Wiltshire, the flocks were best adapted to the ends desired. Improvement by selection and breeding was carried on by many farmers. For a time different sections had somewhat different ideals, and thus the breed lacked entire uniformity but ultimately the best type was demonstrated and generally acknowledged It was these animals, which are claimed to be a cross between the Southdown and the old "Wiltshire horned sheep as well as the Berkshire Knot, that formed the foundation of the Hampshire breed. Fig. 12.— Oxford Ram. 2514—3. Fig. 13. - Oxford Ewe. Fig. 14. — Hampshire Ram. Fig. 15. —Hampshire Ewes. (Hampshire Lambs represented in Fig. 30. ) Fig. 16.— Shropshire Ram. Fig. 17.— Shropshire Ewe. E 1 1 ^m^ s ■ i^ 1 HMh MM fey';: • 1 ^^^^^^^H HpH ^ mP- .^jl Hm! |||^« |:^ .^ . 1 ^ H^^ns^^^^^^B ^^m ^^^^Hl' '^ ^^M^^^^'^^^ 1"" ' .< r^ :^^- - * T**"T^ ^H mfK^^^^fBw ~ ■-- '^^ fe ^■fetti .^ ikAi ^ .ift^.iA.- .A...^ ■■Mi ll Fig. 19.— Southdown Wethers. 0^' & 1 mgn^ 1 M 1 M ^ Fig. 20. — Southdown Ram. 25 Foremost among the farmers who undertook the establishment of the Hampshire hreed was Mr. Humphrey, of Oak Ash, a man who unquestionably possessed the peculiar genius required in a first improver of stock. Contemporaries of Mr. Humphrey were Messrs. Lawrence, of Bulbridge, and Morrison, of Fonthill. Mr. Humphrey's first pronounced improvement of the breed was effected by the introduction into his flock of a Southdown ram, bred by Jonas Webb, that won first prize at Liverpool about 1834. The difBculty arising from this cross was loss of size, and to obviate this only the largest of the Hampshire Down ewes that suited his fancy were selected for his breeding flock. These were bred to the most masculine and robust of the rams of his own breeding. This policy succeeded even beyond the hopes of Mr. Humphrey himself. Mr. Humphrey very seldom bought ewes, and never unless possessed of extraordinary qualities. A ewe thus bought, bred Jack Tar by a ram. of famous strain. Such blood was used with great caution and never directly. Thus Jack Tar was given a few ewes and their ewe lambs were saved as dams for rams. It was, therefore, only after being well mixed with the. blood of the flock that new blood was allowed to permeate it. The greatest possible care was exercised in selecting the animals that were to be perpetuated. Lambs were judged at birth, and those showing weakness or defects were marked for the feeding pen. Only the best of those remaining were placed in the breeding flock, all others being sent to the butcher, and none of this class were ever sold to oth^r breeders. In using sires Mr. Humphrey exercised the utmost caution. Lambs were tried on a small number of ewes and if their offspring promised well the ram was again used as a shearling and in subsequent years, but if not he was sent to the butcher. He never bought rams from others and never introduced strange blood straight into hiS' flock. Mr. Humphrey died in 1868, when his flock was dispersed. Hany of his rams. sold from 40 to 60 guineas each, one of the keenest purchasers being Mr. Eowlings, whose methods of breeding had been much the same as those of Mr. Humphrey. His success as a breeder lay in rigorous selection and careful introduction of the best obtainable rams, which were usually secured from Mr. Humphrey. The Hampshire is the heaviest of the Down breeds, and is excelled in weight only by the Lincoln and the Cotswold among the long-woolled races. Mature rams in good flesh should weigh from 250 pounds to 325 pounds, and mature ewes 175 pounds to 225 pounds. It matures very early and for that reason is a favourite for getting heavy lambs for the spring trade. The ewes breed well and yield an abundance of milk. While the Hampshire stands well off the ground, it feeds up readily and carries a thick fleshy body of prime mutton. The fleece of the Hampshire is dense and about equal in fineness to that of the Shropshire. Well kept fl.ocks shear fleeces of about 8 to 10 pounds of unwashed wool. The colour of the head is a uniform black with a small top-knot which should consist of white wool. The ears are large, free from mottles and fine in texture; they are carried lower than in other breeds. The shanks also should be of black colour and free from mottles. The breed is well adapted to either pasture or pen feeding. In its native home on many farms more than a breeding ewe per acre, besides large herds of cattle, are maintained in excellent conditiain in seasons when fodder is plentiful. A society for the promotion of the breed and the regulation of a Flock Book was established in Great Britain in the year 1889, in which a similar organization was formed in the United States. The Shropshire. The Shropshire as a pure breed is a production of the nineteenth century. It appears to have had a mixed origin, the foundation being a rather diminutive breed, described in 1792 as the Morfe Common sheep, then raised in large numbers in the district of Shropshire, England. These active hardy sheep had at that time black, brown or spotted faces and carried horns. The carcasses of well-fed wethers would weigh from 10 to 14 pounds per quarter, and the fleece about 2^ pounds. This appears. 2514r-^ 26 to have been the parent form, and the work of improvement commenced in crossing with the Leicester and Southdown. While these crosses were being introduced and for a number of years afterwards, the stock produced was of somewhat uncertain type, but by the middle of the past century a well fixed and very desirable class of the Shropshire had been evolved. Soon after this time, through the efforts of their breeders they were recognized as a distinct breed. They were at that time described as be;ng without horns, with faces and legs of grey or spotted colour; the neck thick with excellent scrag; the head well-shaped, rather small than large, with ears well set on; breast broad and deep ; back straight, with good carcass ; hind-quarters hardly as wide as the Southdown, and the legs clean with strong bone. They were hardy, thrifty, and matured early, producing from 80 to 100 pounds per carcass and about 7 pounds per fleece. By careful selection and judicious mating of its own spieces, the Shropshire sheep seems to have been brought to a very high state of perfection. In 1853 they received their first recognition as a pure breed by the Royal Agricultural Society of England. Until about 1870 grey and speckled legs and faces and open fleeces were not uncommon, but these markings and other evidences of mixed breeding gradually disappeared. For the past thirty years the colour of the face has been a rich brown, unless covered with wool, as are many of the finest specimens of the breed at the present day, almost to the point of the nose. A little grey or ' mealy ' colour about the muzzle is not considered objectionable. The Shropshire sheep .was given a classification separate from the Southdowns, Hampshires and Oxfords as early as 1859, and soon after that year far surpassed any other breed exhibited in point of numbers. In 1884 the display of Shropshires at the Royal Show, held at Shrewsbury, numbered 875 against less than half that number of all other distinct breeds combined. The breed rapidly spread to every part of the United Kingdom and is now to be found in large numbers in all parts of the world where improved sheep are kept. No single outstanding breeder, like Bakewell, Ellman or Humphrey, who are credited with bringing out the Leicester, the Southdown and the Hampshire, respec- tively, actually accomplished the chief improvement of the Shropshire. This was shared by many and progress seems to have been gradual. Going back to the fifties of the last century, we find the names of prominent breeders as follows: Messrs. Henry Smith, of Sutton; Green, of Marlow; Harton, of Shrewsbury; Farmer, of Brignorth; Adney, of Harley, and others whose ewes were at that time sold at auction for prices from $40 to $75 per head. The flocks of these breeders and others may be looked upon as the foundation of the present breed and their blood flows in the flocks of the present day. As a combined wool and mutton sheep the Shropshire holds a prominent place. The body, though larger, is like that of the Southdown, being low-set, thick and fleshy. It carries a large proportion of lean meat which is held high in favour by butchers. The fleece is dense, uniform and approaches that of the Southdown in fineness; ewes shear from 7 to 10 pounds and rams from about 9 to 12 pounds of unwashed wool. For crossing and grading the Shropshire occupies a wide field. Rams of the breed are very generally used upon common and grade Merino stock in the range districts. Even from quite inferior ewe foundation the offspring from Shropshire males is blocky, thrifty and early maturing, almost invariably showing dark faces and legs. At many of the fat stock shows grades bearing Shropshire characteristics win many of the best prizes. The early maturing qualities of the Shropshires are peculiarly valuable owing to the extent to which they are used in crossing. Shropshire breed associations are strong both in Great Britain and America and pedigree registration is carefully maintained in both countries. The American Shropshire Registry Association was organized in 1884, and up to the end of 1907 more than 270,000 animals bred chiefly in Canada and the United States, had been registered. A large number of pedigrees have also been registered in the Canadian National Records. 27 The Southdown. The SouthdowrL is the oldest of the improved medium-wooUed dark-faced breeds of sheep. It bears much the same relation to the Down breeds as does the Leicester to the other long-wooUed races. It is one of the indigenous races peculiar to the chalk hills of the southern counties of England. It appears to have been confined to the Down lands and to have given way to a larger and looser framed animal, as the chain of chalk hills on which it browsed passed into the neighbouring county of Hampshire. Originally the Southdown was horned, but these appendages have long since disappeared unless as slugs which occasionally appear on rams of the coarser type. The breed, before improvement, was small, long in neck, light in shoulder, bare of back, drooping in rump, but having a big leg of mutton. The fleece was not so close and firm as now, and inclined to curliness. One of the earliest improvers of the breed was John EUman, of Glynde in Sussex, who commenced his work about 1780, and died in 1832. This breeder laid great stress upon the form of the neck and fore-quarters, which he felt should be bold, high in the crest, muscular and thick. These he aimed to develop as well as spring of rib, girth, breadth and fullness of quarter. The leg of mutton, according to Mr. Ellman, ' must be well filled inside and out, and as round as a ' cricket ball.' The fleece under his care became boardlike in its firmness, and showed cracks down to the skin as the animal turned, presenting a firm and springy surface. Following Mr. Ellman came the late Jonas Webb, of Babraham, Cambridgeshire, as an improver of the breed. It was through him in a great measure that the true type was handed down to the present generation.* The Southdown is one of the most beautiful sheep existing; its smooth, even body; its round, clean barrel; its short legs, fine head and broad saddle, with its sweet, tender seldom overfat meat, give the qualities which make it desirable to the lawn of the gentleman, while its early maturing and easy feeding qualities give it a place on the farms of the men who must make profit from the products of the land. It is the smallest of the medium-woolled breeds, but owing to its compact form it weighs remarkably well for its size. A well developed ram in breeding condition should weigh about 200 pounds, and in show form from 225 pounds to 240 pounds. Mature ewes should weigh from 150 pounds to 200 pounds, according to condition. It is best adapted to undulating, rolling or broken and hilly land bearing a short, fine herbage, but it adapts itself well to more level areas that are not wet. It matures early, its feeding qualities' are unsurpassed and it stands crowding both in pen and field better than most breeds. The fleece of the Southdown is the finest and shortest of the Down breeds. Unless at times of a shortage of coarser wools the wool of this breed brings a higher price than any of the others. It is dense and as a rule very uniform over the body. An average Southdown will clip from 5 to 7 pounds of unwashed wool. For crossing purposes the Southdown has been particularly useful, and its blood exists in every improved Down breed. On account of its long established characteris- tics it stamps its good qualities upon its offspring in a remarkable degree. The face, ears and legs of the Southdown are of a uniform shade of grayish brown or mouse colour. The forehead and cheeks are well covered with wool of the same density and whiteness as found on other parts of the body. The ears are rather small, tolerably wide apart, covered with fine hair and carried with a lively back and forth movement. The Southdown represents the ideal form of mutton sheep, inasmuch as it is • admirably proportioned, of perfect symmetry, very compact and short in the leg. It is spirited and attractive, with a determined look and proud firm step. The Suffolk. The Suffolk sheep, of which there are only a small number of flocks in Canada, belongs to the Down breeds inhabiting in their early days the southern counties of 28 England. Although larger, more rangey and darker in points than the Southdown, the blood of this latter breed entered largely into the foundation of the Suffolk. The only other breed that entered into the combination was the Norfolk, which appears to have passed out of the list of modern breeds of sheep. The old Norfolks are described as upstanding, robust, active and prolific, bearing horns in both sexes, jet black faces and legs, and clothed with fleeces of fine, soft wool that would weigh at shearing time about three pounds. Their home was the chalky Downs in the counties of Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridge and Essex. The Southdown inhabiting adjacent counties, as already described, is a thicker, lower-set sheep, having strong powers of prepotency. Rams of this latter sort were crossed upon ewes of the old Norfolk to form the newer breed of Suffolk. To the establishment of the Suffolk much credit is given to Mr. George Dabito, of Lydgate, who is said to have been an enthusiastic advocate of the Southdown and Norfolk combination. While the name Suffolk was not generally adopted until 1859, when classes were created for this breed by the Suffolk Agricultural Society, flocks are said to date back in purity of blood to 1810. In recent years the Suffolks have held their own in British show rings in com- petition with other short-woolled breeds. In 1883, 1884 and 1885, they defeated all others at the shows of the Eoyal Agricultural Society, and have since won valuable awards in the wether sections in open competition at the Smithfield Fat Stock Sbow. Appearing somewhat spare of body on account of bareness of head and legs and com- parative shortness of wool, this breed does not appeal as favourably to one unaccus- tomed to them as most of the pther Down sorts, but it is on the block, the true test of all meat animals, that they give a good account of themselves. Their flesh is seldom or never over-fat, but fine in the grain and of strikingly fine flavour. Being active and very hardy the Suffolk subsists well on either sparsely clothed hill sides or more luxuriant pasture. The strong infusion of Southdown blood, together with the care exercised in breeding during recent years, have given the Suffolk early maturing qualities. Flocks produce a high percentage of vigorous twins, which usually develop rapidly on account of the generous supplies of milk produced by their mothers. The Suffolk Sheep Society of England was established in 1886. The first importa- tion was made to Canada in 1888, and a few flocks have since been established in Ontario, Prince Edward Island and British Columbia. The first Suffolks taken to the United States were imported in 1888, but many have been imported since, and in 1892 the American Flock Eegistry Association was established. Compared with other Down breeds the Suffolk more nearly resembles the Hampshire, and at some of the large shows even yet these two sorts are classed together. They are, however, ssmewhat less in size and weight, but are heavier than the South- down or the Shropshire. Mature rams in good flesh should weigh from 240 pounds to 260 pounds, and ewes 190 pounds to 210 pounds. They are longer than the Shrop- shire in body and limb. The head is longer, narrower and bare of wool, although a small patch of short white wool on the forehead is not objectionable. The head and legs are glossy black. In wool production they shear a little more than the Southdown, of a quality about equal to the Hampshire or the Shropshire. The Dorset. The Dorset Horn is one of the oldest of the British breeds of sheep. It inhabited from a very early date the fertile counties of Dorsetshire and Somersetshire, situated in the southwest of England. The home of the breed is diversified by hill and dale* affording thin chalk highlands and rich clay slopes and valleys. The original Dorset sheep was a large, rather course, long-legged breed with wonderful powers oof maturnity. Both sexes have retained horns from the earliest years -until the present day. They belong to the medium wool breeds, but unlike most of the others, possess white faces and legs. Efforts to improve the breed by means of out crosses proved unsuccessful although, according to authorities, both Leicester and Southdown blood were used. 29 "While great improveraeiit in form and early maturing has been accomplished in the Dorset sheep during the past quarter of a century it has been effected entirely within the breed itself. The Dorset surpasses all other breeds of sheep in breeding qualities. Unlike other •sorts the ewes may be bred at almost any time of year, and it is not uncommon for ewes to produce two crops of lambs within twelve months. In England it is not uncommon to find Dorset lambs on the Smithfield market at Christmas, when they •command fancy prices. A number of breeders both on this continent and Great Britain aim to have autumn lambs, some as early as 'September, although many prefer not to have them earlier than January. The Dorset ewe is a most excellent mother, producing seldom less than two larabs and not uncommonly three. She is a very •copious milker and when well fed her lambs go forward at a very rapid rate. For this reason the Dorset fills a special field as a producer of what are known at ' hot house ' lambs, which frequently dress from 40 to 45 pounds each at four months old. In general conformation the Dorset is of the mutton type, approaching that of the Southdown more nearly than any of the other breeds. It is larger than the South- down, being almost equal to the Shropshire, and it has less symmetry than either of these sorts. The average weight of mature rams is about 220 pounds and of ewes about 170 pounds. The wool of the Dorset is much like that of the Shropshire in quality. The fleece is quite dense, very white and elastic. The crown and jaws are covered about the same as in the Southdown. Well bred rams clip about 10 pounds, and ewes from 7 pounds to 8 pounds of unwashed wool. The horns of the Dorset curve gracefully forward rather close to the jaws. They are small and flat in the female, but considerably longer, stronger and more angular in the male and curve spirally outward from the top of the head. As a crossing or grading sheep the Dorset stands in high favour in the United States, more particularly where Merino grades exist. They impart their fecundity, vigour, excellent milking qualities and thick mutton form to their offspring in a marked degree. On account of their horns they are not well suited for crossing upon hornless breeds. If used at all for crossing with the latter sort the Dorset should occupy the female part of the union. Dark-faced lambs produced in this way meet with a readier sale than the lambs of pure Dorset breeding, and when fed for the show-ring they frequently win prizes in the classes for grades and crosses. Until about 1885 the Dorset was little bred outside of its native counties. During recent years small flocks have been established throughout other portions of the British Isles. They were imported to Canada as early as 1885, and to the United States in 1887. There are now a number of well kept flocks in various parts of Canada and many in the United States. The Cheviot. The Cheviot, although not familiar to the sheep farmers of Canada, is becoming a favourite breed wherever given a fair trial. Coming as they do from a rugge.d country they possess a peculiar adaptability for hilly sections where daily attention cannot be given. The Cheviot is one of the oldest of the modern breeds of sheep. It is classed with the mountain breeds and comes next in hardihood to the Black-Face that inhabits the Highlands of Scotland. Its home is the hill lands bordering Scotland and England, where they have been reared from a very remote period. In their native homes they are given no shelter and graze the year round on the mountain sides and in the valleys. This open air life has developed in the Cheviot one of the hardiest of the medium- woolled breeds of sheep. It was about 1756 that an effective attempt was made to improve the Cheviot. During that year four leading breeders visited Lincolnshire and returned with fourteen rams which they used upon their flocks with great success. It is stated that the flock 30 of Mr. James Robson, of Philhope, was so much improved by the Lincoln cross that for many years he sold more rams than one-half of the hill farmers put together. The breed was named about 1Y92, when it was described as a fine-woolled breed. From 1800 to 1860 the Cheviot sheep was more and more on the ascendent and the Black-Faces disappeared from nearly all of the best farms in the south of Scotland, except in the mountain districts of Ayrshire and Lanarkshire. Owing to a series of severe seasons the tide turned in favour of the Black-Faces on all but the lower and grassy slopes of the mountains, where the Cheviot until this day maintains its position. They are of medium size, approaching the Shropshire in weight. Ewes weigh from 150 to 160 pounds and rams from 180 to 225 pounds. They are white-faced and hornless and are possessed of unusual length of body in contrast with the heath sheep of North Britain. Like most mountain breeds they are relatively light in the fore- quarters, but their hind-quarters are very well developed, producing legs of mutton of very high quality. The mutton of the Cheviot, like that of other mountain breeds, is of excellent quality. It seldom becomes too fat, developing rather a plump carcass of mixed fat and lean which is possessed of fine flavour and tenderness. The wool of the Cheviot belongs to the middle class. The fleece has a tendency to openness and is somewhat longer and coarser than the best type of Shropshire staple, and is rather superior in quality to that of the Oxford. Ewes shear from 6 to 9 pounds and rams from 8 to 12 pounds of unwashed wool. The Cheviot is possessed of extraordinary constitutional vigour. It is highly prolific, the ewes yielding twins more than single lambs. The ewes are unusually attentive to their offspring, which are rapid growers, making a dressed weight of 50 to 60 pounds at six months old. In a general way the form of the Cheviot is much the same as other good mutton breeds. The head, while not too heavy, should be bold and broad, well set off by a bright dark eye and erect ears of moderate length. The nose is Eoman in type, the skin around the mouth being black. The legs, face and ears are covered with clean, hard, white hair. The Cheviot is peculiarly adapted to hilly and rolling sections. It thrives well on even scant pasture, provided it has access to an extended area, and fatten^ readily on roots or good pasture or fodder even without a grain ration. The breed is thoroughly at home in the maritime provinces and the more rugged portions of Quebec, where a. few flocks are now being kept. The Merino. While the Merino has made great progress in the American republic it has not become a popular breed in this country. In Canada, as in Great Britain, a sheep has to possess at least a fair degree of mutton quality in order that it be taken up either by the breeders or the general farmers who keep a few head of sheep. On the ranges, however, the major part of the foundation stock is Merino, and though the mutton ideal is predominant over Canada as a whole, there are evidences that there will con- tinue to be periodical, if not steady, reversions to Merino blood as long as open range is available. This is not due entirely to the superior herding qualities of the Merino, but to the demand of our growing manufacturers for a grade of wool above coarse or medium. Range wools have greatly increased in value within recent years. This should encourage the progress of sheep husbandry, and in this work the Merino will perform an important part. While our interest in the sheep business has been up to the present almost exclusively concerned with the meat side, it must be remembered that mutton is only one, and not the most important one, of our meat products, while wool is a characteristic and peculiar product and it is on the wool side that we should expect to see general improvement in sheep husbandry secured. The Merino is a fine-woolled sheep. It is known to have been bred almost entirely for its fleece since early in the Christian era. For a number of years attention has been paid to the mutton qualities of some families, but as a meat-producer the Merino 31 ranks in sheep no higher than the strictly dairy breeds in cattle. It is quite con- ceivable, however, that the introduction of the Merino families of sheep to the rich grasses and more rigorous air of the upper temperate latitudes will be attended with an improvement in fleshing qualities and general rotundity of form. The Merino is of Spanish origin, but large numbers have been so long bred in Germany and France that certain varieties are now looked upon as belonging to these latter countries. JFor many years importations from various European countries have been made to the United States, where they are bred in more or less distinct classes. These are known as the American, the Delaine and the Rambouillet. The American or Spanish is the smallest and lightest in weight and are still bred almost entirely for fine wool. The Delaine is a heavier bodied sheep with fewer or no wrinkles and of varying uniformity according to the view point of breeders as regards the relative importance of fleece or flesh. The Rambouillet or Trench Merino is the largest of the breed, having been bred and fed for mutton production for many generations both -in Erance and the United States. Weights of individual rams are recorded as high as 400 pounds, and fleeces as heavy as 60 pounds. These, however, are quite exceptional and abnormal. It is probable that such a ram was loaded to the utmost extent with fat and such a fleece with oil or yolk and dirt. Merinos are reared in large numbers in Australia, New Zealand and Argentine, but as already stated, their popularity in North America is chiefly confined to the United States, where some thirty or forty years ago about 95 per cent of the sheep were from Merino foundation stock. In recent years the English breeds have been so rapidly introduced and so numerously bred in the United States that the ratio is greatly changed in favour of the mutton sorts. Over the western plains mutton rams are being used almost exclusively until thousands upon thousands of the sheep and lambs that reach the large United States markets bear one or more English crosses upon Merino foundation. Lambs bred in this way readily partake of the mutton form, and when well fed frequently top the market. From time to time small flocks of pure Merinos have been started in Canada and a small number are being perpetuated in their pure state at the present day, but only as a foundation stock for grading purposes has this breed reached the Dominion in any considerable numbers. To stock up ranges in the western provinces low priced Delaine ewes with some admixture of Eambouillet blood have been imported in large numbers from Montana and other western States, and these are being graded up with rams of mutton breeds. Under range conditions young stock matures slowly and the great bulk of the mutton is disposed of as one, two and three-year-old wethers. Few of the lambs are sold ofi in the fall for immediate killing, but during the past three seasons several thousand head have been fed through the winter on hay and screenings at elevator centres and have come out in excellent condition for the late winter and spring trade. The Merino as a breed is among the lightest of registered sheep, the average ram weighing from 150 to 200 pounds, and ewes from 90 to 130 pounds, but among the Rambouillets as high as 200 pounds in ewes and over 300 pounds in rams are occasionally met with. The breed has proved itself adaptable to a wide range of conditions, doing about equally well on sparsely clothed hills and fertile plains. It withstands crowding and neglect and travelling long distances for food better than other classes of sheep. For these reasons the Merino multiplies well in large bands under range conditions where individual attention cannot be given to the members of the flock, though it is not as prolific by habit as are the English breeds. J3 S P^ 2514—5 Fig. 23.— Dorset Ram. Fig. 24.— Dorset Ewe Lamb. Pig. 26. -Cheviot Ram. Fig. 27.— Cheviot Ewe and Lamb. rig. 28.— Merino Ewe. Fie. 29.— Merino Ram. >1 is. < I o CO ho s 83 ESTABLISHIITG A FLOCK OF COMMERCIAL SHEEP. The advantages at the hand of any intelligent farmer, who wishes to establish a flock of sheep for use in a commercial way at the present time are very much greater than prevailed many years ago in the older provinces of the Dominion. Then the only material at hand for the foundation of a flock of grade sheep was the ' Common Sheep,' as they were frequently called; and common they were indeed in at least two important ways in which the word is used. They prevailed everywhere on the farms of the English-speaking people of the Dominion and they lacked every indication of good breeding, as evidenced by the qualities making for a present-day first-class carcass. But they were hardy and looked out for their own sustenance so well as to be very little •expense to their owner in that way. Yet they were nimble at scaling the fences of those days, and made trouble to him and his neighbours to keep them from feeding on the growing crops. They were rather long legged, shallow bodied and thin fleshed. Their wool was not very fine, though dense and short and usually quite coarse on the hips and thighs, and worse still, became very scarce before two years old, and quite bare on the under parts and the neck. Those who used these sheep as a foundation for flocks found that it took several generations from the use of good mutton type rams of the pure breeds before their crop of lambs would have the uniformity necessary to success. At the present time it is quite different, and the beginner has grade flocks prac- tically pure of the several breeds to choose from, and can commence with a selected flock of grades of whichever breed he may fancy, practically pure to the type of the pure-bred. Por many years the best breeders of all the breeds have been striving to •establish in their respective flocks the same ideal form of carcass, varied only in size. It will be necessary to have this ideal in view when making selections. A well- covered back is required, broad because of well sprung ribs, and wide loin, the flesh -smooth and elastic to the touch — if in good condition, and not soft and blubbery, nor jet hard. In no case should the back bone be in evidence to the touch, if the animal is in good flesh. We should look for long deep full quarters, well filled in the twist, and inside and outside muscles of the thighs. In the points given we have the most valuable parts of the carcass. But in addition we require a good depth of rib, good ■depth and width in front and at the heart, to give room for the vital organs, so we may have sturdy constitution. With these will go a medium length of neck, stronger at the shoulders and well set on. A clean intelligent head and eyes, with nothing sluggish in appearance, bright eyes with reasonable prominence are all desirable. We must be careful to select ewes with good firm bone, and strong, short pasterns, not set back too far, feet of fair size and good shape, the legs straight and set squarely under them. We must pay a great deal of attention to the wool also, in making selections. The heavy shearers — when the quality is right — of whichever breed we have, are the most profitable, and in order to get weight of fleece we must have density of fibres, as well as length of staple. It is of great importance to have it uniform in quality all •over the body, not running to coarseness on the thighs. After we have clearly in mind the type we want, then the thing of greatest importance to us, is to have our selections uniform. There is profit in this because we can sell a uniform bunch of lambs to better advantage, and for a higher price. By uniformity more is meant than that the fiock be of the same type, and similar in size. It means not only that they look alike, but that the individual sheep be uniform in itself, that it has general uniformity, good conformation, not weak in places and •extra good in others. 2514—7 34 Selecting a Bam. In selecting a ram, too, this individual uniformity is particularly important, since in this at least he is really half the flock, and with his better breeding is likely to reproduce his conformation and type in the lambs. A medium size will be found the most desirable, with an inclination to good size rather than undersize if varying any from medium. Eoominess should be looked for in the ewes, as those of that form will be more likely to be good ihothers. Avoid a ewe that is short in the ribs and has a ' tucked up ' appearance. In the ram we must have the same good qualities of carcass and of wool, and should look for more com- pactness and strength, in appearance a good lot of masculinity, a strong, bold carriage, stronger bone, and with all not any above the average size for rams of his breed. He must be pure-bred and typical of the breed we have selected. It is almost invariably a mistake to cross, except for a special purpose. Continuous indiscriminate crossing is always suicidal. The Size of the Flock. A flock of fifteen ewes should be the minimum on a farm of one hundred acres which is devoted to mixed farming. Such a flock can be increased with experience, but not beyond twenty to twenty-five, unless it is desired to make a special business of sheep raising. With good management and good care, an increase through lambs can be expected of from 150 per cent to 175 per cent, and it should be the latter. A flock of this size will, if given opportunity, clean up a very great number of the weeds on a farm, yet we must not make the mistake of expecting them to get all their living ofi the weeds and waste places of the farm, even though it is a good help. Provision for feed supplementary to the pasture, such as rape, which can be very cheaply produced, is generally very profitable, and should always be counted on. Lambs after being weaned gain in weight very rapidly on rape, and when oats are fed along with it towards the finishing for the market, the flesh is firm and good, likely to bring the highest price. If fed on for marketing in March, which is usually the most profitable, the rape makes a good foundation for the winter feeding. These supplementary foods are desirable to develop the flock profitably. Time to Purchase Ewes. The best time to purchase the ewes is August, just after the lambs have been weaned. We can purchase them as cheaply as at any time and can make the best selection if choosing ewes that have raised lambs as their milking qualities and strength can be ascertained. Besides we will have them in good time to prepare for the next crop of lambs. While there is one additional year's usefulness in. a shearling ewe, one that is sixteen or seventeen months old, if she has not had a lamb, still as a rule two-shear ewes are to be preferred in selecting. We have then a guarantee that they are breeders, and have the advantage of being able to judge of those likely to be the best breeders and best milkers. However, very few shearling ewes prove non-breeders. These ewes should have the run of the stubble fields — not sown to clover, or old pastures, until near the middle of September. and then given access to a rape or clover field. If this green food is not plentiful, it will pay to feed a small quantity of grain to make sure the ewes are strong and thriving well when bred. This is the secret of having a large percentage of twins dropped. It may be well, as claimed by some, to breed from ewes themselves twins, but even so, they must be strong and thriving well to have the best results, because not only will we have larger returns, but the lambs will be stronger and more likely to live and do well, providing the treatment of the ewes continue good up to lambing time. 35 ]\![atiiig. The ram also should be hearty, rugged and healthy at the time of coupling Usually stronger lambs are sired by rams one year old or over, yet for a flock of about fifteen ewes, a well developed lamb will give good results, and may be more cheaply purchased, as well as being a year younger and perhaps more valuable when a change of ram is to be made. But when the number of ewes runs up to twenty or more, then an older ram should be secured. In case a lamb is used on from fifteen to twenty-five ewes, which should be avoided if possible, he should not run with them, but should be kept separate or with, say one ewe for company, and allowed with the flock only long enough each morning to serve once such ewes as are ready. More than that is needless and helps to destroy the vitality and usefulness of the ram. If short of help, or if one does not wish to take the time, which need not be much, a ram may be allowed to run with a small flock of ewes during the mating season without much apparent injury, if the ram be matured. However, it is profitable to control a lamb, as he is often more ambitious, and more likely to injure himself, and naturally produces weaker lambs. The profit from the flock is largely dependent upon the number of uniformly well grown lambs we raise, and which we can have by these reasonable precautions, and after care and attention, if the ewes are good milkers. ■Wintering. The flock should be strong and in good flesh when the winter sets in, and they will be, if reasonable provision has been made for fall feed. If in good condition they will be the more cheaply wintered. They can be kept doing well on clover hay and a few roots — say three pounds per head each day and a liberal feed of pea straw. If a little grain be fed for about four weeks before they lamb — one pound per iead each day of mixed oats and bran is good — they will be in good condition when lambing time comes. The grain feed should be doubled after lambing and the quantity of roots (mangels or turnips) increased to nearly all they will eat. This will insure a good flow of milk, and it is during the first two months a lamb is sent on the road to profit or becomes stunted and small. After that age they can more easily be helped by other foods. The reason for not feeding the ewes largely with roots before lambing is that they are bulky and cold, being largely composed of water, and when eaten in large quantities seem to affect the fecetus so the lambs are bom soft and weak and very difficult to save. Either turnips or mangels can be fed to ewes with safety, although very many prefer turnips before lambing and mangels after, because the latter are considered better milk producers. But mangels should never be fed to rams. They have the effect of producing stone in the bladder, and sometimes cause serious loss. Turnips do not have this effect and sheep should have some succulent feed when not on pasture. Ensilage is not a safe food, it often, or generally is too acid, .and will cause severe indigestion, which will in turn cause a loosening of the wool by feverish heat in the skin, and much of the fleece is often lost besides lowering the vitality of the sheep. Lambing Time. The lambing time is the only one when for a few weeks the flock is exacting of the time of the shepherd and his attention. It is very profitable to be often with the ewes at that time to see that the lambs when they are dropped are not allowed to get chilled, or become weak for want of a little nourishment soon after they are born. It is well to have a few little pens, which can, be readily made with movable hurdles in one end or corni,er of the large pen. The ewes seldom refuse to mother their lambs when they are separated from the flock, and alone with them. Ewes seldom require any assistance in lambing, but often a little prompt help to a weakly lamb will save its life, and after they are once on their feet, and have found the teat, are very little 2514^74 36 more trouble, unless the ewe is a poor milker, when it will be profitable to assist the lambs with a little cow's, milk until they eat well. Their tails should be docked when the lambs are not more than ten days old. If left longer, or until they get very plump and fat, death sometimes ensues from the shock, and occasionally from loss of blood. The latter can often be prevented by tying a cord tightly around the tail just above the place of cutting, and danger from the former is lessened by cutting one joint or so longer. The ram lambs should be castrated at the same time. Shearing and Dipping. Shearing should be done as early in the spring as possible. The beginning of April is usually a good time. Very soon after the ewes have lambed, or, if they come in later than that, then before they have lambed. If not shorn until after lambing, then all tags srhould be trimmed from around the udder before or immediately after lambing. If this is neglected, the lambs sometimes will suck those tags and swallow them, frequently causing balls of wool to form in the stomach, which cause inflamma- tion and death. This occurs also sometimes when sheep are allowed to get very much infested with lice or ticks, causing them to bite and pull out their wool, swallowing a portion of it, and the balls form in the same way. Just as soon as the weather is warm enough in the spring, all the sheep and lambs sihould be well dipped in some of the good dips that are sold. A vat can be very cheaply made for this purpose and the work quickly done. They should be dipped again in the fall, before the weather gets very oold. A haK-day for the purpose is a Trery profitable investment ; vermin left on the sheep to go into the winter will be very expensive for the owner. / 1 The Flock at Pasture, After the flock has gone to the pasture, they will not be much trouble except to see that they have plenty of clean water and salt. To have plenty of clean water all the year round is very important to insure the thrift of the flock. Do not let them depend on snow in winter — they will not do so well — nor let them drink from a stagnant pool at any time. They are very liable to take parasites into their system, which will cause trouble. If it can be arranged to give the flock a change of pasture every two or three weeks, and not necessarily to better pasture, they will thrive and do much better. To alternate them between two fields every few weeks will answer the purpose. Weaning. Augusit, from 1st to 15th, is a good time to wean the lambs. They will do better after that if separated from the ewes, and are given a nice fresh bit of clover or rape to run on, and besides it gives the ewes a chance to recuperate and gain in flesh. The ewes' udders should be watched closely for a short time after weaning, and stripped out, when necessary, until the milk has left them. If any have bad or spoiled udders they should be marked for drafting out, and careful note should be made of which are the best milkers. One of the important things that make for success, is in having the ewes good milkers; other things being equal the good milkers raise the best lambs. The lambs' as well as the ewes' tails should be trimmed neatly square across up to the stump of the tail before being turned on fresh green feed such as rape or clover so they will not soil their wool so much behind if they become soft in their dropping, which they often do. Precautions in Rape Feeding. When lambs or ewes are turned into rape they should have access to other pasture, else sometimes their ears, and occasionally the whole head will swell, and blister as when frozen, and often the ears will drop off. If allowed other pasture with the rape 37 there is very little danger. Sometimes losses come from bloating when the sheep or lambs first have access to the rape, or even to fresh clover. But this can be avoilJed by a little reasonable care. They should never be allowed to feed on the rape the first time when any moisture from dew or rain is on the leaves. A nice siunny afternoon is a desirable time, and then they should have had a hearty meal of some other food before being turned on. They will eat greedily of the rape at first, but afterwardsi will take several days before they will fill up on it again, and then the danger is past if they have other pasture on which they can feed at will. Further reference to pre- cautionary measures necessary in rape feeding appears in the chapter on ' Feeds and Feeding.' Before sheep are allowed into any field after July first, where they have not been before that summer, all burrs of any kind or ' pitchforks ' should be carefully removed. If permitted to get into the fleece they are unsightly looking, and depreciate the value of the wool. Culling Out. The ewe lambs from the best ewes and the best milkers should, if well developed, and promising, be marked at weaning time, and from these tlie selections should be made to keep in the flock, always being careful to retain those as near the ideal type as possible. They should be liberally fed to insure growth and development, but it is not necessary to feed extravagantly at all. They should not be bred until they pass one year old. If bred when lambs they are retarded in their growth and seldom make as vigorous ewes. Their lambs are often smaller, and not of so much account. The best of these shearling ewes should be selected in the fall to replace those drafted from the ewe flock for any reason. But do not cast out an old good ewe that ia also a good breeder and milker for a young ewe unless her teeth have failed or for spoiled udder. The ewes will now be used in the same way as described for the first year. Those with defective udders or which have proved unthrifty and those that are not good milkers should be drafted and fed with the wether and ewe lambs for market. Their places for this year being filled by purchase. If the lambs are to be sold in the fall, say October, they will generally give a profit for a small feed of grain each day, yet, if the green feed be plentiful they will usually be fat and heavy enough without any grain. Before being offered for sale they should be made as presentable as possible, by trimming their tails nicely, as well as all tags, &c., that may detract from their appearance. Some successful shepherds say it pays well to wash them carefully if they be long wools, and probably they are right; it certainly improves their appear- ance very much. Generally it will be found most profitable to keep the lambs over until March, feeding them well with clover, hay, roots and some grain. At that season they are usually exported either to the United States or to Great Britain, where heavier lambs are desired. In addition to the large gain they will make in weight they usually bring a much better price per pound. If it is desired to establish a special sheep farm, or devote the whole farm to sheep raising it will still be better for the beginner, if without sheep keeping experience, to have only a small flock at first, as already described, and the flock will usually increase as fast as the average man can prepare and accommodate his farm to the special purpose, and furnish suitable housing, yards, &c. Possibly if the farm be not suitable for any other kind of farming, that is, very rough and hilly, he may begin with a larger flock, but even under such conditions, he had better go slowly until he has had a year or two of experience. In any case, to have success with sheep raising, as with any other business, a man's close observation and individuality will play a very large part in his study of others' success and advice which can be only an assistance and not a rule to follow without careful consideration of one's own conditions, and a free use of good judgment. 38 TYPES OF MUTTON SHEEP. Type in mutton sheep and profit in the industry are closely associated and these are greatly influenced by the character of the breeding of the flock. The standard of type or quality is the fitness of the animal for the purpose for which it is raised. Unless the sheep yields a plump carcass of palatable and nourishing mutton and a fleece of wool suitable for the manufacture of high-class fabrics it is a failure and not worthy of the shepherd's care. Unless it can do this economically, or sufficiently so to leave a profit to its feeder, it lacks something that its owner should endeavour to supply in the succeeding crops of lambs. Fortunately the better the breeding, or the more improved blood a sheep contains, the better carcass it yields and the more economically it is reared and finished for the market. Improvement of breeds has been in the direction of development of the parts of most value on the block together with increase of carcass to live weight and the hastening of maturity. The pure-bred sheep, or the animal that possesses the character- istics of the pure-bred, and these are never found in the common unimproved speci- men, is the cheapest to raise, earliest to mature, and sells for the highest price per pound. The advanced mutton raisers recognize this and invariably use the pure-bred sire, knowing it is the profitable course even though the ram costs two or more times as much as even a good grade could be bought for. He knows the improvement he will make is assured and in large measure permanent even to all the generations that follow. With every succeeding improved cross uniform excellence is more firmly established until the flock ceases to give inferior, unprofitable stock. Each ewe is a good mutton sheep and when mated with a strong, pure-bred male, barring accidents, ill-health and bad treatment, she yields a lamb of assured excellence. The type has become fixed and she cannot do otherwise. How many sheep raisers fail utterly to appreciate this simple, self-evident truth, and how dearly they pay for their backwardness! In every province the grade, and in many cases the scrub sire are still in use. In like proportion are inferior lambs being raised. To learn the causes of the difierences in the quality of lambs from different sections the writer visited districts noted for poor, fair and good lambs. Directed by extensive sheep dealers familiar with the several sources of supply, camera in hand, journeys were taken and farms visited. Unfortunately the wildness of some of the most inferior specimens made photography difficult and representatives of a number of run-out fiocks seen can not be published. Enough are shown, however, together with the figures representing the weights of shipments to teach the important lessons. District No. 1, representing wide areas in each of several provinces, turns out a class of lambs of unspeakably poor quality. The weights run in October and November from 50 to Y5 pounds, with an average of little more than 60 pounds. They are not only light, but poor, unprofitable specimens, alike to the raiser and the butcher that sells them to the householders. Their legs are long, thighs thin and backs bare, presenting little for the cook to do much with. In the shambles they dress out very light carcasses — not over 45 per cent of their live weight. For this reason the dockage by the drover is heavy, which leaves the grower a very small return for his lamb crop, so small indeed that he doubts whether or not sheep raising is a profitable industry. The camera yields some of the secrets of the inferior stock. Such a thing as a pure-bred sire is unknown in these districts, and it is difficult to find even a passable grade at the head of the flock. As a rule the most upstanding, lusty lamb of his or his neighbour's unimproved flock is brought into requisition year after year, with the sure result of a run-out, degenerated race. It is in these sections that the black lamb is most common, and he is almost invariably a light weigher wherever found. Figs. 31 and 32 show a ram and group of ewes typical of the stock in district No. 1, while Fig. 33 truly represents the lambs from these. 39 Bad breeding is not entirely to blame for the inferior lambs produced. The flocks are little valued and are fed and housed accordingly. In the winter they receive little more than straw, and no matter how bare the pasture becomes in summer no extra food is given. Ticks hold full sway, and the division of the sexes is not thought pf until the lambs are shipped out to market. It may be noted that the average clip in many unimproved flocks is not higher than from 4 to 5 pounds per head. From district No. 2 lambs running from 60 to 90 pounds are produced. Here the value of improved blood and better methods of feeding are beginning to be recog- nized. The common ram is giving place to the grade, and occasionally a low-priced pure-bred is brought in. With this forward step better feeding and care are naturally exercised, with improving stock as a consequence. Grade sires are being used in this district, which is slowly but surely emerging from primitive methods. Here we find an occasional man growing roots and clover hay for winter f eding, while some atten- tion is being given to castration and the general welfare of the stock, with the result that the majority of the lambs surpass the weight limit that entitles them to the top marke price. The flocks shear from 6 pounds to 8 pounds per head, and on the whole the sheep industry is in a prosperous condition. District No. 3 produces a very good class of lambs, many of which find their way to the Buffalo and New York markets. They are well fleshed ; many of them wethers that command the best price in any market. They weigh from 80 to 110 pounds each in October and November, and dress out from 55 to 60 per cent of carcase. The owners here have long since given up the use of grade sires, and many are not afraid of a fairly stiff price for a good ram. While sires of most of the mutton breeds, including the Shropshire, Southdown, Oxford, Leicester, Cotswold and Lincoln, may be found in perhaps only slightly varying proportion, only the photographs of the two breeds, Leicester and Oxford, were secured. Figs. 36 and 37 represent rams in service in grade flocks. Fig. 34 shows a group of grade ewes, while Fig. 35 represents lambs produced by such parentage. In these flocks lambs grading as culls are never found; in fact practically one hundred per cent of the lambs are of first quality, commanding not infrequently a price slightly in advance of the highest published quotations. Even on a glutted market these well bred lambs will sell, as buyers are constantly on the outlook for choice stock. Many of the grade flocks show the result of changing from long wool to Down sires. Broad backed, massive dams, some with brown, others with speckled or grey faces, are the pride of their owners on many good farms. They shear from 8 to 12 and occasionally 14 pounds of good wool, and when their usefulness in the flock is past they quickly fatten up and sell for a good price. The highest quality of carcass is produced by these ideal mutton sheep. It gives a thick cut of muscle or lean meat, and has sufficient fat to suit the fastidious palate. Many lessons in shepherding may he learned from the practices of men in these sections. The wants of the sheep are as carefully looked after as those of the cows, and as a rule the former are much the more profitable. Clover hay is the sheep feed generally used, and many grow turnips for the housing season. Mr. Chaa. Moore, an enthusiastic sheep raiser, living in the northwestern corner of Carleton county, Ontario, finds great satisfaction in the use of mixed grain unthreshed for wintering his flock. While he used turnips liberally the lambs came soft, and slow to get on their feet, while since the mixed grain diet has been adopted the lambs come strong and able to look after themselves at once. The mixture he favours consists of oats, wheat and barley, and it is harvested on the green side. This with clover hay is the winter diet of Mr. Moore's sheep, and a grand flock they are. No male lambs escape the knife on his. farm, which is not the case on too many of the farms of his neigh- bours. Nor is the long-tailed sheep, that tell-tale of siemi-neglect, to be seen there Districts Nos. 1, 2 and 3 are not circumscribed by definite geographical boun- daries. The first, as may be inferred, represents the thoroughly backward localities^ where the soil is inferior, farmers poor and lacking in enterprise. 40 The second occupies a wide and scattered territory, even reacliing into good agri- cultural sections where, unfortunately, second-rate fanners are too often found. As a rule district No. 2 occupies what may be termed the ' back townships ' of moderately progressive counties. In this district owing to peculiarly favourable conditions for sheep husbandry many good lambs are raised, but the high percentage of culls renders the average of quality comparatively low. If the losses being sustained year after year through the use of grade sires were fully appreciated the enormous yearly exodus of pure-bred rams to the United States, which is building up the mutton industry of the American farmer, would in large measure be discontinued, because the home field would absorb the good available stock. Such a condition would insure prosperity for the pure-bred as well as the commercial flock master of Canada. The remaining ' district ' occupies the best farming sections, where not only high-class sheep but superior cattle and excellent horses are reared. Farmers here have learned to make the best of their opportunities, and in this they find great profit in the use of the pure-bred male, be he sheep, horse or hog. Fig 31.— Group of Scrub Ewes. Fig. 32.— Scrub Ram. Fig. 34. — Group of Grade Ewes. II 35. — Group of Grade Lambs. M 36. — Leicester Ram at Head of Grade Flock. II 37.— Oxford Ram at Head of Grade Flock. 1 41 MUTTON PRODUCTION IN GREAT BRITAIN. In Canada the raising of mutton lias not received the attention that has been accorded to the production of beef, pork or dairy products. In Great Britain, and to a considerable extent in the United States, commercial mutton raising constitutes an important branch of agriculture. In Canada it is confined chiefly to a limited branch of mixed farming, and as such receives comparatively little attention. Nowhere is better mutton produced than in Great Britain, and no branch of the live stock industry in the ' Old Land ' is more profitable than sheep raising. There it is conducted as a highly specialized industry for the purpose of gaining a livelihood after paying high rents and other heavy expenses. Both in England and Scotland the flocks of breeding ewes run high up into the hundreds, and each is in charge of an intelligent shepherd trained in many instances from his boyhood in the management of sheep for profit. In many cases one or more under-shepherds are engaged and these men devote their whole time to the tending of the sheep. It is realized that what is worth doing should be well done, and with this idea only the profitable members of the flock are maintained and these are made to yield their best returns. The crop rotation followed is dictated by the needs of the sheep and when food is purchased due consideration is given to securing only the sorts that best suit the purpose for which they are fed. So long has the sheep industry been established in Britain upon an extensive commercial basis the general system of feeding and breeding varies comparatively little and then only as the conditions of the land and environments demand. Everywhere the succulent root is extensively grown, and wherever sheep are reared specially sown pasture grasses are to be found. It is also a rule of the mutton maker to feed ' cake ' to his fattening stock, though its purchase demands a heavy expenditure of money. It has been learned that a thrifty condition of the system is of first importance and after that nourishing food. The outdoor life of the stock, together with succulent root and pasture rations, guarantee the health of the sheep, while the generous use of the highly nutritious compressed linseed or cottonseed meal given with other concentrated food is turned to good account in the systems of the animals. While more or less uniformity characterizes the methods of old country shepherds most flocks have a character of their own. The breeder carries his type of sheep about with him in his mind's eye and it is the impress of the mind of the breeder reduced to palpable form that guides his selection of breeding stock. Defects from a breeding or marketing standpoint are quickly noticed, and such rams as are strong where the ewes are weak are invariably selected for the coming generation. A successful shepherd will not forgive pronounced weak points, as he sees them, and hence his flock will strongly reflect his fancy. The old established flocks do not vary much in their make up from year to year. The same farm visited at the same season on different years will present about the same appearance so far as the flock is concerned. Ewes that reach a certain age are put into market conditions and disposed of and carefully selected ewe lambs are called in to fill the breach. Haphazard methods find no place on the British sheep farm and definite uniform results are consequently looked for and in large measure realized. Sheep raising undoubtedly finds its highest development on the farms where pure- bred flocks are reared. Most, if not all of these, are commercial flocks, that is to say, large numbers of sheep are annually fatted and sold to the butcher trade. Only^ the choice representatives carrying a maximum of breed type and excellence are maintained and perpetuated as pedigreed stock. The pure-bred flocks of England run from two or three hundred up to one thousand head or more of ewes. This number in addition to quite an extensive stock of cattle and horses is maintained on farms of 450 to 500 acres. The system of herding, very commonly adopted, makes it possible to carry this heavy stock. Such 42 crops as rye grass, orcliard grass, red clover and sainfoin produce luxuriantly on the rich soil made so by years of intensive sheep culture. Rape, roots, cabbage and the like are also grown for the sheep, and unless at such seasons of the year as rapid gains or development are desired the various branches of the flock are inclosed vrithin the hurdles, receiving in addition to the generous forage a bite of oil cake or other strong ration. During the early summer and again after the lambs are weaned the matrons and perhaps the young ewes usually have their liberty on pasture, but even here much travel is not necessary to secure a belly full. Teed seems abundant every- where, and it is kept so by frequent changes of run and judicious management in other ways. After the lambs are weaned they are corstantly confined to the hurdles, winter vetches, tall oat grass and clovers almost hiding the youngsters in their lot from that time onward. In addition they receive once or twice daily an allowance of crushed oats and oil cake. The hurdles are moved each day, leaving behind closely cropped ground and taking in an abundance to eat. On many farms the ewes that are pastur- ing on grass are given access to the plots gone over by the lambs eagerly picking off the stems which they relish by way of change. This constant changing has much to do with the thrift so much in evidence in the average British flock. By taking advantage of this nothing is lost and the ground is again given opiwrtunity to reclothe itself, to be again gone over in the course of a few weeks. To this end successions of crops are sown wherever opportunity offers. Mangels and turnips frequently follow a pasture crop and those come on to be fed off either where they stand in the field or are doled out day by day in troughs during the winter and spring and even well into the summer following. Mangels seem to be almost perpetually on hand on the English sheep farm. They are fed on pasture as well as on dry feed and are highly valued for the variation in the diet and their beneficial influence upon the digestive organization. In the South of England. In the south of England much land is devoted to sheep raising. In the Dorset section Dorset ewes are bred twice or three times to Dorset rams and once to a Down ram, after which they are fed to be sold, ewe, lamb and all for the block. In this way the breding flock is kept pure, the ewes are turned off at an age to suit the market, and the half-Down lambs dropped in the early winter command the highest price of the year. Here the sheep receive full consideration in the farming operations. The rotation is a short one, consisting of wheat, followed by grass and clover to be fed off by sheep. This may lie but one year, part of it being made into hay. Some vetches are grown to be fed green or as hay, and a considerable breadth of turnips are followed by wheat again. Here the sheep are hurdled on the land from which they carry away very little if any fertility. The key-note of the sheep husbandry here, as in other parts of England, is flrst the hurdle, then the newly sown field, and then the faithful shepherd. In Canada we lack the favourable winter so valuable to the British sheep keeper, but all other conditions are favourable for the highest development of the sheep industry. Perhaps what would be hardest to get is the faithful trained shepherd, who lives for his care and is always looking for the most promising ewe lambs to replenish the flock. Mutton Making in Scotland. Commercial mutton raising is a highly developed industry in parts of Scotland. Some sheep farms carry only what is known as a ' flying stock ' — that is to say the sheep whether bred on the place or bought in are kept upon the farm for only one year or less. On other farms stocks of ewes of regular ages are maintained. Where the former practice is in vogue, ewes that have raised three crops of lambs are bought in September, and with their lambs axe sold fat the next spring or early summer. By many half-bred (Leicester-Cheviot or Leicester-Blackfaced) ewes are preferred, but Oxford Downs and Suffolks are also purchased to turn off. Pure-bred Leicester and 43 Oxford rams are generally employed on these ewes. In the autumn lambs also are bought in to consume what turnips and grass there may be available, and to be marketed when fat on in the winter or spring. The practice described is especially adaptable to rich land on which a short crop rotation is the rule. Here the grass land lies only one year, or two at most. On higher lying or poorer farms that maintain a considerable area of old grass pastures flocks are maintained throughout the year and from year to year. As a rule the ewes are half-breds of the same crosses as already mentioned. These are mated ■with pure-bred Leicester or pure-bred Oxford rams, or in some cases Hampshires, Suffolks or Shropshires. It is the practice of many to divide the flock into two divi- sions about equal in number. On the old pasiture the half consists of one-third bought in shearlings to have their first crop of lambs, one-third two-year olds and! one-third a year older to have their third crop of lambs. The progeny of this half of the sheep stock is mostly kept on for feeding for the market on turnips. The second half of the ewe stock isi made up of first, three-crop ewes that have been transferred from the first to the second half of the stocky in which they form about one-third of the necessary number; and second, double this proi)ortion of ewes of the same age bought in from farmers who dispose of their ewes after their third crop of lambs. These old ewes are bred early in the fall so as to have their fourth crop of lambs ready for the fat market, to which both ewes and lambs are sent. The feed grown upon the farm consists of grass and turnips. Great care is exer- cised in seeding to grass. For a single season's pasture a mixture composed of 12^ pounds Italian rye grass, 14 pounds of timothy and 10 pounds of red clover is sown per acre. When seeding for a longer period a favourite mixture is 12 pounds Italian rye grassi, 6 pounds perennial rye grass, 14 pounds timothy, 4 pounds red clover, 4 pounds alsike, 3 pounds white and 2 pounds trefoil or yellow clover. This seems a heavy seeding, but the Scottish farmer finds such a seeding pays in mutton. It enables a heavy stock to be carried on the land, and the variety provided enaures rapid gains of the sheep and lambs. The turnip crop is of great importance. For the fall months the white variety known as Greystone is used. When these are eaten oS a later sort of green top white comes into use, and by the new year the swedes may be turned upon or fed by hand. To use swedes early is found to be injurious to the lambs, even proving fatal at times. Flocks Renewed Each Season. In seasons of good grass about two ewes' per acre are purchased in September. These are kept upon grass until bred. A supply of turnips are hauled to the field for a short time before the mating season, which commences about the middle of September, to build them up. It is believed that ewes produce more twinsi when thriving well at mating time. From 40 to 50 ewes are allowed to each ram. After the mating time as the winter advances hand feeding is necessary. Turnips are supplied in moderate quantity, about 1,400 pounds being given to 100 ewes. They also receive cotton cake up to a pound each. Near lambing time about a quarter of a pound per head of a mixture of bran and oats is given. In frosty weather the siupply of turnips is reduced and hay is liberally fed. As lambing time approaches the most forward ewes are drawn out to be inclosed in small groups to avoid crowding, and as these are able to leave for the open field others are brought in to take their place. When the lambs are able to look after themselves they are turned with their mothers into pastures, where hurdles laced with straw are erected for shelter. The most forward lambs are selected for the earliest and best young grass pasture in order to be rushed along to catch the high prices early in the season. All are brought along as rapidly as possible, and disposed of as they are ready. The treatment of store lambs bought in is interesting. The sales_ of these com- mence about the end of July and continue o.n into the autumn. Care is taken not to over-stock, as rapid gains are desired. These are placed in good pasture, and grain 44 feeding is commenced. Oats, bran and cotton cake or oil cake are fed in very moderate quantities at first and gradually increased at the discretion of the shepherd. Large flocks together are avoided, the numbers not exceeding one hundred head. The lots are made up according to siize and condition, and disposed of one lot after another as they become fit for market without disturbing the others. The space given each lot depends upon the length of the field to be fed off and the number of lots; the breadth of each division is usually about fifty yards — the length of hurdle nets employed. In the district referred to wire nets are used for the side divisions and string nets in front, whereas in many parts of England wooden hurdles woven from wands are used. The amount of attention devoted to the fattening lambs would astonish many Canadian sheep raisers. Every inducement is given the sheep to consume as many turnips as possible, as rapid gains are desired in order to get the stock off to market with the least possible delay. Baskets are filled in the evening to be ready for early feeding in the morning. As early in the morning as light will allow the shepherd feeds in separate boxes as much cotton cake as will be eaten up clean in an hour. At the same time the turnips prepared the previous evening are fed in the proper troughs. Only a few are given the first round in order to get all the lots busy at the troughs. The feeder then comes back to the first lot and leaves as many cut turnips as will cover the bottoms of the troughs two or three inches deep, and continues to serve all the lots in the same manner again and again during the whole day. By this system of frequently supplying freshly cut roots, the sheep are induced to the troughs to partake of more food. At three o'clock in the afternoon a supply of cotton cake is given as in the early morning and in the evening the turnip troughs are filled for the night. A rack of hay is placed in each inclosure and is replenished every afternoon. This daily routine is continued until the sheep are sent fat to the market. 45 FATTENIXG SHEEP IN CANADA. While a very large percentage of sheep and lambs that are marketed direct from the farms go right off the pasture with no special preparation in the way of fattening, many progressive and thorough, sheep raisers fatten their stock as they do their beef cattle and hogs in order to secure the best prices for their product. A finished article is always in demand at a valuation in advance of that sold in leaner condition. A finished mutton sheep, like the finished bacon hog, is not the heavy over fat animal that was looked for many years ago. Consumers are more delicate in their taste and discriminating in their choice than in the past, and therefore want their mutton or lamb lean, tender and juicy. While this is true, a thin, lean carcass is not a desirable article of diet and therefore should not be sent ofE the farm unless to be fed in some other man's feed lot until ready for the purpose for which mutton sheep are grown. Owing to limited supplies of sheep in every province of the Dominion even the lean, skinny specimens will sell, although of course at a lower price per pound than those which kill out plump carcasses. If bred from low-set well-bred stock and are well fed and cared for until the autumn both lambs and older sheep are usually about as fat as the market demands. On account of the natural tenderness of the lambs all the flesh they carry is juicy and well flavoured. If, however, the market is over-stocked and it is desired to hold over until the price has improved, the stock should be put on a fattening diet until finished. The market is usually very good from the middle of February onward, and the stock should be ready to top the market by the time one chooses to sell. After the lambs are weaned the wethers, and others to be fattened, should have access to a variety of pasture. An old grass field is very useful by way of a change, but an additional plot of aftermath, clover, lucerne or rape or a combination of these will supply an excellent bill of fare. A feed in the morning of oats- and bran is not lost on fattening lambs — it will increase the gains and reduce the risks of illness from an over succulent diet. The salt supply should never be allowed to run out at this season particularly when the white frosts appear. An over-feed of salt is dangerous on a succulent diet. Eather than give salt irregularly in the autumn it is safer to withhold it altogether at this season. Indeed many are adopting this latter plan. No drinking water is needed by sheep pasturing on rape or lucerne. Autumn is the natural season for all animals to flesh up, and every advantage should be taken to aid the process. With the advent of frosty nights care must be taken to not only hold the weight made, but to continue the increase as rapidly as possible. The appetites are keen and unless flesh is being deposited each and every day the food that is eaten is lost to the owner. To guard against any check it is well to furnish a morning feed of well saved clover. The lambs will relish it and begin to thrive anew. It is the practice of many cautious feeders, anxious to keep down the mortality to a minimum, to bring up the flock to a grass plot in the evening and have a feed of hay ready when they arrive, or in a separate yard to be turned into the first thing in the morning. It is not a bad practice to provide a feed of grain in the evening and the hay or both in the morning before turning them out for the day. Lambs cared for in this way will put on weight very rapidly. It is remarkable how many sheep can be fattened on a comparatively small area of land sown to the proper crops. Winter Fattening. The principle of avoiding extreme changes of diet observed by all careful feeders, should be strictly adhered to when the housing season arrives. The daily feeds of hay and grain for a few weeks before winter seals up the ground and renders pasturing unprovidable is a fine preparation for complete hand feeding. As the rape, 46 lucerne or whatever outside crop has been the chief diet fails, roots may be gradually substituted. The hay will have to be increased to all the lambs will clean up twice or three times daily and the grain ration may be gradually augmented as well. The chief thing to aim at is to keep the feeders gaining and thus paying for their diet as they go along. The selection of a grain ration is a matter depending upon the market and the crops grown at home. It is generally wise to avoid purchasing feed if it can be siatis- factorily raised on the farm. In planning the sowing of the different fields of the farm in spring the fattening lambs should be provided for as far as is consistent with the suitability of the s;oil and other conditions. Oats are peculiarly suited to sheep feeding. This grain is nourishing and safe to feed; it will go well with other grains, and as a crop is easily grown. Two parts oats, one part peas and one part bran is a good ration for sheep of any class. Com substituted for the peas answers well. Towards the end of the finishing period the heavy part of the ration may be increased to fully three-quarters by weight. Oil cake is highly valued by many sheep feediers. It may be substituted for the bran, when the proportion of heavy grain should accordingly be diminished. From half a pound to one and one-half pounds of grain per head per day according to the ends to be attained constitutes a fattening ration, when the coarse fodder used is fed liberally and of good quality. The practice of feeders differ with localities. An extensive feeder, Mr. Thos. Shillinglaw, in Huron county, who buys in lambs • and sheep to fatten, in some seasons usesi rape and grass as the chief ration. Until the housing season arrives no grain is given, but after that date clover hay and grain are fed, and the flock allowed on the rape one hour twice daily until about Christmas or until snow buries the feed. The sheep thrive finely on this diet, and) are sold as soon as the rape feeding is finished, as it has been found that satisfactory grains are difficult to secure for some weeks after the rape is done. The grain ration used usually consists of a mixture of oats and peas, oats and corn, and sometimes barley is added. About one pint of grain per head per day in two feeds is the usual rate of feeding. Lambs weighing 90 pounds on October 1st weight about 110 pounds at Christmas. These weights constitute the average of 600 head. In North York, Mr. Robert SomerviUe raises and feeds about one hundred ewe and wether lambs. In the fall grass pasture is the chief dependence, but either rape or kale is provided also. When taken from the fields lucerne hay and pulped turnips are liberally fed, and a grain ration of oata and barley or peas is commenced at the rate of one pint per day for each animal in two feeds. The lambs are usually finished in January, when sold, weighing about 120 pounds each. The breeding flock consists of grade Oxford ewes and pure-bred Oxford rams. A further discussion of foods occurs elsiewhere in this bulletin. It is of the first importance that for the well-doing of any class of live stock that the animals be comfortaible. Unless proper precautions are taken sheep are almost sure to be more or less infested with ticksi, and perhaps the more minute form of vermin-lice, a more irritating insect than the former. To rid sheep of these pests they should be thoroughly dipped wi-th one or other of the reliable commercial prepara- tions, which not only destroy the vermin but clean the skin, reducing irritation and unrest to a minimum. Feed to a Tinish. Market sheep should not be siold until finished nor should they be fed for a longer period. If a portion of the flock is behind the others in this respect and it is desired to ship out the entire flock at once the leaner ones should be separated out and pushed along more rapidly. One requires some training to be able to judge when a sheep ia finished. In well-bred sheep the back is a safe guide, but inferior ones may be bare on the back and still be fairly fat. To examine a sheep for fatness the hand should be laid firmly on the back, palm downwards, and moved from side to side. In a finished sheep the spine is well covered, presenting a cushiony rubbery feel. In adAi- 47 tion the tail and breast should be examined. In a finished sheep the tail carries considerable plumpness, while an examination of the brisket shows fulness on either side, filling the space between that and the leg. An over-fat sheep carries a consider- able depth of fat low down on the fore ribs and a sagging condition on each side of the brisket. The market does not want extremely fat sheep. Fig. 41 showa a cross- section of a finished sheep. Fig. 39 shows a carcase much too fat for the trade,, while Fig. 40 shows an unfinished carcass. Fig. 38 shows a group of finished ewes selected on Toronto market by experienced butchers. These ewes weigh from 140 pounds to 155 pounds each. Spring Market Good. The practice of selling off the great bulk of lambs in the autumn leaves the market very bare of freshly killed young sheep during the late winter andl spring months. The chief source of mutton supply at that season is the frozen carcasses' tha,t were stored away at the beginning of winter. Such meat is not the sort to satisfy a high-class trade, so that the price of good yearling mutton is always at a premium at that season. Fattening on Screenings. During the past few years sheep and lamb feeding has been carried on quite extensively at grain shipping centres in Canada. At Moosejaw, Sask., Port Arthur, Ont., and other points sheep fattening has become an important industry. At these places very large quantities of elevator screenings, consisting of broken and small wheat, weed seeds and short pieces of straw, are cleaned out of the wheat prior to reshipping. The value of this material as food for fattening sheep and lambs is very high, producing rapid gains in weight and mutton of excellent quality. Previous to the fall of 1905 large quantities of screenings were annually exported from Fort William and Port Arthur to feeding yards in Minnesota, but since then this by-product has been fed at Port Arthur. The transactions of the season 1905-6 and 1906-7 proved highly profitable alike to the elevator people and the sheep feeders. The screenings were marketed at a good valuation, stated to be about $10 to $12 per ton. Lambs weighing from 50 to 60 pounds were purchased at Alberta ranges. The first season 4,000 head were secured from $2 to $2.50 per head, but in the fall of 1906 fully 10,000 head were handled. The demand by this time created by feeding operators increased the price a dollar or more per head. The feeding period lasted about one hundred days, when the lambs were turned off without their fleeces weighing from 90 to nearly 100 pounds each. They were marketed chiefly at Winnipeg and Toronto at values up to $7.25 per cwt. The sheep were inclosed in open yards surrounded by sheds with only back and roof. In the yards were racks for hay and large roofed self-feeding hoppers kept con- stantly supplied with screenings. The lambs were shorn in March, after which they made very rapid gains until sold between April 15 and a month later. At Moosejaw the feeding industry is conducted on a somewhat less extensive scale. Whereas at Port Arthur the feeding is done in open yards, at Moosejaw closed pens are employed, but are left sufficiently open for good ventilation. The pens are not floored. The internal equipment is about the same as at Port Arthur, embracing self-feeders and a constant supply of good water. In addition to lambs of a character similar to those fed at Port Arthur, a large number of wethers from one to two years old and ewes of various ages have been fattened at Moosejaw. To look after some 3,000 head three men were employed — two to do the feeding and keep the sheds in order, and one to look after the business of keeping on hand a stock of feed and marketing the finished sheep. The sheep were shorn here as at Port Arthur in March and marketed between the middle of April and the middle of May. Most of the stock was sold to local butchers, weighing about 124 pounds per head. As high as $7 per cwt. was received for much of the stock. 48 The feeding transactions carried on at Port Arthur and Moosejaw have been, highly profitable to the operators and of great benefit to the sheep raising industry of the west. It is the opening up of a new and extensive outlet for range stock too thin for the best markets, but which when fattened is of excellent quality, commanding a high figure and greatly increasing the demand for and consumption of mutton. The information that has been secured by the feeding of sheep at Moosejaw, Port Arthur, and other points, upon screenings and refuse grains has been the means of placing the sheep raising industry of western Canada upon a much higher plane than it has hitherto occupied. It is now realized that as a means of converting thousands of tons of the seeds of noxious weeds into a highly valuable product sheep occupy first position. While they are doing this they are building up a mutton trade that cannot fail to be of growing importance to, first the sheep raiser and second the country at large. A new era has dawned for the sheep industry of the prairie provinces of Canada. Fig. 38— Group of finished Ewes. Fig. 39 — Cross Sections of a Carcass much too fat. Fig. 40 — Cross Sections of a Carcass too thin for the Trade. 2514— p. 49 Fig. 41— Cross Sections of a Finished Carcass. 49 FROM THE BLOCK TO THE TABLE. While mutton is one of the most healthful of meat foods produced upon the farm, it is not as popular as beef or pork with the average Canadian family. In Britain and other countries where sheep of the mutton breeds are intelligently reared and fattened, and the meat properly prepared, this class of flesh holds its place with the other staple sorts that enter into the daily consumption of the people. In countries where wool production is the chief consideration of the sheep raiser mutton is not a desirable food, because the quality of the flesh is of a low order, lacking in desirable flavour and texture. It is only in recent years that mutton joints have won a place on the menu cards of the best restaurants in United States cities. Until the American sheep grower introduced the mutton breeds and finished the product of his flocks as he did his cattle and his hogs before marketing, mutton was an unpopular food in the United States. A score or more years ago, eight-cent lambs and six-cent yearlings were not sought by the trade as is frequently the case now. Mutton may be palatable and nourishing or, on the other hand, a tough, woolly-tasting product, according to the method of its production and preparation. No other class of meat is so subject to improvement as mutton. In recent years the general marketing of sheep before one- year old has increased mutton consumption in Canada many fold. This is more particularly true in towns and cities that have the advantage of discriminating markets and well conducted abbatoirs. Butchers that secure their stock of mutton from these sources are able to offer their customers mutton of a quality that appeals to a refined ' and discriminating taste. The development of the industry from the standpoint of the consuming trade, in so far as it comes into contact with the influence of the modern abbatoir and trained butcher, is making satisfactory progress. This is indicated by the improving prices paid for finished mutton. It is on the farm — the source of the mutton supply — that the consumption of this nutritious, healthful product stands in need of development. No other class of animal so readily lends itself to the demands of a rural household for a supply of fresh meat as a young sheep. It is of the highest importance that it be in good killing condition and that the butchering and curing be promptly and properly executed. The Butcher's Animal. First-class meat cannot be obtained from animals that are poor in flesh. A reasonable amount of fat must be present to give juiciness and flavour to the flesh, and the fatter an animal is, within reasonable limits, the better will be the meat. ' Never kill an animal that is losing flesh,' is a maxim followed by butchers, and observation points to a logical reason for the saying. With an animal failing in flesh the muscle fibres are shrinking in volume, and contain correspondingly less water. As a consequence the meat is tougher and dryer. When an animal is gaining in flesh the opposite condition obtains, and a better quality of meat is the result. Also a better product will be obtained from an animal in only medium flesh, but gaining rapidly, than from a very fat animal that is at a standstill or losing in flesh. Quality in meat is largely dependent on the health and condition of the animals slaughtered, and yet the best quality of mea-t is rarely, if ever, obtained from poorly- bred stock. The desired 'marbling,' or admixture of fat and lean, is never of the best in scrub stock, nor does the highly fltted show animal furnish the ideal in a carcass of meat. There seems to be a connection between a smooth, even, and deeply fleshed animal and nicely marbled meat that is not easily explained. Age affects the flavour and texture of the meat to quite an extent. While it is not possible to state the age at wh(ich an animal will be best for meat, it is a well- known fact that meat from old animals is more likely to be tough than .that from young ones. The flesh of very young animals frequently lacks flavour, and is 2514—8 50 ■watery. An old animal properly fattened and in good health would be preferable to a young one in poor condition. Preparation for Killing. It is important that sheep intended for slaughter should be kept off feed from twenty-four to thirty-six hours. If kept on full feed the system is gorged, and the blood, loaded with assimilated nutrients which are driven to the extremities of the capillaries. In such a conditjion it is impossible to thoroughly drain out the veins when the animal is bled, and a reddish coloured, unattractive carcass will be the result. Food in the stomach decomposes very rapidly after slaughter, . and when the dressing is slow the gases generated often flavour the meat. This is frequently the source of the ' woolly ' flavour in mutton to which most people express a pronounced dislike. Water should be giiven freely up to the time of slaughter, as it keeps the temperature normal and helps to wash the efiete matter out of the system, resulting in a nicely coloured and good flavoured carcass. The care of animals previous to slaughter has considerable effect on the keeping qualities of the meat. It is highly important that they be not excited in any way sufficiently to raise the temperature of the body. Exctitement prevents proper drain- age of blood' vessels, and may cause souring of the meat very soon after dressing. In no instance should an animal be killed immediately after a long drive or after a rapid run about the pasture. If heated by such cause it is far better to allow it to rest overnight before killing than to risk the meat spoiling. It is also essential that the animal be carefully handled so as not to bruise the body. Bruises cause blood to settle in that portion of the body affected, presenting an uninviting appearance, and often cause the loss of a considerable portion of the carcass. A thirty-six hour fast, plenty of water, careful handling, and rest before slaughtering are all important in securing meat in the best condition for use, either fresh or for curing purposes. Only simply butchering appliances are necessary. A proper sticking knife, a skinning knife, a small hoisting pulley, a supply of skewers and a small number of home-made backsets and gambrel sticks complete the outfit for farm sheep killing. Avoiding the Woolly Flavour. As already indicated, much of the sheepy flavour of mutton comes from the generation of gases in the stomach after the sheep is killed. For this reason, in addi- tion to proper fasting, it should be dressed as rapidly as possible. A platform 6 or 8 inches high is convenient to work on, and aids in keeping the carcass clean. A clean, dry place is necessary for neat work. Water or blood on the wool makes it very difficult to dress the animal nicely. If the sheep is an old one, it may be stunned before bleeding. If a young one, the same purpose is served by dislocating the neck after cutting the throat. This is accomplished by putting one hand on the top of the head and the other hand under the chin, giving a shart twist upward. Lay the sheep on its side on the platform, with its head hanging over the end. Grasp the chin in the left hand and stick a knife through the neck, just back of the jaw. The cutting edge of the knife should be turned toward the spinal column and the flesh cut to the bone. In this way it is possible to avoid cutting the windpipe. Skinning and Dressing. In skinning, split the skin up the back of the front legs from the dew claws to a little above the knees. Open the skin over the windpipe from brisket to chin, starting it slightly on the sides of the neck. Split the skin over the back of the hind legs to the middle line and skin the buttock. The skin should also be raised over the cod and flanks. Skin around the hocks and down to the hoofs, cutting off the hind feet at the fetlock joints. Run the knife between the' cords and bone on the back of the shins, and tie the legs together just above the hock until after the carcass is hung up. Hang the sheep up by the hind legs and split the skin along the under middle line. Start at the 51 brisket to ' fist ofE ' the skin. This is done by grasping the edge of the pelt firmly in one hand, pulling it up tightly and working the other with fist closed between the pelt and the body. The ' fisting off ' should be downward over the fore-quarters and up- ward and backward over the hind-quarters and legs. It is unwise to pull down on the skin over the hind legs, as the membrane covering the fiesh is sure to be ruptured and an unsightly appearance given to the carcass. The wool should always be held away from the flesh for the sake of cleanliness. The skin on the legs should be pulled away from the body rather than toward it, in order to preserve the covering of the meat. When the pelt has been loosened over the sides and back it should be stripped down over the neck and cut off close to the ears. The head may then be removed without being skinned by cutting through the neck joint. Begin removing the entrails by cutting around the rectum and allowing it to drop down inside. Do not split the pelvis. Open down the belly line from the cod to the breast bone and take out the paunch and intestines, leaving the liver attached to the carcass. If the mutton is for home use split the breast bone and remove the heart, lungs and diaphragm together. Eeach up into the pelvis and pull out the bladder. Wipe all blood and dirt from the carcass with a coarse cloth wrung nearly dry from hot water. Double up the front legs and slip the little cord, found by cutting into the fleshy part of the forearm, over the ankle joints. Cooling and Cutting. It is very important that the carcass be cooled soon after slaughtering, and yet that it be not allowed to freeze. The most desirable temperature for cooling meat is 34° to 40°, and an approach to these temperatures will give good results. In the summer season it is best to dress the animal in the evening, leaving the carcass in the open air over night and carrying it to a cool, dark cellar before the flies are out in the morning. Very often a cool room in the barn can be used for the purpose if made dark. There should be no fresh paint, tar, kerosene, or like substance around, however, as freshly killed meat absorbs such flavours readily. Cooling is often hastened by splitting the carcass into halves or even into smaller pieces. It is best, however, not to divide the carcass until the meat is firmly set unless absolutely neces- sary to prevent it from souring. For the best results in cooling meat, the air should be dry, as well as cool, and free circulation aids greatly in carrying away foul odors and mould spores. It is also important that flies and insects be kept away from the meat. NECK SHOULDER RACK JLOIM FLANK PLATE iJ'ig. 42. — Diagram showing Method of Cutting up a Carcass of Mutton. To do neat work in cutting up meat one should have a short curved knife (a skinning knife is as good as any), a meat saw, and an 8-inch cleaver. An axe may take the place of the cleaver, but is not nearly so useful. If a cross section of a large log can be had it will answer for a block. A table, however, can be used in most cases. 2514— 8i 52 In cutting one should always cut across the grain of the meat. Following this principle will result in uniform pieces and the joints will be more easily carved after cooking. Out to the bone with the knife, and use a saw rather than an ase for cutting the bone. First split the carcass into halves, then cut off the flank and breast, following the line A, B, C, D, in Fig. 42. Out off the leg at the top of the round, A to K, just touching the hip joint. Remove the shank below the fleshy part of the leg. Out off the shoulder between the third and fourth ribs and the neck at the shoulder vein. Remove the front shank at the elbow jcint. When a ' saddle of mutton ' is wanted, one must deviate from this method of cutting and cut the saddle in one piece before the carcass is split into halves. The leg of mutton is sometimes cut into steak, but is usually roasted whole or boiled. The loin may be used for chops, the slice being cut parallel to the ribs, or it may be roasted if desired. The chops should be cut ' one rib ' thick. If used as an oven roast the joints in the backbone should be cracked with a cleaver to admit of easy carving at the table. The rack is used in the same way as the loin. The joints in the back of the shoulder should be cracked and the ribs broken across the middle on the inside, when it may be used as an oven roast from a young mutton, or as a boiling piece if from an old one. The breast and flank, when trimmed, are used for stews; the neck and shank for soup stock. Keeping the Meat. Oold storage mutton used while fresh is more nutritious and palatable than salted or cured meats. It is, therefore, desirable to use as much of it uncured as possible. It is very difficult to keep meat fresh during the summer months without the use of ice, and even then but little can be handled at one time on the ordinary farm. Where a room or family refrigerator can be kept at a temperature of 40° or less, with good ventilation and circulation of air, fresh meat can be kept for ten days or longer. It is very important that the circulation be free and the air dry. Moistilre in a refrigerator tends to develop wet mold or slime, and a little decay soon contaminates the whole piece. Less difficulty will be experienced in keeping fresh meat if it is kept in a room where the temperature is relatively high and the air dry than where the temperature is low and the air damp. Where an ice-house is filled each year a small portion of it may be partitioned as a cold-storage room. With the ice properly packed on three sides of it, and with good drainage, this makes a very satisfactory place for keeping meat, and it may also be used for storing butter and other perishable products. Mutton is kept during the cold season by freezing. A carcass is cut up into quarters, or even smaller pieces, and hung in an outbuilding, where it will remain frozen solid. When a portion is wanted it may j)e cut ofi with a saw. If the meat is taken into a cold room and slowly thawed out the flavour is only slightly injured. No more should be taken in at one time than is wanted for immediate use. Repeated freezing and thawing are injurious to the flavour and quality of the meat; hence the importance of keeping it where the temperature will remain sufficiently low to prevent thawing. Packing in snow is a satisfactory way of keeping meat. The carcass should be cut into chops, roasts and boiling meat. All trimming for table use should be done before allowing the meat to freeze. Lay each piece out to freeze separately, where it will not come in contact with other meat. Secure a box large enough to hold it aU and put a layer of dry snow at the bottom. When the meat is frozen put in a layer, packing it so that no two pieces touch. Cover this with a layer of snow and lay alternate layers of snow and meat until the box is filled. Set the box in an outside shed where it will not be subject to sudden changes of temperature. For convenience in getting the meat when wanted, it is well to pack the steaks in one section or end of the box and the roasts and stews in others. It will not then be necessary to disturb anything but the piece desired when a supply is needed. Use only dry snow 53 in packing; be sure the meat is frozen solid, it can then be kept through the winter unless there is a very mild spell. Maturing and Curing. Lamb does not improve by keeping after the carcass has become thoroughly cool and firm. It requires no maturing to give tenderness, and long keeping tends to lose the delicate ' lamb ' flavour. Mutton, on the other hand, to be in best condition should be ' matured on the hooks ' for a few days to a week or longer according to the avail- able temperature. Well hung mutton is more tender and of better flavour than when it is eaten freshly killed. It is probably at its best at the end of from ten to fifteen days' storage in a dry atmosphere at a temperature of 40 to 45 degrees. Without access to a satisfactory cold storage it is necessary to cure parts of the carcass in order to avoid loss or monotony of diet. Corned mutton is very good, and mutton hams are delicious. No land of meat should be cooked before the animal heat has all passed ofi and the flesh has become firm. A failure to recognize this requirement is responsible for much of the dislike for mutton in rural districts. Years ago, before the days of the ' beef ring ' and the peddling butcher, when every farm had its quota of sheep, the preparation- for any sort of bee, such as sawing or threshing, included the killing of a sheep for the midday meal. The forehanded host usually fasted his subject, and did his butchering the evening before, but too often the former was entirely neglected and the latter overlooked until the morning of the busy day. The writer has witnessed the head of the farm, with the aid of a boy, pursuing the victim knife in hand at nine in the morning of the day the mutton was to be eaten. Was mutton a popular meat with the thresihing gangs on those days ? Before the end of the season many an inno- cent sheep was slyly stoned or dogged by a threshing hand, who until this day thinks of mutton only with disgust. Corning Mutton. Mutton may be successfully corned by a number of methods. Mutton may be kept sweet several weeks by simply rubbing well with dry salt and closely covering. The pieces should be turned whenever the vessel is. uncovered. Following are three reliable receipts for corning mutton by the use of pickle : — 1. Make a brine strong enough to carry a potato about half out. To the propor- tion of half a barrel add one-half pound saltpetre, if pure less is needed. In ten to twelve days the curing will be complete. When cured it may be kept in a clean new weak brine. 2. To every 4 gallons of water allow 2 pounds brown sugar and 6 pounds salt; boil about twenty minutes, taking ofl the scum; the next day pour it on the meat packed in the pickling tub ; pour off the brine, boil and skim every two months, adding 3 ounces brown cane sugar and i pound common salt. Sprinkle the meat with salt before turning the pickle over it. Let it entirely cover the meat; add 4 ounces salt- petre. 3. Prepare a brine by adding to each gallon of cold water one quart of rock salt, one ounce saltpetre and four ounces brown sugar. As long as the salt remains undissolved the meat will be sweet. If scum rises scald the liquid and skim well, adding more salt, saltpetre and sugar. Each piece of mutton should be well rubbed with salt before being placed in the brine. If the weather is hot the meat should be gashed to the bone and salt rubbed in. The meat should be kept immersed in the pickle by means of a weight. A canvas lid kept on the vessel is commendable, as it admits air and excludes flies. Spiced Mutton Hams. Mutton hams are easily cured. As mutton takes salt very readily care must be taken not to get the hams over-salt. Select the ' leg of mutton,' and cut ofi the leg at 54 the hock. Some prefer to remove the entire bone. The curing treatment is a* follows: — Sprinkle and rub in a teaspoonful of saltpetre; rub on two teaspoonfuls equal parts ground allspice and cloves ; then rub on brown sugar, about a teacup, then apply salt. Turn and rub with application every second day for three or four weeks. Meat- thus cured is delicious boiled, or sliced and fried*. Fig. 43.— Catching a Sheep. M 44.— Throwing a Sheep. ,1 45.— Leading a Sheep. -^m^ Fig. 46. — Catching a Sheep with a Shepherd'.? Crook. -.1 4— p. 55. Fig. 47.— Shepherd's Crool 55 HANDLING SHEEP. It is remarkable how few sheep raisers understand how to properly catch and handle their stock. The old shepherd's crook, so humane and useful in the years that are past, is no longer to be seen on more than a very few Canadian sheep farms. In many British flocks the crook still has its place, and with this and the intelligent dog the sheep are driven, caught and handled with comfort and facility for both man and beast. To the sheep man it is painful to witness the rough, even brutal, usage accorded the gentle, timid sheep on many mutton raising farms. Apart from the pure-bred flocks that are waited upon and cared for with the same gentle consideration as the family horse and the favourite cow, many of the sheep flocks are rushed and driven, grabbed and dragged in the most inhuman sort of way. When the flock is to be divided or an individual separated from the others the bunch is usually rushed into a corner and the victims, one by one, grabbed by the wool and hauled struggling and kicking to the point of exit. To many sheep raisers and farm hands the wool appears to be a natural handle. If the torture inflicted by catching a sheep by the wool could he appreciated doubtless many would seek a better method. The examination of a carcass of a newly killed sheep that has been lifted by its wool reveals an inflamed and congested area resembling the effects of a severe jam or bruise at every point over which the wool was pulled, due to the rupturing of the tiny blood vessels and creating a soreness that must of necessity cause a stagnation in gain if not an actual loss of weight. Apart from this, if the animal is immediately slaughtered the carcass is injured in a greater or less degree according to the roughness accorded the animal. The proper method of catching a sheep is by the hind leg or the head. If in a close pen in which the sheep are closely crowded it is an easy matter to secure the selected animal by the head, holding it fast until the others have moved away, clearing an avenue by which it may be taken. In a larger pen or yard a sheep should be caught by the hind leg just above the hock or gambrel joint, as shown in Fig. 43. A properly made shepherd's crook is of great assistance in this. The hook (Fig. 47), which usually has a handle six or more feet long, can be extended forward without approaching the sheep sufficiently closely to cause it to plunge to make its escape. When caught by the hock joint it is drawn back until it is easily grasped by the neck. When a sheep is caught in this way the flock is not frightened, as is the case when one rushes in to grasp a member. To convey a sheep after it is caught the shepherd should place his left hand ■ beneath the lower jaw. If the animal plunges it may be gently grasped by the wool on the farther cheek. The right hand should grasp the side of the tail or the end of the stub. In this position a sheep will almost invariably walk forward at the will of the person in charge. A sheep handled in this way (Fig. 45) is neither injured nor frightened, and is conveyed in comparative comfort for itself and the shepherd. Much cruelty is exercised in hauling sheep from place to place. More especially is this the case when being taken to market. Few except owners of pure-bred flocks have on their farms a properly equipped sheep wagon. The result is that when sheep have to be hauled their legs are probably tied and they are tumbled into a wagon or sleigh and jolted along to their destination. The discomfort and bruising thus effected is nothing short of severe, and quite unnecessary cruelty. Sheep should travel on their feet even when being hauled. A wagon to haul sheep should have slatted sides sufficiently high to prevent their jumping out, or boards, if necessary, may be laid on the top, forming a cover to the wagon. The writer for many years used a wagon rack about 14 feet long and as wide as a wagon box, the sides and ends of which were slatted and about three feet high. The end gates were fastened to the sides and the floor by rods — one at each corner of the wagon — passing from the top to the bottom and having threaded thumb nuts. The end pieces swung open forming convenient gates for loading and unloading. This rack 50 was used upon the home and many neighbouring farms for hauling sheep and hogs and occasionally young cattle. To load a sheep it is not necessary to lift it by the wool. Loading should be done by two persons, one on each side of the animal. The left han'd of one is grasped by the right of the other beneath the chest of the sheep, preferably between the fore- legs. The other pair of hands are similarly grasped beneath the flanks. In this position the sheep is easily raised and loaded without plunging or injury. DIPPING. A sheep-raising farm that has not a properly arranged dipping tank or other means of treating the flock to flght skin parasites is not equipped as it should be for getting the most out of the industry. All sheep are liable to have ticks and lice and ' A'^v.\^\\^^'- ^'^^'sW-^'n'^V-v ',- JilPflNS r^NK Fig. 48. — Cross section of clipping Tank and Pens. there also is the risk of getting scab with every railway journey taken by the sheep or the introduction of fresh stock. One or two scab insects may easily spread the disease over a whole flock, causing no end of worry, trouble and financial loss. For this reason the dipping vat should be brought into requisition with every new arrival, in addition to a thorough dipping of the whole flock, which should be done at least twice a year. This is a method of prevention that is worth much more than a remedy after the trouble has been introduced. While comparatively few Canadian sheep breeders are familiar with scab there are practically none who could not identify the tick. The louse is a less well known insect, and being very inconspicuous it may cause much worry and loss of weight in the flock without being detected. Thorough dipping with a recognized insecticidal preparation is an easy and inexpensive method of destroying both of these pests and may also cure an incipient attack of scab. The usual dipping vat is a simple form of trough of concrete, metal or wood, about 16 inches wide and 4 feet deep (see Fig. 50). With a tank of this description the sheep can be plunged so that no part will escape a wetting. They may be dropped or forced to leap into the liquid at one end and allowed to walk out at the other. The entrance end should, therefore, be perpendicular and the other sloping with slatted floor. For a small flock the bottom level need not be more than four feet long. 57 with the slatted incline beginning there and running gradually out to a draining platform from which the drip should be collected to be again used in the vat. To economize liquid the vat may narrow to eight inches at the bottom. The fleece will hold enough of the liquid, if of proper strength, to kill the lice and ticks, but if scab is present or feared the sheep should be immersed for fully two minutes, and the head Fig. 50.— Outline of Metal Dipping Tank. should be plunged two or three times. If time is less valuable than dip, comparatively speaking, it may pay to squeeze the liquid out of the fleece by hand upon the draining platform. Another plan of saving time and dip is to divide the draining platform into two pens, each to be alternately filled with the dipped animals. This arrangement allows the dripping sheep to remain in one pen while the other is being filled from the dipping tank and vice versa. Fig. 49 illustrates the divided draining pen. A warm dip penetrates better than a cold one and is therefore to be preferred. A temperature of from 106 to 110 degrees Fahr. is about right. When coal tar dips are used soft water should be employed, or otherwise a little concentrated lye added to give the dip a soapy feel. The dip should be prepared to the full strength recommended by the manufacturer. For heating water for dip an open kettle such as is usually found upon every farm is useful. For reheating red hot irons may be thrown into the tank of dip. The plunging of the sheep is facilitated by having a sloping board just at the entrance of the tank. This should be kept greased so that the sheep will slide in readily. While dipping may be done at any season it should, if possible, be avoided in very cold weather for obvious reasons. If it has to be done in winter the sheep should be comfortably housed until quite dry. The most favourable time for the one chief bath of the year is a week or so after shearing time. The ticks will have largely taken refuge in the lambs, and all should go through the tub. At this time comparatively little material is needed. It is well to retain the clipped members in the liquid a minute or more, as the wool is too short to hold the dip long enough to make a sure job of all the insects. It is important to repeat the dipping in ten days in order to destroy the new arrivals that have hatched during the interval. The flock should again be treated in the fall so as to go into the winter free and unmolested by parasites. For a small flock a simple trough may be made to answer. The vsrriter has dipped and treated hundreds of sheep, big and little, in an ordinary wooden trough 5 feet 6 inches long, about 20 inches deep, 20 inches wide at the bottom and 24 at the top. The same trough was used for scalding hogs. Lambs were held by the legs and head and plunged beneath the liquid back downwards, lifted out and allowed to drain. Larger sheep were treated on a platform by parting the fleece at intervals of about two inches and pouring the dip from a spouted vessel. The lower parts, including the breast, neck and belly should be treated first with -the animal resting on its side or rump. The sides and back are then done with the sheep in a standing position. This method of dipping is slow and laborious, but it may be employed in the absence of a proper dipping tank. The dipping tank used at the Central Experimental Farm, Ottawa, for dipping sheep and swine is 34 inches deep, 30 inches wide, 10 feet 2 inches long at the top and 6 feet 5 inches at the bottom, plenty large enough for the largest hog or sheep or even calves. It is constructed of two-inch pine plank, tongued and grooved, and held together by bolts running through the centre of the plank up and down the sides and across the bottom. In building a plank tank the grooves or seams should be moistened with hot tar or red lead, and special care should be taken to make the construction tight. Figs. 48, 49 and 50 show cross-section and plan of a dipping tank with necessary collecting yard and dipping pens, as well as a view of a suitable tank or vat. 58 THE GREAT NEGLECT. When asked ' wlaat is tlie most prominent defect in the sheep-raising industry of Canada?' nine out of ten of the most extensive buyers for the trade will promptly answer, ' the neglect of farmers to castrate the ram lambs.' Apart from the lambs raised on the ranches, fully seventy-five per cent of the males are marketed as rams. This is the estimate of Toronto market operators, while Montreal firms find even a larger percentage of unaltered lambs in their consignments. Further east, the practice of castration is still less in vogue until, in the province of Nova Scotia, it is claimed that wethers are practically unknown in this generation, while on Prince Edward Island, comparatively few castrate their lambs. In this latter province it is estimated that, owing to a reduction of one cent per pound paid for ram lambs, and the loss of weight due to lack of thrift in the fall, the farmers of the Island forfeited more than two thousand dollars in 190Y. It is difficult to understand that an operation so easily performed, and which means so much to the sheep trade, and therefore to the sheep grower, should be so generally neglected. To neglect cattle and hogs is an oversight condemned wherever observed, but for some reason the emasculation of sheep is looked upon as a matter of no importance. And yet the dealers who meet the raisers on the one hand, and the consuming trade on the other, pronounce the custom as the chief defect of the mutton- raising industry. Is it because the entire crop of lambs comes about the same season, rendering the surgical task too ponderous to be undertaken, or is it because of the fear of fatality, or again has the habit of neglect of this important duty become hopelessly estab- lished? The condition exists, and in the interest of the industry should be overcome. In the autumn one has only to visit a flock of mixed sexes to see one of the chief evils. A general restlessness of the flock is observed, continuously day after day, from morning till night. Not only do the males neglect proper feeding, but the others are molested and bothered, until the rapid gains expected with good fodder and cool weather is made impossible. The rams not only fail to gain but actually lose flesh put on at an earlier period. Even though the males are kept separate from the others of the flock, the restlessness continues, with the same unprofitable result. The condi- tion depicted ia familiar to many a sheep raiser, who year by year has witnessed the same state of affairs. He has become accustomed to the unrest that possesses the flock within his fields each autumn, commencing with the advent of white frosts. Even in the summer he realizes what will happen later on, but he knows nothing of the peace and prosperity of the wether flock of his neighbour a few farms away. As the date upon which the buyer usually appears comes round, he watches eagerly for his visit, and as soon as the bargain is consummated he urges that his lambs be lifted with the first shipment. He knows the rams will run down from that time on, and the sooner they are weighed out the earlier will peace reign in his flock. He has, however, opportunity of learning even more strikingly his disadvantage when shipping day arrives. His lambs go out on an average of perhaps 75 to 80 pounds, while his neigh- bours' wethers about the same age turn the scale at from 90 to 95 pounds each, tfor which he receives a better price per pound. To the evils attending the keeping about of a batch of fertile males already referred to, there isi also the serious risk of a number of the best ewes, as well as lambs that should not be bred until a year later, getting in lamb to perhaps the meanest scrub in the flock. Again, the keeping entire of the, males renders it practically impossible to hold them over until winter or spring, when the prices are always, better. They are largely responsible for the glutted condition of the market in the autumn months, and they have to be disposed of in the midst of the over-supply. To keep them even to December is expensive, because of the unsatisfactory gains they make, but apart from Fig. 51. — Ram Lambs, marketed as culls. Fig. 52. —Wether Lambs, " Market Toppers." 2514— p. 58. Fig. 53. — Wether Lambs peaceably devoting their energies to body building. 59 this by that date their flesh has become rank and therefore of inferior quality. Accord- ing to the evidence of extensive dealers, fully fifty per cent of ewe lambs of the previous year marketed in February and March are with lamb. These men go so far .as to assume that much of the mating is intentional with a view of securing slightly increased weight. However the condition comes about, the trade suffers from such bad management and the breeder is the loser. Buyers soon become familiar with the •condition of stock from various districts, and bid accordingly. IJp to the beginning of October ram and wether lambs sell upon about equal terms, but after that date discrimination begins on all the best markets. By the middle of the month the reduc- tion for rams on Canadian markets is about half a cent per pound, and by November fully one cent per pound difference in favour of the wethers is made, and unless the market is bare rams are difficult to sell. In Buffalo in the fall of 1907 the cuts on ram over Canadian wether lambs were on October Y, 65 cents per cwt., October 10, 85 cents per cwt., and on October 24 ram lambs were all sold as culls at one dollar per cwt. less than wethers were selling.' (See Fig. 51.) Comparison on the Block. It is on the block that the true comparison between the ram and the wether is made plain. The former has wasted his substance in riotous living and is lean, lank and emaciated, differing widely from the plump, firm, meaty-backed wether that has ■devoted his energira to body-building regardless of his ignoble destiny, the shambles. (See Figs. 52 and 53.) As the season proceeds the wether makes rapid growth, more particularly in the region of the loin and back, while the ram puts on weight in the neck and shoulders, falling away at the loin and hind-quarters, rendering him fit only for the poorest trade. To ascertain the comparative weights of ram and wether lambs of practically the same breeding and age, one dozen of each were weighed on November 1. The wethers weighed 1,020 pounds and the rams 900 pounds, an average reduction of 10 pounds per head. This, with a sacrifice of one cent per pound, amounts to a pretty impressive penalty for the neglect of castration. Is it right and proper that the ram lambs sell for nearly as much per pound as the wethers? The one is plump, juicy and highly palatable, while the other in large measure lacks these desirable qualities. The wonder is that greater discrimination is not made by every buyer, and undoubtedly would be were it not for the keen com- petition for the stock. Unfortunately, the good wethers help to pay for the mean rams, inasmuch as the law of averages is brought into operation by the buyers who must have lambs, and are able to get more by paying too much for the poor specimens in order to get the good ones. The dealers have thus a fine opportunity of teaching the important lesson that they say is so badly needed. Methods of Castration. The castration of a lamb is a simple operation, involving little risk if performed with ordinary care and due regard for cleanliness. It is important that it be per- formed when the lambs are quite young. About ten days old is a very favourable age, as then they are less liable to bleed, and the healing is rapidly effected. Perhaps the'oldest,- and by many considered a thoroughly satisfactory method, is to cut off the lower third of the scrotum with a sharp knife, sever the outer immediate covering of each testicle separately, and draw it out, cord and all, with the teeth. This method, however, is repulsive to many unaccustomed to it, and is not as commendable as some of the other ways. i,- .. i, u i ^^ j i. The practise followed by the writer was to have the subject held by an attendant in a sitting position upon a bench with its feet outward. The operator sat astride of the bench upon the hind feet of the lamb. With a sharp knife, the bottom third of the scrotum was removed and each testicle skinned out and withdrawn one at a time by the fingers. If the lamb has reached one month, it is better to tie the cord about 60 one inch above the testicle with a carbolized ligature, before severing the organ with a knife. Another method is to sever the scrotum, with its contents, close up to the body. If the lamb is very young there is little or no risk involved. This may be done with a sharp knife or a pair of shears or scissors. A thoroughly antiseptic method and one which prevents bleeding, is to use for severing the scrotum a pair of rather dull scissors, highly heated, so as to sear the wound as it is made. Especially for lambs that are more than three weeks old this method is recommended. It has the advantage of extreme simplicity. The professional operator of the present day uses the lamb emasculator, an instrument much like a pair of scissors, having one blade notched, and neither very sharp. The testicles are pressed upward, the scrotum severed about half way up; the cords are thus exposed, and with one closure of the emasculator they are severed an inch or so above the testicle. The cords cut by this comjiaratively dull instrument do not bleed as freely as when a sharp edge is used. By whatever system the emasculation is effected, the wound should be smeared with an antiseptic ointment, than which there is perhaps nothing better than carbolized oil, composed of one part carbolic acid to twenty parts sweet oil. The writer always used pine tar and lard in equal parts, and can confidently recommend its employment. It is very important that newly castrated lambs be given clean quarters. If the weather is cold, the pen should be thoroughly cleaned and bedded daily with fresh litter, but if the ground is warm, there is no safer place for the youngsters than a grass plot. It is clean and favourable to exercise, the latter an important considera- tion. In the course of a few days the Iambs, should be caught and examined, and any that show swelling or undue soreness should be bathed with warm water into which a few drops of carbolic acid or creolin have been added, and the wound annointed with carbolized oil or other antiseptic preparation. The Tails. In his earlier years, when in charge of a flock of high-class pure-bred sheep, the writer regarded the leaving of long tails as an evidence of poor shepherding and inferior stock. Perhaps the view taken was extreme, but later observation bears out the truth that the best sheep men everywhere dock their lambs as surely as they clip their ewes, while the poorest of them invariably neglect this operation. Perhaps a tail is no detriment, more particularly upon a male that is to be sold in the fall, but it looks bad to the sheep man and surely detracts from the blocky appearance of a sheep or lamb. Many who undertake to dock make a very poor job of the operation. A five or six inch tail looks about as badly as one not touched, but still one sees many half-tailed lambs. For best effect, a male lamb should be docked within one inch of the buttock, while a female should retain one or two more joints. An ordinary chisel is a common docking instrument. The tail is held on a block, and with mallet and chisel the operation is performed. A better way is to use a sharp knife with a fairly long blade. The lamb is held with its back firmly against the breast of the attendant, who grasps the tail close to the body, drawing the skin back firmly. The operator with his left thumb nail finds the joint, which is larger than the bones between. With a firm slash he detaches the tail, and if the joint has been struck, the shock as well as the bleeding are less severe than if the bone has been cut. The drawn up skin when released slips down, protecting the bare end. Prom one week to two weeks is a good age to tail the lambs, and while it seems like doubly severe treatment, the wethering and tailing are usually performed at the same time. 61 FEEDS AND FEEDING. The standard foods for sheep are grass and clover pasture in summer and hay, preferably clover with roots, during the winter. When pastures fail in summer or autumn such soiling crops as green corn, vetches, rape or cabbages may be fed with advantage; or vetches or rape may be used as pasture. During the winter season well saved pea straw or even oat straw may be used as a part of the dry fodder, but if no grain is being fed the flock should have at least one feed daily of well saved hay. Of the several classes of roots nothing surpasses swede turnips, but greystones in the early part of the housing season and mangles at the end of the winter and spring constitute very satisfactory succulent rations. Corn ensilage of good quality may also be used if roots are short or it may be fed along with roots or alternately with that food throughout the winter. The growing of ordinary hay, pasture and roots for sheep feed does not difEer from the cultivation of these crops for other classes of stock. Such special crops as rape, vetches, cabbage, lucerne, etc., are easy of cultivation, and may be successfully grown on any farm suited to sheep raising. Clover. Of all the fodder crops grown on Canadian farms clover is of greatest importance to the sheep grower. All of the commonly grown varieties, including alfalfa (separ- ately treated in these pages), alsike, white and common red, are useful on the sheep farm. On account of their leafy character and sweetness they are greatly relished, and because of their highly protein content they are very nourishing. Practically all of the clovers are useful as pasture, although precautions are necessary when feeding the larger sorts while in very green or immature condition. Sheep graze closely, and do well upon small white clover commonly found in most Canadian pastures. Alsike is more useful as a hay than a pasture crop, although sheep will graze it freely while young and tender. Common red clover is the chief food crop on the special sheep man's farm. It affords excellent pasture, but when very rank or succu- lent sheep must be grazed on it with caution to avoid loss from bloating. Precau- tionary methods outlined in discussing the feeding of rape apply with equal force to the pasturing of clover. All of the strong growing clovers make excellent sheep hay. Its value is lessened in proportion as it is coarse, over ripe when cut or badly cured. For breeding ewes good clover hay alone may furnish a full ration sufficiently rich to keep up their condition. No other hay is so valuable for young lambs, growing or fattening stock, or sheep being fitted for exhibition. It should be fed in small quantities rather than in greater bulk at less frequent intervals. Alfalfa. Alfalfa as it becomes known is growing in favour among sheep raisers as a fodder crop. It is not only a heavy cropper but it is one of the most nutritious fodders grown on Canadian farms, and practically all classes of farm animals consume it with great relish. On account of its deep and strong rooting habit it is peculiarly adapted to dry or gravelly bottom land, but it may be grown successfully wherever wheat growing is or may be carried on, except, perhaps, in very cold latitudes. It has a food value quite equal to red clover both as hay or pasture, and because of its strong growth, producing from three to four cuttings in a season, it is more valuable as a crop. Alfalfa has obtained a strong foothold in Ontario and east, as well as in British Colum- bia, and is gaining ground rapidly in Alberta, where it is expected to become perhaps the' chief fodder crop, more particularly in the dry and irrigated sections. In Saskat- 62 chewan and Manitoba it is grown to some extent, and strong hopes are entertained that in these proivnces it will yet become one of staple forage crops. Alfalfa hay for sheep fodder should be harvested before it becomes tough, and" should therefore *be cut as nearly as possible to the time at which it is coming into bloom. If allowed to mature beyond that stage tough fibres develop, which are slow to digest and are liable to cause trouble in the digestive tract of the sheep. Sheep- feeding on over-mature alfalfa are occasionally lost by reason of balls of fibre forming and clogging the outlet of the stomach. There is no danger from this cause if the alfalfa has been cut on the green side. Alfalfa for sheep hay should therefore be grown alone or with an early grass such as orchard grass. If grown with a later crop- the latter has to be cut too green or the alfalfa becomes too far advanced. Alfalfa is claimed by some, who have had little experience with it, to be unsafe- for pasturing sheep on account of its extreme succulence and liability to cause bloat and its attendant evils. An extensive sheep raiser, Mr. G. A. Brodie, of York county,. Ont., who has adopted alfalfa as his chief pasture, has the following to say in its favour : — ' Thirteen years' experience with alfalfa convinces me that it is beyond doubt the best and most economical pasture for sheep. I consider it a very safe pasture, as- I never yet saw the first evil result to any class of animals, in fact I have never lost a single anim.al pasturing on this crop. I have heard it stated that when red clover first came into use farmers did not allow the stock to pasture on it on account of danger from bloat, etc., but now no one fears any evil results, and I think the same will be thought of the alfalfa as feeders become accustomed to it. Of the two crops I consider alfalfa the safer. I turn the stock on even when the crop is wet or in any other condition, even new animals that are not accustomed to it. I have now 50 acres of alfalfa which I use almost altogether for pasture, and at present (October 10), is as succulent as in June. No crop is more valuable, especially as a pasture, and of course for hay as well. It makes better hay than red clover I am sure, although by analysis it ranks about equal. It is cleaner than clover and stock eat is more readily. ' For hay alfalfa should be cut when about one-fourth in bloom, put in very small cocks very green, and allowed to cure that way. It is my most valued crop and is good for all stock pasture and hay alike. I think it is nonsense to say that there is danger from pasturing on it, as this is where it excels.' Vetches. Vetches, or tares as they are also called, make excellent fodder for sheep, either- as a soiling crop or as cured hay. This crop much resembles peas in habit of growth and requires about the same kind of cultivation. Its vines are more slender than pea vines and stand up better when grown with a stiff variety of oats. Vetches are grown extensively for sheep feed in Great Britain and to some extent in Canada for the same purpose. The writer, while raising sheep, always grew a small area of tares with oats for soiling the show flock, and in case of a shortage of clover vetches were cured for hay. The crop being fine in vine and very leafy is much relished by sheep and constitute a rich diet. Two varieties of vetches are grown for fodder. The common vetch is the chief sort cultivated, but the hairy variety is receiving some attention in recent years. The latter produces the heavier yield, but so far the seed having to be imported is very expensive and few care to bother with it. The soil for vetches should be clean, mellow and rich. The seed may be sown in drills or broadcast. A good seeding for either soiling or hay is about three pecks of vetches and four pecks of oats per acre. The vetches are ready to feed any time after the crop comes into blossom and before the seed commences to ripen. For soiling the crop may be hauled to racks or be distributed on the sod of a pasture as soon as cut or it may be allowed to wilt in the swath for a few hours. 63 Vetch hay is made in much the same manner as clover or timothy is handled. Vetches may be pastured by sheep, but this is a wasteful practice, as much of the crop is destroyed by tramping. Eape. Rape is one of the most valuable of foods for sheep. It is keenly relished and produces rapid gains both in growing and fattening stock. Eape is an easy crop to grow and yields abundantly when properly handled. The variety of rape most suitable, in fact about the only one grown, for sheep fodder is the Dwarf Essex. This sort yields heavily of leaves and does not produce seed the year it is sown. The culture for rape is practically the same as for turnips or other root crops, with the exception that it is not thinned in the row. It may be sown broadcost, but unless the soil is clean and ricsh rape does better sown in drills in order that it may be cultivated. Eape, like turnips, does best on soil that is rich is humus; the richer the soil the ranker the growth and the better the quality of the fodder. Old pasture sod well worked up makes a fine situation for rape, and if it can be given a dressing of yard manure so much the better. Rape is a very disappointing crop when sown on poor soil, hence the importance of carefully fertilizing and preparing land to be sown to rape. Early sowing is not suitable for rape. It is well to get the land ready to put in the seed as soon as desired after the ground becomes warmed up in spring. It may be sown as early as corn and as late as the end of July. If sown in drills the rows should be about 28 to 30 inches apart, and about two pounds of fresh seed used per acre. On clean, rich land about three pounds of seed per acre may be sown broadcast. The writer has found best success from sowing in raised drills, but others claim just as good results when sown on the level. Frequent cultivation is as beneficial to rape as to turnips or potatoes. Some advocate and practise sowing rape amongst corn at the time of the last cultivation, and others sow it in oats, harrowing in the seed when the oat plants are two or three inches high. It is well to learn from careful test upon a small scale whether one's conditions are suited to methods of this kind before undertaking them upon a large scale. A season of rank growth followed by a wet harvest may cause much trouble and annoyance if rape has been sown with oats. Undoubtedly the best crops are produced when rape is given the land to itself and proper cultivation is . afforded. Under average conditions the rape plant requires about two months to reach the best condition for feeding. When fed too young serious digestive derangement may result, in the form of scouring or bloating. After reaching its growth it remains fresh and crisp for several weeks under normal weather conditions, but after a time it becomes more or lessi woody or stringy, in which condition stock do not relish it so much. Eape is usually pastured off, but it is exceedingly valuable for soiling. A feed a day of rape hauled to a flock of ewes on a failing pasture proves an excellent safe- guard against the animals running down in condition. All classes of sheep may be pastured on rape. It is an excellent crop on which to turn lambs after weaning. It is quite as suitable for toning up the breeding flock prior to the mating season. Precautions have to be observed in pasturing rape. Until they have become accustomed to it sheep should not be turned into rape pasture while hungry. Neither should it be fed wet with rain or dew or at all frosty. If precautions are neglected serious loss may be experienced from scouring, bloating, and even death from inflam- mation of the bowels. It is well to allow sheep pasturing on rape free access to a grass pasture. It was the practice of the writer after the season of white frosts had arrived to fasten out the flock from the rape in the evening until the crop was almost 64 or quite dry the following morning. Many rape feeders disregard this precaution, claiming that after sheep become accustomed to it rape feeding is not attended with danger. A feed each morning of oats and bran go a long way toward preventing unto- ward results. Experienced feeders have found that irregular salting greatly increases the danger from illness when sheep are on rape. A feeder who lost sheep after each salting found a complete remedy in withholding salt altogether while rape was being pastured. It is estimated that an acre of rape pastured by 40 head of thrifty lambs receiving El moderate grain ration daily will yield 400 pounds of mutton. As a soiling crop rape is an excellent mutton maker. As soon as the plants are well grown they may be mown with a scythe or reap hook, to be hauled to the flock either in a shed or pasture. If sown in May it should be ready to cut and feed in July, and at the least one more cutting may be expected during the fall. It should be cut not lower than four inches from the ground, which will leave stumps that will produce a strong second growth. Provi4ed over-feeding is avoided, there is com- paratively little risk attending soiling sheep on rape. Bloat is the most common trouble in rape feeding. When noticed in the first stages the subject should at once be removed from the rape. Salt and water given as a drench is a simple and much used treatment. A pint of a strong solution in which all the salt is dissolved constitutes a dose for a full-grown sheep. Aromatic spirits of anxmonia is also a good medicine for this trouble. A tablespoonful in a pint of warm water will usually afford relief. If the case is so far advanced that the subject is down and the abdomen much distended, then the latter should be punctured at the point of greatest swelling with a trocar and cannula. If, however, one has insufficient confidence in his surgical ability to perform this comparatively simple operation, it inay be advisable, if recovery otherwise appear improbable, to adopt the time-honoured policy, and kill the animal to save its life. Cabbage. Cabbage has long been used as a food for sheep. This crop is easily grown, pro- duces heavy yields and provides an excellent fodder from early fall until well on in December. Cabbages are grown by the same system as roots or rape. The ground should be worked up and manured the previous autumn. The seed is sown as early in spring as the ground is fit and the weather has become favourable for growth. The date of seeding is about the same as for carrots or mangels. The ground should be finely prepared, and the seed sown in drills about thirty inches apart. After the plants appear above ground cultivation should commence, and when the second leaves have appeared the plants should be thinned out to about eighteen inches in thel drill. Frequent cultivation during the season will insure rapid growth and an abundant yield of excellent fodder. From 18 to 20 tons per acre is not too much to expect on rich soil with a heavy yielding variety. The crop is ready for feeding when the heads are well formed and have become firm. It may be fed from the field until the time turnips are harvested, when it should be stored in a pit or shed suificiently protected to keep out hard frost but well enough ventilated to guard against heating. Cabbages may be fed on the pasture or in troughs in a shed. While the sheep will consume them from the whole head, it is preferable to divide them into compara- tively small pieces in order to be more easily eaten. For giving variety to the ration or adding a valuable succulent food, cabbage fills an important place on the sheep farm. Turnips. In many of the most successful sheep raising countrife turnips are considered almost as indispensible as grass. In Great Britain turnips constitute an important part of the ration of the sheep flocks from the time the crop is ready to use in the 65 autumn until grass arrives the following spring. To fattening sheep and growing stock they are fed in practically unlimited quantities, and for breeding ewes turnips are considered a necessary part of the ration. In Canada the great majority of successful sheep raisers feed turnips. The excellence of many pure-bred flocks in which international prize winners are reared is in great measure due to the liberal use of succulent foods, and no other green crop is so generally used as turnips in the winter season. Apart from their food constituents turnips have a wonderful effect in maintaining a vigorous condition of the digestive organs and general system. Young lambs born in the winter or early spring are greatly benefited by liberal feedings of finely sliced turnips until grass arrives. Not only are the lambs started into vigorous growth, but their dams are relieved from much worry and tugging. Previous to lambing ewes should not be heavily fed upon turnips or other roots; from 4 to 5 pounds per day are very beneficial, but much more than this quantity is liable to cause abnormally large, soft lambs, deficient in vitality. After lambing the turnip ration may be gradually increased even to as much as will be eaten twice or three times a day, provided, of course, sufficient nourishing dry food is given as well. The turnips keep the ewes in fine vigour and greatly help the milk flow. Growing and fattening sheep may be liberally fed on turnips, with a suitable grain ration with such roughage as clover hay and pea straw. A ration of turnips is of great assistance in building up young growing stock and fattening animals. A good method of, preparing turnips for sheep is to cut them in strips by an ordinary machine cutter, or they may be pulped. In the latter condition the roots may be mixed with chaffed straw, rendering the latter more palatable than when fed dry. Mangels. In localities better suited for the growing of mangels than turnips the former crop may be to some extent utilized for sheep feeding if certain precautions are observed. For some reason, probably the large quantity of sugar contained in mangels and beets, these roots when fed heavily to sheep bring about an unhealthy condition of the kidneys and other organs. This is particularly true in the early part of the winter, and even up to the spring months breeding sheep, particularly rams, should not be heavily fed upon this food. In the absence of turnips a few pounds per day of mangels may be given with advantage. As spring approaches they become less ■dangerous, and by April they may be fed quite generously. Tor late spring feeding mangels are given preference over turnips by many expert sheep men for the chief reason of their excellent keeping quality. Even well into the warm weather they retain their crispness and flavour when properly housed or pitted. Many turnip growing sheep farmers in Great Britain and in Canada reserve a pit or cellar of ' Globe ' mangels for May feeding, and it is not uncommon to find this root composing a part of the daily ration of show sheep even up to the middle of June. The preparation of mangels for feeding is the same as already described for turnips. Com. Corn is very widely used for feeding sheep. In corn-growing sections no grain is more used than corn for fattening sheep and lambs. For soiling in the fall green corn is an excellent fodder plant, and corn ensilage fills a place on the sheep farm. Corn is not a suitable grain to feed alone, unless in very small quantities ta improve a ration of hay and roots. Sheep fed on corn alone are liable to go off their appetites and become ill from digestive derangements. Corn fed with roots and hay at the Michigan Station produced a weekly gain per head of about two and one-half pounds. A grain mixture of corn and oats gave about equal results. Corn and hay fed to lambs for fifteen weeks at the Michigan Station gave an 2514^9 66 average weekly gain of less tlian one pound per head. At the Minnesota Station lambs fed for twelve weeks on cracked com and hay gained weekly an average of 1 '15 pounds per head. Corn should invariably be fed to sheep mixed with other grain. In an experiment in feeding whole corn, corn and peas, corn and oats, and corn, peas and oats to lambs in addition to hay, the com gave the poorest results of all in gains. The averagte weekly gains per lamb were as follows: Corn, 2-6 pounds; com and oats, 2*7 pounds; corn and peas, 3 '15 pounds. A mixture of peas, oats and corn in equal quantities fed with hay gave a weekly gain of 3 pounds per head. Bran, oats and corn fed under similar circumstances gave a weekly average gain of 2 '3 pounds. If to this ration some such succulent food as turnips or mangles had been added, with a small propor- tion of oil cake, an ideal fattening ration would have been compiled. During the season of failing pastures in the autumn a daily feed of green corn is useful for keeping up the flock. The corn should be put through a cutting box and fed in troughs. A small quantity of bran mixed with the cut corn adds delicacy and feeding value to the ration. Corn Silage. Silage is fed to sheep on many farms. When well preserved it is relished by the animals, and ailords a valuable succulent food. From 3 to 4 pounds per head daily is about as much as experienced sheepmen care to feed. Fed in larger quantities, or if too acid, it is liable to cause serious indigestion. At this rate silage fed with clover hay comprises an excellent ration for wintering ewes, and when to this a grain ration is added a profitable fattening ration is secured. At the Wisconsin Experiment Station corn silage was found to be about equal to mangels for ewes rearing lambs. The lambs made slightly better gains when roots were fed to their dams, but the silage was produced at a slightly lower cost. The feeding value of good silage and roots for sheep, according to experiment station tests, is about equal. When fed with caution they give similar results on the ordinary farm, but for general practice on the Canadian farm no succulent food can equal swede turnips, on account of their safety and beneficial influence upon the stock. The variation experienced in the maturity and other qualities of corn silage renders it less uniform in its results for sheep feeding. When rich in grain it is too heating, and when immature it is too acid to be easily digested or keenly relished. Where roots are not available silage is a fine substitute, or the two foods may be fed alternately during the housing season. Peas. Peas constitute a very important crop on the sheep farm. They are useful as a soiling crop, they are fed unthrashed to fattening stock, as a grain they are highly valuable when mixed with oats, and as a cheap fodder no class of straw can surpass well saved pea straw for winteriiig ewes. As a soiling crop, peas are frequently sown with oata, or oats and tares. Sheep delight in a leafy food, and leave only the coarsest of the bare peavines in their rack. A bushel of oats, a bushel of peas and half a bushel of tares per acre constitute a seeding for a fine mixture to be fed as a soiling crop. Good judgment and much caution are required in feeding unthrashed mature peas to sheep. If given too liberally there is likely to be loss of animals from over feeding. By commencing with a small quantity, well distributed, the sheep will gradually become accustomed to this food, when it may be cautiously increased. For fattening sheep or milking ewes peas fed in the straw give excellent results. There is probably no grain ration that can surpass a mixture of one part peas (preferably cracked), two parts oats and one part wheat bran. This mixture is well balanced in essential food constituents, it is sufficiently light to be readily digested and it is much relished by the stock. From half a pint to a pint and a half per day is a moderate ration according to the size of the animals and the object in view. 67 Many of the best flocks of breeding ewes are wintered upon pea straw as the rough 2i /POOT HOUSE 1 !; ii ■ - i 1! 1 1 ilL^ 1 i il I ii\ k k 3 ? 1 l 1 1 J ■M . 1 Hi ^11 \ "1 \V\ th 3 \ "Tl 1 0£i jr n -1 _T n^ ~' J] — 1 — ^ 1 f^-^eo ^^c^ ■ \ '-p^ /= £££> /^^CH "1 ,k k \l ■""j ■■ '4a e3 ;■;-> ° ri'-. id 11 t>-5,."' Fig. 56.— Longitudinal Section. By measuring the length of one of these divisions the length of the plank necessary will be found. In this case the planks are 12 feet long. They should be 10 inches wide and 2 inches thick. Five planks will make the arch or one rafter. In framing the arch the plank should be wide enough to leave at least 2 inches at each end after the side has been rounded off. A straight line passing through the points B. and G. or B. and M. will give the cuts at the points G. and M. Three pieces form the side and two pieces rounded in the same way are required for doubling over the joints at G. and M., meeting at N. the line B., N. giving the cut. These should be well nailed each to the other. The cut at H. is obtainable by a line drawn at right angles to the floor and from the centre of it. The cross piece P.E. acts as a brace and also carries the horse fork. The eaves project 2 feet beyond the wall. The slope in the piece marked T. is obtained by using a circle with the same two-thirds diameter, but the cut is taken on the underside of the plank and then turned concave side up. Each arch can be framed and put together (always well nailed) on the floor, then raised into place and spiked at the bottom. To support the arches for the door space a plank is placed across under them and supported at each side by upright planks. These uprights are attached by braces to the main wall. Some barn doors swing out, others swing in, but rolling doors carefully put up and on good rollers are most convenient and serviceable. 73 Por a flock of from twenty to thirty sheep a building 20 feet wide by 30 feet long, with the addition of a suitable yard, will be large enough. The plan of construction may be practically the same as in the larger building, but proportionately lighter planks may be used in the roof construction. Fig. 57. — Cross Section. Ventilation. Many sheep barns are ventilated simply by the doors and windows. If on two sides of the building windows are left partly open the air should be fairly pure at all times. Some prefer to keep the windows closed, depending on a separate system of ventilation. To-day many systems of ventilation are in use. Some that work well in places are said to fail in others. Much depends on a careful installation of the system, and afterwards careful handling. At the Experimental Farm at Ottawa, many of the best systems have been tried. The ' Rutherford ' system, illustrated in Fig. 58 and described below, has proved most satisfactory. In a slightly modified form it has replaced all the others. In this system six ' U ' tubes, or boxes, 18 x 9 inches, take the air from the outside and deliver it at the floor inside. These tiles or boxes are brought up the wall on the outside a couple of feet, and to keep the snow and rain out a board is put on to form a roof, leaving a portion of the sides open to an extent equal to the capacity of the pipe or box. The boxes should go down into the earth at least three feet so as to avoid any possibility of draft. The opening inside is at the floor level, as shown in Fig. 58. This should be protected by an iron grating. Or the pipe may project a few inches above the floor, the opening at the sides being covered with wire screens, as shown in the longitudinal section. Fig. 56. This allows a free passage of the air and keeps straw and other material out of the tubes. The outlet is a double-walled tube having a dead air space between. It is 2i feet square, and both the outer and inner jackets are of tongued and grooved lumber. 74 The double wall witli the dead air space reduces condensation to a minimum and promotes a better draught. The draught is regulated by a damper in the out-take chute to which control ropes are attached. By closing this damper the outward current is stopped and the inflow very materially checked. The closer the bam is built the better the system will work. Fig. 58.— The Rutherford System of Ventilation. A.— Wall of stable. B. — Foundation of stable. 0. — Floor level. D. — ^Intake box through which fresh air passes. E. — Opening in side of intake pipe. The drawing on the left hand represents the damper in the out-take pipe open, and the system therefore in full operation. The drawing on the right shows the dami)er closed, under which condition both the intake and outtake are inoperative. An Inexpensive Shed. The barn described is fashioned after the ideas of extensive sheep owners having pure-bred flocks. It is built rather more substantially than would be necessary for a commercial flock from which early lambs are not yielded. Many excellent flocks of sheep are wintered in simple sheds, facing the south, open in front and closed tightly at the ends and back. It is well also to have the front closed for a short distance from either end. Such a shed should be not less than 20 feet wide. A building 50 feet long, if provided with a comfortable yard, would accommodate 85 to 90 head of medium sized sheep. The feed racks may be movable and stand across the building in pairs four feet or more apart, forming passages for feeding, or they may be con- structed against the back wall. Unless the sheep can be penned out of the building when the feed is being distributed the cross racks are preferable, as then the feeder is not crowded off his legs by the hungry animals, nor are the sheep in danger of having their fleeces littered with fodder. These racks may be used for hay, grain and chopped roots. They should, therefore, be built with close bottoms and sides, the latter about 3 to 4 inches high. The sides should be slatted about 9 inches apart, so that the sheep may poke their heads through while feeding. Racks made in this way save feed from being trodden under foot and each sheep is able to hold its position at meal time. Such coarse fodder as pea straw, or like material, may be fed on the 75 ground in the outer yard. If placed along the fences, in not too large quantities at a time, it will be carefully picked over without waste. What is left may he gathered up to be used for bedding. "• — -^^^Si^t^tjtc:-^^ Fig. 59. — An Inexpensive Sheep Shed. Even though the front of the shed is open a good sized window at each end and two or more at the back are desirable. A stock bam of any kind cannot have too much light and there are times when a cool breeze from the north affords great comfort to the stock. |<--?o-^ \f.^O'^ Fig. 60.— Floor Plan of Shed. Any sort of cheap construction that provides the qualifications of durability and freedom from draughts answers well. The walls may consist of a single ply of inch lumber well nailed on to a scantling frame, battened on the outside and lined with tarred paper, which may be held on by cull lumber as high as the sheep can reach, and by strips above that line. The roof must be close and the floor dry. With these qualifications the cheap house described and illustrated in Tigs. 59 and 60 fulfils all the actual requirements of a sheep barn, unless one raises early lambs. In such a case warmer quarters provided with small divisions and conveniences are necessary. Y6 SHEEP AS -WEED DESTROYERS. The variety-loving habits of sheep in the matter of diet render them very useful in destroying weeds that give trouble in crop growing. It is a well understood fact that the sheep-raising farmers have the cleanest as well as the richest farms. It is calculated that fully ninety per cent of the troublesome weeds are readily eaten by sheep, and these include practically all of the kinds that demand special methods of cultivation on many Canadian farms. With intelligent management cropi)ed land may be entirely cleaned of nearly all weeds, while the few that remain will be so thor- oughly kept in check as to give little trouble. If allowed to act as scavengers, sheep will render excellent service in the work of cleaning up permanent pastures, private roads, fence borders and other out of the way places, and if turned on stubble follow- ing a grain crop many late seeding weed plants will be nipped ofE and turned into mutton. The broad statement, that sheep consume a larger percentage of farm weeds, is too general to be very instructive. In the preparation of this bulletin a number of successful sheep men were consulted with a view of securing specific information upon the weed question, based upon experience and observation. In the following para- graphs these authorities tell their own stories. Sheep Improve the Grade of Wheat. A. D. Gamley, Griswold, Man. — 'I feel ashamed that after keeping sheep so' many years I am unable to give you the names of all the noxious weeds sheep will destroy, but I have no doubt the reason is on account of the sheep. These weeds never bothered me much, and in this respect I was not observant; however, it seenas to me that they eat them all, with the exception of the blue burr and thistles. Before coming up here from Brandon I kept from 100 to 120 breeding ewes, and had unlimited pasture where they were herded from seven in the morning until five or six in the evening, when they were turned into a seventy-acre pasture field, and where they also- remained on wet days. There never was a weed to be seen in this pasture. In the fall after the grain was stacked they were turned on to the summer fallow which had grown heavy with weeds. Because I had no fencing then I could not turn in the sheep until the grain was nearly all stacked; in a very short time the field would be as bare as a billiard table. I might say that in one or two years when wheat was being docked from two biishels to five and seven bushels to- the load, I was shipping my own wheat from Martinville and had the grade certificates come back marked no dockage, and one per cent is all I was ever docked. My surmner fallows would be from 40 to 70 acres, and at times it would have from 1*75 to 240 head, including lambs, feeding upon it. ' I might mention an incident that occurred this summer, and which taught me a lesson. I had two or three acres of rape sown with the ordinary grain drill but with only a few holes left open. I mixed the rape with oats that got badly heated in the granary, and which I thought would not grow, but they grew. I ran the cultivator through once but had no time to do it again. The sheep happening to get on to it one day, I noticed that they ate the oats and left the rajre, so I put them on an hour every day until the patch was rid of oats and other weeds and only the rape left. I did the same with the potato patch, and they cleaned that up. They wiU not eat potato tops, at least not until late in the summer. There is not the slightest doubt that if a farm is fenced so that sheep can be put just where wanted they cannot be beaten for ridding a farm of weeds, and I think they and the growing of barley are the only solution to the wild oat problem. ' With regard to hay, sheep will eat most of the weeds in the hay, before the hay; they pick the weeds out first. They are not over-fond of stink weed, a very trouble- some plant in Manitoba, but will eat it when young but not after it has gone to seed.' 77 Blue Weed and Wild Mustard. Richard Gibson, Delaware, Out. — ' My first experience with sheep as land cleaners was on an abandoned farm on Long Island, on which grew a quantity of second growth scrub difficult to subdue. We cut down the scrub growth and put on sheep to keep down the following year's sprouts. For the purpose we had Atwood Merinos and imported English sheep of the mutton persuasion. The Merinos were infinitely better for the purpose than my English favourites. They continued to work day after day, nibbling here and there wherever a sprout presented itself. The English breeds on the other hand wanted their meals served up by English butlers; give them good grub and all the leisure between meals and they are barons of their order, but work they will not. ' On my present farm, purchased a number of years ago, the pastures were over- run with the weeds known as blue weed, locally called 'blue devil.' One eighty acres was a complete mass of blue flowers, admired by all artists or poets who passed thereby. I doubt if to-day 100 plants are in flower on those eighty acres. Sheep alone did it, and registered Shropshires at that. The sheep disdain eating this plant until the flowers are in evidence, then they nibble the heart out, flowers and honey — not a bad combination, especially for sheep. 'I believe sheep would eradicate wild mustard if used intelligently for that purpose. That they are very fond of it in two stages of its growth I am convinced. They eat it readily when very young and again when in blossom. I cannot bear this out from experience with wild mustard, but I do know that in my part of Lincoln- shire white mustard was extensively used as a forage plant, more particularly for breeding ewes during the autumn.' Weeds Increase as Sheep Decrease. James Bryson, Brysonville, Que. — ' Following my father's example, I have kept sheep since my boyhood. My experience and observation leads me to the conclusion that sheep will eat practically all weeds that have no bitter taste. Some of those most readily eaten are sweet clover, oxeye daisy, sow thistle and Canadian thistle. These are all eaten in their green state, and if cured in hay before the stems become woody they are eaten in preference to timothy hay. Some years ago a neighbour whose ewes were quite fat told me that they received no grain, but were fed upon clover hay with wild peas or wild vetches mixed. This weed makes very fair sheep feed when cured as hay. Last year I seeded down a field that is so low that weed seeds are brought to it each spring by floods, as the snow is going off. Along with the clover and timothy there came up a large quantity of sweet clover and many other kinds of weeds. So dirty was it that I cut the entire crop the .last week of June and destroyed it by fire, I then turned my sheep into the field and was surprised to see that they ate the weeds as readily as the timothy pasture. A year ago on the same field my sheep lived for several weeks in the early spring on sweet clover that grew on the river bank. I notice of late years that weeds are becoming more prevalent in our section than heretofore, and I think it is largely due to the fact that farmers are not Seeping sheep as they used to.' John Campbell, Woodville, Ont. — ' The sooner a flock of sheep, good of its kind, is kept on practically every farm, the sooner will the income be materially increased, with the least cost for labour; and that not alone because of the direct profit, but also because of the very important part a flock plays in keeping weeds under control. At an institute meeting in western Ontario last winter, one farmer gave his experience along this line. Until some ten years ago he kept sheep, had a clean farm, and weeds were nearly unknown. Following the fashion set by some of his neighbours, the sheep were sold, and soon after weeds demanded constant attention. Bad grew worse, until it was determined to stock up with a flock. The sheep came and in a few years the weeds were once more under control. That is a fair sample of reports from members of flock owners where sheep were utilized as weed subduers.' 78 Young Weeds Relislied. John Jachson, Abingdon, Ont. — ' I miglit name a few of tte noxious weeds that sheep will readily eat as follows: annual sow thistle, oxeye daisy, rag weed, wild mustard, wild vetches, and, even Canadian thistles when young and tender. They will also eat the buds and flowers of thistles when in the latter stage. I believe sheep will eat about ninety per cent of all the noxious weeds that grow on the farm. ' The best way to handle sheep to give best results in destroying weeds, is to put them on when the weeds are young and tender, allowing them to pick everything close and bare; then change to other pasture, allowing the weeds to get a fresh start. Keep up this alternate system so the sheep will get the weeds in the tender stage of growth.' Wm. Olarh, North Wiltshire, P.E.I. — ' I could not begin to give you a list of all the weeds sheep destroy. They will keep down all common weeds except thistles, but of course they will not eat the weeds completely if they get all the grass they want. I believe they will keep down all the weeds on any farm.' W. G. Petiit, Freeman, Ont. — ' As weed exterminators, sheep are very useful, as they appear to be very fond of nearly all kinds of weeds except Canadian and Scotch thistles. We find them very useful in the apple orchard to pick up the wormy apples. Some apple growers think pigs or sheep running in an orchard do as much good as spraying for many kinds of insects.' B. H. Harding, Thorndale, Ont. — ' I find sheep the best weed destroyer that exist. I know of no weed, they will not eat. They relish milk weed and burdocks, and will also eat rag weed and oxeye daisies when short of food. In fact there is scarcely a weed that will be permitted to go to seed in the sheep pasture if a flock has access to it constantly from the time the weeds coromence to appear.' J. W. Wididifield, Uxhridge, Ont. — ' The claims made for the sheep as a weed exterminator are well grounded. Although not altogether omnivorous, there are, I think, very few weeds that the sheep will not eat if allowed access to them in their tender stages of growth. Their chief value in this connection is in preventing from seeding the annual and biennial weed plants until they have lived their time, and the few in this class that they object to, such as the various burrs, mulleins, &c., are- not hard to deal with in other ways. Regarding the sow thistle, either annual or perennial, it is claimed in this locality that sheep are particularly valuable in their destruction.' H. Arhell^ ArTcell, Ont. — ' Sheep eat ninety per cent of the weeds that grow. They are very fond of the following: Wild mustard, summer cockle, rag weed,, red root, sow thistle, bird-clock, red and English dock, and when pastures are bare they will eat Canadian Thistle. Sheep Help to Clean the Com Field. Telfer Bros., Paris, Ont. — Too much cannot be said in favour of the sheep as a weed exterminator. Eag weed is very common throughout the country, and I am of the opinion that were more sheep kept this weed could be practically put out of busi- ness, as they are fond of it in its earlier stages of growth. I have had good results in pasturing a few lambs in the com fields. They eat many of the weeds and .do little or no damage to the corn. Our observation leads us to conclude that farmers who keep sheep have very much cleaner farms than those who do not, and this we attribute to the fact that scarcely any weed escapes them, even if pasture is plentiful.' James Bowman, Ouelph, Ont. — ' Since I came to this farm, upon which was- growing considerable blue weed in one field, I have noticed that when sheep have access to that field from early spring that this weed is kept closely cropped and never allowed to go to seed. They are very fond of burdocks and dandeloins and will brouse- 79 ofi willows and other scrab growth while young and tender. There is no weed that sheep are more fond of than wild mustard, they prefer it to almost anything else in the shape of pasture.' John W. Laidlaw, Wilton Grove, Ont. — ' In my opinion there is no other animal on the farm that can compare with the sheep in the two-fold purpose of fertilizing land and cleaning it of weeds. According to my observations the principal trouble- some weeds that are consumed by sheep are rag weed and foxtail. These weeds appear in the stubble after harvest, and if a flock of sheep is allowed to run on the field the weeds, with all their seeds, soon disappear, at the same time the field is being fertilized.' Wild Mustard, Good Sheep Feed. T. Hardy Shore, Olanworth, Ont.—' There is no doubt that sheep help greatly in keeping down weeds, but I am sure it is a mistake to keep sheep continually in a weedy field. They should be changed off to a clean field every week or so, then they will attack the weeds with vigour when turned fresh on them. If I had a very bad field of say golden rod, or any strong growing weeds of that kind, I would hurdle them on parts of it and turn off on clean pasture, as we can't expect sheep to live on weeds alone. Among our worst weeds that sheep would help to eradicate I would mention: golden rod, lamb's quarters, ox-eye daisy, rag weed, wild raspberry, wild carrot; mustard, elder berry, Michaelmas daisy, and a great many others. If I had a field infested with wild mustard I would make money out of ploughing and working it down early in the spring, then turn on sheep after it had grown eight inches high, then plough and work down and repeat with sheep ; do this several times during the summer, in this way lessen the mustard and get feed enough each time to pay for the work. Mustard is as fattening as rape, only one cannot grow so much of it.' Sow Thistle Overcome by Sheep. J. W. Clarh, Cainsville, Ont. — ' As weed exterminators sheep have no equal, being very fond of nearly all weeds. There is only three or four weeds they will not eat readily, namely: toad flax, orange hawk weed, and these they will eat if pasture is not very plentiful. They are very fond of the perennial sow thistle. While I have not had experience with this weed on my farm, while going through the province on institute work many farmers have claimed that the sheep would completely eradicate this most troublesome weed in pasture land, keeping it nipped off so close to the surface that it could not exist for any great length of time. The oxeye daisy is another weed that sheep will keep in control on pasture land. Eib grass, sheep are very fond of and will keep in check. The rag weed can be kept from seeding after the crop is harvested by a good flock of sheep, they will eat the tops off if the pasture is not too plentiful. Too much cannot be said in their favour.' A number of other correspondents substantiate in a general way the information contained in the above letters. Others state that their land is kept sufficiently clean of weeds by the sheep as to render it impossible to make observation upon the kinds of weeds eaten by this class of stock. This latter is probably the strongest evidence^ one could have of the value of sheep as an aid to clean farming. Ragwort — The Source of Pictou Cattle Disease. Certain plants that are prejudicial to the health of other classes of stock may be eaten by sheep with no apparent risk or inconvenience. Thcmost conspicuous example of this class of weed is ragwort (Senecio Jacohoea), a plant very prevalent in Prince Edward Island and counties of Nova Scotia bordering on the ISTorthumber- land Straits. Through experiments conducted on a large farm at Antigonish, Nova Scotia, by the Health of Animals' Branch of the Department of Agriculture, it was discovered a few years ago that the fatal Pictou cattle disease is a direct result of 80 the continued eating of this weed in its dried state. Further experiments have proved not only that sheep are not harmed by eating ragwort, but they enjoy it as a diet to such an extent that the plant soon disappears from an infested field when pastured by a flock of sheep of sufficient numbers to adequately cope with the vegetation. From information already secured it is evident that while this weed' exists as at present over the infested areas, cattle raising cannot be carried on without careful precaution and great risk. Being widespread over rugged hillsides, wood lots and other untill- able areas, the only practicable method of eradication is through the agency of sheep. Fortunately the country infested is well suited for sheep raising, being capable of producing an abundance of winter feed, while the hiUy pastures and other rough lands are admirably adapted to this class of stock. As weed eradicators, sheep can perform a service of great value to the ragwort infested areas of the maritime provinces. 81 ANIMAL £N£MIES OF THE SHEEP. The Pestiferous Dog. Fortunate is the sheep breeder who is not from his own experience compelled to regard the roving dog as the natural enemy of the sheep. Many excellent flocks have been ravished and ruined by sheep-killing dogs, and their owners discouraged in the keeping of sheep. For the decrease of sheep in all parts of Canada the annoyance and loss from dogs is given as the chief cause. There is perhaps no experience on the farm so heart-breaking and vexatious to the shepherd as to find in the morning that the dogs have been amongst his flock. Upon going to the field he finds a number of the choicest ewes torn and bleeding or killed outright; others with their forearms so chewed and thighs lacerated as to render them hopeless cripples. Those not bitten are so exhausted, frightened and upset as to be practically ruined for further useful- ness. For weeks they will start and rush about from the least unusual sound, until restful feeding and thriving is out of the question. Nor does time correct the evil. Regular breeding is interfered with and losses at lambing time are greatly increased. Even though hundred per cent actual damages are made good by municipal appropria- tion for the killed and injured animals, the loss is not nearly met. The writer can speak from experience on this point. On a single night more than a score of breeding ewes, nearly all imported from Britain, were bitten or torn. While the immediate fatalities did not exceed half a dozen head, the damage was estimated to be sufficiently large to warrant the council in granting five hundred and twenty-five dollars — to the council a large appropriation, but to the flock owner a very inadequate compensation, not greater in proportion than one thousand dollars' insurance on the loss of a five thousand dollar property. The destruction occurred early in the summer while the lambs were young. The ewes went off their milk, and being restless and timid failed sadly in condition. Many did not get in lamb in the fall, and a number that did gave endless trouble with each succeeding lambing time from unnatural presentations and losses therefrom. The once valuable flock selected in Britain and at home at great expense was practically ruined. The experience described is not overdravm, as very many sheep owners can affirm. Unfortunately only sheep men can appreciate the extent of injury to the industry effected by dogs, with the result that adequate protection by legislative bodies is prac- tically impossible to secure. Even the small tax of one dollar for dogs and two for bitches is looked upon by many as an unjustified hardship on the poor man who so frequently likes to harbor two or more useless canines. The people who keep the dogs have no interest in the sheep, and as they are vastly in the majority, measures calcu- lated to restrict the freedom of the dog are ahnost invariably shelved on first presenta- tion, and afterwards killed or modified until practically useless. Is it not time for sheep owners and others interested in the industry to unite upon this question, which is so closely allied to successful agriculture? During the score of years preceding 1901 the sheep stock of Canada decreased almost half a million head. The chief cause of this falling ofi was undoubtedly the worrying dog. That such an industry should be handicapped and in many cases ruined by, not the valuable dog that his owner cares for, but the pestiferous cur that is not only useless but a detriment to a district, is a situation difficult to understand. And still adequate legislative protection is denied the sheep. Sheep are seldom or never killed during the day time, which fact greatly simplifies the working out of a satisfactory measure. A dog away from home and unattended during the night hours is a dangerous animal, and for the purpose of sheep protection should be regarded as a wild beast and treated accordingly. It should be the lawful privilege of every one to hunt down and destroy the dog that leaves his home to rove the district during the hours of night. It is true that most of the provinces have on their statute books Acts for the ,2514—10 82 protection of sheep, but in no ease does the sheep receive such consideration as the wild deer of the forest. According to the game laws of certain provinces : ' No hounds or dogs accustomed to pursue deer are allowed at large where deer are found, during the close season for deer.' The law in Ontario further provides that: * Hounds or dogs running deer during the close season may be killed on sight by any person, who shall not be liable to damage for so doing.' So far as the legislation for the protection of sheep is concerned we have made little or no advance for several centuries. "We find that in 1648 the general court of Massachusetts made an order in which the following 'appears: — 'If any dogge shall kill any eheepe the owner either hange his dogge forthwith or pay double damages for the sheepe, if ye dogge hath been seen to course or bite any sheepe before, not being sett on, and his owner hath notice thereof then he shall both hange his dogge and pay for the sheepe.' This old regulation was calculated to protect the sheep in the same way that our present game laws protect the deer, while the sheep in many municipalities are receiving a much less serious consideration. In the twentieth century it would apjwar as though the dog industry receives greater consideration by legislative bodies than that of the sheep. Methods of Protection. While many sheep raisers have dispersed their flock because of the dog nuisance, and others for the same reason have hesitated taking up the industry, there are many who have discovered successful methods of guarding their flocks from attacks. The employment of half a dozen sharp-sounding bells attached to the necks of individiials is common practice. This, however, is not always successful. Flocks wearing this supposed safeguard are occasionally attacked and its members worried, but if the sheep can approach within earshot of the dwelling, the shepherd is likely to be aroused as he is ever on the alert in regard to his sheep. A troublesome custom, but considered the best safeguard by many, is to bring the flock at night to a field or plot adjacent to the barn. Unless provision is made for feeding in these quarters the sheep cannot thrive satisfactorily. They are early to rise, and should not have to wait long after daylight for the morning meal, especially if this has to be gathered from a sparse pasture at some distance from the sleeping place. This plan has points to commend it if the feeding difficulty is overcome. All sheep should be seen once daily, and twice is even better. To provide night pasture two plots should be sown with suitable fodder and the flock given access to these alternately, giving each a chance to grow up in its turn. If these are fenced with dog-proof fence the surer will be the protection. A modern woven wire fence 5 feet 6 inches high, with cross wires not more than 5 inches apart, and having a barbed wire at the top and at the bottom close to the ground will keep out dogs, provided no objects are left that would be of assistance in jumping over. An extensive sheep raiser recommends the use of a dog-proof woven wire inclosure, locating it in the pasture and moving it from place to place on knolls needing fertilizing. It is suggested that five dollars worth of material would provide a move- able pen large enough for fifty sheep. The labour of inclosing and liberating the sheep would be much less irksome than milking cows or feeding hogs. Still another plan is to give the flock access to the home building during the night, or at all times, if convenient, by leaving openings from the field to a lane leading to the barnyard. If the salt box is kept at the building the sheep will regard that point as the one centre of meeting, and to this they will run when molested in the field. It is very important to have the gap immediately at the corner of the pasture nearest the barn. If at the side of the field, the sheep, when being driven, are likely to miss the gap in their terrified flight froin their pursuers. 83 Predatory Animals. In many sections of Canada, more particularly west of the Great Lakes, the sheep- raising industry is seriously injured by the depredations of predatory animals. The most common of these are the coyote, the timber wolf and the panther. The coyote is troublesome in each of the western provinces, the timber wolf is the cause of loss in Alberta and British Columbia, while the ravages of the panther are confined to the Pacific province. In addition to these the brown bear occasionally takes a lamb in back sections of Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. The coyote or prairie wolf is especially destructive to young lambs, but when once the habit of sheep killing has become fixed unprotected flocks in coyote-infested districts suffer from their depre- dations. A number of remedies for the coyote nuisance have been adopted, with more or less success. Close, high wire fencing is effective, but quite expensive. The ordinary bounty of $2 for mature coyotes and $1 for pups helps to reduce the number, but the systematic and careful use of poison at the proper seasons is the most effective remedy. The Board of Sheep Commissioners of Oregon, a body reporting estimated annual losses of 150,000 sheep in the State by coyotes, has worked out a number of practical methods for destroying these pests. The following quotations are from Bulletin No. 2 issued by this board: — ' Granting that it will be possible for the one thousand eheep men to average the destruction of ten coyotes each for the winter months of one year, and approximating that half of this number of destroyed coyotes will be pregnant females that would have given birth to an average of six pups each during the following spring, thisi alone would account for forty thousand less coyotes in the fall of the same season. ' For coyotes,' use No. 3 spring steel traps fitted with swivelsi and attached to a log or stone weighing thirty pounds upwards. It is well to see that the trap is placed on a level with the surface of the ground and the jaws of the trap are covered over with a piece of thin paper, and this can further be covered with particles of fine earth; this can be further masked by the sprinkling of water upon the earth-covered trap. The use of artificial scent will here be found usefxd. ' When hunting with hounds the dogs should be inclosed in a wagon fitted with spring doors that may be tripped by the driver, thus allowing the dogs to make their exit and quickly enter the chase. ' During the month of May the young coyote pups may be heard in their dens and burrows, and can be easily destroyed by digging them out, or by the destruction of their mother. ' This method is more generally used than all others, but the great fear which the coyote has of all hunters prevents this method from being highly practical. Poisoning. ' Of all available methods for coyote destruction, poisoning is admitted to be the most practical and efficient measure, and no poison has been so successfully used as two grains of dry sulphate of strychnine inclosed in two grain gelatine capsules. The gelatine capsules filled with strychnine after being wiped free from any external appearance of strychnine should be further protecte'd from the dissolving effects of moisture, contained in the air and in the juices and water contained in the several materials used as a bait, by covering same with several coats of tallow. This may be best done by dipping the capsules in melted tallow. ' Several materials are highly recommended as being useful for coyote bait, and are used and prepared as follows: — ' (a) Lard, beef suet and tallow. Cut these into pieces the size of a walnut and insert therein one of the capsules of poison and securely close the cavity. ' (h) Particles of liver. Cut into pieces the size of an egg and insert therein by means of a slit one of the capsules of poison in each piece. 2514^10J 84 ' (c) Eggs, into which one of the capsules of poison has been placed by means of a small opening in the end. ' (d) Prunes, into which one of the capsules has been inserted. ' It is necessary that all materials used as bait to contain poison should be handled at all times with either forceps or gloved hands, as coyotes can easily detect human scent when bait is touched by persons not wearing gloves. ' Eggs and beef suet will be rendered more easily found both by the coyote and parties wishing to remove the same from the range if the bait is covered with blood. This is especially recommended when the snow covers the ground. Precautionary Measures. ' Eggs and prunes are said not to be readily eaten by domestic dogs. Beef suet, lard and tallow can be rendered less likely to be picked up by dogs if holes are bored in irregular pieces of wood and the suet, lard or tallow containing the poison placed therein. These offer the advantage in that they may be distributed from horseback along the decoy trails and in the vicinity of the decoy bait, and in the morning can be removed from dangerous exposure. Lard and tallow should be easily used in this manner. ' All sheep men shall exercise great care in putting out poison, and take every reasonable precaution to prevent it from being taken by dogs or other domestic animals. All poisoned carcasses that have lain so long that they have ceased to be useful, or where they are so situated as to be easily accessible to dogs, should be destroyed by burning. (Unless buried at a sufScient depth the bones of such carcasses may be uncovered by badgers, and many months afterwards be the cause of poisoning a valuable dog.) Poison should never be placed nearer than one-half mile of any highway or road or any residence or house. If placed nearer than one mile of (any house or dwelling the occupants thereof should be first notified. Do not put out poison on lands or ranges other than those owned, leased or occupied by you to the exclusion of other persons, or unless you have the express consent of the lawful owner or possessor thereof. Do not place poison near enough to any road or highway to attract dogs passing along. Poison should rarely ever be inserted in meat containing bone. If a carcass should be poisoned be sure and completely destroy all remaining bones by burning. Written notices should be placed in conspicuous places near car- casses and about one-fourth mile therefrom when practicable. Dogs should be muzzled or tied up during the poisoning season. All small poisoned baits should be picked up, after using a reasonable length of time, and destroyed. After the season is over all poisoned bait should be destroyed, whether old or not. Be extremely cautious and careful at all times in the putting out of poison, and success will crown your efforts.' The Statutes in Western Provinces Respecting Exposing Poison. Regulations in Manitoba. — In the province of Manitoba the exposing of poison in any shape for wolves or coyotes is prohibited by law under a penalty of a maximum of $50 and a minimum of $20. In the province of Manitoba, therefore, coyotes and wolves must be destroyed by other means than by poisoning. Regulations in Sashatchewttn. — There is no provincial law in Saskatchewan regulating the use of poison for coyotes or other animals. The ordinance governing the poisoning of animals of the Northwest Territories was repealed in 1897. Persons who expose poison in Saskatchewan are liable for damage and may be dealt with under the Criminal Code. Regulations in Alberta. — Following is a copy of an Act assented to by the legis- lative assembly of the province of Alberta in March, 1908 : — 1. ' Except as herein otherwise provided, no person shall put out poison in that part of the province described in section 2 hereof. 2. ' In that portion of the province lying to the north of the fifty-fifth degree north latitude a person may put out poison for the destruction of wolves upon satisfying an 85 officer or constable of the Royal Northwest Mounted Police stationed either at the village of Athabasca Landing or in the portion of the province in this section mentioned (or if there be no officer or constable of the Royal Northwest Mounted Police in such place or territory, then any other public officer or constable therein) of the necessity or advisability of so doing, and obtaining the written permission of such officer or constable to do so. (2) ' Such written permission shall specify the area within which the poison may be set out and no poison shall be set out outside of the area so mentioned. •(3) ' The permission in the last preceding section referred to may be in the form set out in schedule A to this Act, but no such permission shall be given for a longer period than six months in any year. (4) ' No person shall set out poison, except it be upon his own premises, within one mile of any public road or trail, or within two miles of any dwelling house or camp, nor shall poison be set out unless it is mixed with grease and placed in a hole or hollow in a piece of timber or other material, or is placed in a vessel. (5) 'Every person guilty of a contravention of the provisions of this Act shall be liable to a penalty of not more than $100 on summary conviction. ', SCHEDULE A. ' Permission to put out Poison. ' A. B., who resides at is hereby permitted to set out strychnine or other poisons for the purpose of destroying wolves within the following areas, namely: , provided that such poison shall not be placed within one mile of any public road or trail or within two miles of any dwelling house or camp except on the premises of the said A. B. ' This permission is only good for six months from the date hereof.' Regulations in British Oolumhia. — ^In British Columbia the Poison Act as amended in 1903-4 provides: — 'Every person who shall place any poison outside of his own building or upon any land possessed by him, for the destruction of noxious animals, or for any purpose whatever, shall give notice to all persons or families residing within two miles of the place where such poison is placed by posting notices in five of the most public places within two miles of where said poison is to be put out, and said notices shall be posted for at least twenty-four hourse before the setting out of any poison, as before mentioned.' Timber Wolves, Bears and Panthers. Timber wolves and panthers are sly and difficult to trap. *The most popular method of destroying these is to hunt them with dogs and guns. The substantial bounty offered for their heads by each of the provinces proves an incentive to hunters to seek this class of game. n , . , Loss from bears is likely to diminish with the removal of timber and the attendant extension of agriculture. An enthusiastic sheep raiser residing in northern Quebec finds it profitable to bring up his flock to the barnyard during the summer and fall months. The residents of this vicinity are ever on the alert for bears, with the result that the number is being reduced each year. Steel, bear traps are used in isolated spots, but these are objected to because of the danger to farm stock. The 'dead fall,' intelligently used, each year accounts for a number of bruins, but the dog and the gun directed with the judgment of an experienced hunter are probably the most effective weapons of extermination. 86 THE INDUSTRY IN THE DIFFERENT PROVINCES. Prince Edward Island. The sheep industry is an important branch, of agriculture on Prince Edward Island. The soil and the cUmate are highly adapted to sheep raising, as evidenced by the quality of many of the Island flocks and the excellence of the mutton produced. As in other provinces, the numbers decreased during many years prior to 1906, when some improvement was shown. The returns for 1907 indicate an increase of about 8 per cent over the previous year. Both wool and mutton have so materially improved in value that flocks are increasing in numbers and enlarging within themselves as rapidly as the natural increase will allow. While many of the flocks have white faces and long wool, the use of Down sires is becoming very popular. The close fleece of the grade Down is well suited to the moist climate of fall and spring, and the compact carcasses are admirably adapted for the market requirements. The census returns show that of the thousand head of pure-bred sheep on the island about 55 per cent are Shropshire, 15 per cent Leicester, 5 per cent Cotswold, 5 per cent Oxford and the balance Southdown and Lincolns about equally divided. The soil, a light red loam, naturally dry under foot, is admirably adapted for sheep. It is easily worked and when well farmed produces abundant crops of all classes of sheep fodder. Hay, oats and roots do particularly well, and with these foods sheep may be grown to perfection if the foundation stock is right and intelligence is exercised in breeding and treatment. Island agriculture is suffering from the constant growing of hay and oats without adequate returns of manure. If these foods were fed to sheep and turned off as mutton and wool the fertility of the soil would be rapidly increased until in a few years the poorest farm would be yielding profitable crops. The foundation stock may consists of young healthy ewes of any grade or colour of face preferred or obtainable. If on these pure-bred sires of good mutton form are bred and the produce well cared for, the males wethered and the culled females fattened for the market, a valuable yearly revenue would be secured from the flocks, against which there need be com- paratively little expenditure for labour and buildings. From 1902 to 1906 between 13,000 and 14,000 lambs were shipped each year, while in 190Y the number had increased to about 20,000. Unfortunately the quality is claimed to have been steadily going back. A prominent Charlottetown butcher reports that the carcasses were on an average from Y to 10 pounds each lighter in 190Y than previously. Prices have been steadily advancing. Some years ago lambs were bought at $1.50 each, and only the best taken. The price per pound was 2 cents for all over 60 pounds. In 1907 as high as 5J cents was paid for ewe and wether lambs over 70 pounds and one cent less for rams. In spite of this great difference in price the percentage of ram lambs was about 10 per cent greater than in 1906, when one dealer deducted $572 for rams, while the following year the farmers of the Island lost about $2,000 on their lambs from reduced price alone, to which may be added many liundreds of dollars from loss of weight. The dealers do not want to handle ram lambs at all, and the sooner sheep raisers realize this and guard against it the earlier will -their industry prosper. The value of lambs shipped to the American market in 1906 Tvas about $65,000 ; with the increased price and increased number about $75,000 worth •were sent over in 1907. If sheep raising were undertaken earnestly and conducted in a business way by the general farmers of the Island, the agriculture of the province would rapidly grow in prosperity. Nova Scotia. No province of Canada is better adapted to the production of mutton and wool than is Nova Scotia. In the province there are over a million acres' of pasture land, 87 a great deal of which is sandy, rocky or gravelly, roUing up-land. Much of it is covered with short, nutritious, native grass intermingled with white clover, yielding a rich herbage upon which sheep thrive exceedingly well. Soil and climatic conditions in Nova Scotia are extremely favourable for the growing of summer, fall and winter sheep feed, such as grass, rape, roots, clover and mixed hay. As sheep require less grain feed than other classes of farm stock, they are particularly well suited for a province where the growing of cereal crops is not now and likely never wiU be a very strong factor in its agriculture. Near the sea, where the weather is at times damp and foggy, a compact, medium sized sheep, with a close, dense fleece, is better adapted than a sheep with a more open fleece. In sheep, as in any other stock, good results seldom come by chance. It requires steady, persistent effort to attain the end in view. When pure-bred compact males of one breed are used and a continuous fixed course of breeding followed, in a few years a very ordinary flock will be so changed that they will have the conformation and appearance of pure-breds. With the price of lambs at five cents per pound, weighed out of the pasture, and tub-washed wool selling at 25 cents a pound, a very common ewe between fleece and lamb returns the Nova Scotia farmer from five to six doUars a year. With good breeding, careful selection and liberal feeding, no branch of the live stock industry in Nova Scotia is more profitable than sheep raising. The neglecting of two points in sheep management, however, causes serious loss: ram lambs are not castrated, and too often the ticks are not destroyed. Lambs should be castrated when between ten and fifteen days' old; this would add at least fifty cents to the value of the lamb, as then they need not be disposed of so early in the autumn. If the practice of castrat- ion became more general it would relieve the market from becoming glutted in the fall, as so often happens when too many ram lambs are crowded on to it. No flock can thrive or do well if the ewesi and lambs are pestered with ticka. Early in June is the best time to get rid of these pests. About ten days after the ewes are shorn the ticks wiU have taken shelter on the lambs. If the lambs are then dipped it will be the means of so thinning out the troublesome vermin that the flock will thrive in peace and contentment. In destroying noxious weeds and keeping tillable land clean, there is no other method so easy as that of pasturing with sheep. In Nova Scotia, particularly, sheep have a peculiar value in this regard. The weed known as ragwort has become a serious menace to cattle raising in the province by causing Pictou cattle disease. Sheep relish this weed, and receive no injury from it. From experiments carried on for years under the direction of the Veterinary Director General on an infested farm, it would appear as though sheep would in time entirely exterminate this plant. Apart altogether from the advantage of rearing sheep in large numbers as a profitable branch of agriculture, for the purpose of making it possible to conduct the rearing of cattle successfully, the keeping of sheep in the ragwort-infested district cannot be too strongly urged. For a score of years ending 1904 sheep rearing in the province gradually declined, the falling off amounting to 10,000 head. Since then an improvement has taken place, more particularly in eastern Nova Scotia and Cape Breton. At present the number is about 385,000 head. In 1901, when the last census was taken, there was killed and sold sheep and lambs to the value of $119,756. At that time, however, the price of mutton was very low. The annual wool clip is a little more than one million pounds. Of pure-breds there are in the province the following numbers: Shropshires, 600; South Downs, 80; Leicesters, 80; Oxford Downs, 100; Dorsets, 30; Hampshires, 11; Lincolns, 20; Cotswolds, 25. In the falls of 1906 and 1907 there were taken to the province by the Provincial Department of Agriculture a large number of pure-bred rams w^hich were sold at auction. It is the intention of the government to continue this distribution for a few years. The educational side of the sheep industry is also to be pushed at farmers' meetings. Nova Scotia has over a million acres of pasture land. Owing to the roughness of 88 the surface mucli of this must remain in i)ermanent pasture. Great tracts of it are on bare, bleak, wind-swept hill sides where dairy cows or even young cattle could barely exist, but where sheep would do fairly well. The most practical way of renovating cropped out land, bringing it back to a profitable state of fertility, is by sheep farming. In some parts of the province there are far too many deserted farms upon which a fair living could be made if sheep raising were made the principal factor in its working. To buy up or lease a number of cheap farms, going into sheep raising extensively, would, if judgment and skill were used in the management, give the owners a better return and a much safer investment than purchasing land in distant countries. Nova Scotia has a number of well managed woollen mills. The quality of their goods have a Dominion reputation. The development of the sheep industry would give them a larger supply and a better quality of raw material. There are a great many reasons not mentioned why the sheep industry of eastern Canada should be stimulated and encouraged. It is well worthy of careful considera- tion. New Brunswick. "While the agricultural sections of New Brunswick are devoted largely to dairy farming, there are many sections of the province admirably adapted for sheep raising. According to the latest census returns the province has one cow for each two acres of pasture land, and where organized dairying is the leading industry there is little reason for largely extending the keeping of sheep. On rugged, or rolling land not already returning a profit from cows, the sheep stock might well be greatly increased. The mutton produced in New Brunswick, as in the other maritime provinces, possesses a grain and flavour of unusual excellence. This fact is recognized by many of the best paying markets, with the result that buyers from Boston and New York are early on the ground each autumn contracting for lambs for the fall trade. Western Canada has also entered the field for New Brunswick lamb, and early in the summer of 1907 placed an order with a local buyer for several carloads to be supplied during the autumn. Provided the quality of the product is kept up and improved! there is very little danger of a decrease in the value of the maritime lamb, even though the supply is greatly augmented. The needs of the market already looking to New Brunswick are not readily supplied, in fact there is every probability of a con- stantly growing demand from these quarters. The Dominion census taken in 1901 shows the sheep stock of the province to have numbered 182,624 head, a decrease of 417 since 1891, and 38,222 less than in 1881. Owing to the increase of values of both wool and mutton during the past few years the farmers in some sections of the province are increasing their flocks. Accord- ing to the provincial census report the numbers had increased to the extent of nearly 70,000 head since 1901. The use of pure-bred males is also increasing. With a view to encouraging this improvement the provincial government purchased 100 pure-bred sheep in Ontario, and sold them at auction in September, 1907. They were purchased principally by agricultural societies, who resold to members, so that they were fairly well distributed throughout the province. With the improvement that is sure to result from the better breeding, the industry is destined to go forward. What is needed is better care of the flocks in the direction of providing changes of pasture in summer and a variety of suitable fodder crops for use during the housing season. With due attention to these, the wethering of the grade males, and the judicious culling of the ewes the agriculture of New Brunswick will have a valuable branch, year by year growing in importance, in the sheep raising industry. ftuebec. The early sheep of the province of Quebec came from France. The first ship ment was made in the middle of the seventeenth century; others followed from time to time during the French regime, and for nearly a hundred years afterwards no other Fig. 61.— Group of Flock Headers in Nova Scotia. 2514— p. 88. Fig. 62.— Southdown Flock near Pictou, N.S. sheep were brought in. These French sheep were small, and much resembled the Cheviot m size and conformation, particularly the shape of the head, while the quality and weight of the fleece were much the same. Toward the end of the eighteenth century colonies of United Empire Loyalists that came into what is known as the Eastern Townships brought with them from New York, Pennsylvania and other eastern states such sheep as were common in the districts from where they came. These as a rule were grades of the leading English breeds in those days, including Ootswold, Leicester, Hampshire and Southdown. They were chiefly white-faced, however, and are said to have been very fair mutton speci- mens that sheared from three to five pounds per head of wool of medium fineness. Prior to 1850 very little is definitely known of the sheep industry of the province. At that time nearly every farmer kept a small flock, from half a dozen to a dozen or fifteen head, that is to say as many sheep as were necessary to furnish enough wool to make home-spun clothing and blankets for the members of the family. Around 1850 some English-speaking gentlemen farmers in the vicinity of Mont- real and in the Eastern Townships brought out importations of Ootswolds and Leicesters from Britain. In the early sixties the Board of Agriculture of Lower Canada was founded. This board shortly afterwards organized county agricultural societies and the first provincial exhibition. At this exhibition several flocks of Leicesters and Ootswolds were shown. The farmers who saw them admired them very much because they were large and fat. They imagined these must be more profitable than thai own little sheep, never for a moment thinking that these big fellows required much more feed and better treatment. They were unaware that they could not thrive on the bare pastures and the small amount of coarse winter feed that sufficed to maintain ithe hardy little natives. From that date onward Ootswold and Leicester rams were bought by the progressive farmers to use on the small native ewes. The Leicesters went chiefly to the Eastern Townships, while the Ootswolds were bought by the French farmers in the Montreal district. Up till 1880 the French sheep were the only breed to be found on either bank of the St. Lawrence from Three Eivers eastward. Shropshires and Southdowns found their way into the province about 1880; some were imported from England, but the majority came from Ontario. A decade later a few Oxfords and Lincolns were brought in, but their number is still very limited. At the present time there are quite a number of pure-bred Ootswolds, Leicesters and Shropshires in the province. Up to l&Oe, when the provincial sheep records were transferred to Ottawa, some ten thousand sheep had been recorded. Fully half of these were Leicesters, about one-quarter Shropshires, one-fifth Ootswolds, the remainder beiag Lincolns, Oxfords and Southdowns. Under the national system of registration a large proportion of those whose pedigrees could be traced to importa- tion have been recorded. Grades of these breeds can be seen in a great many parishes, but unfortunately not in all. The breeders of pure-bred sheep have a limited market for their stock. As com- pared with the Ontario breeder, the Quebec breeder sends few animals to the United States. This is particularly true in the case of the French-Canadian, who does not communicate in the English tongue with the outside world. His market is therefore largely confined to the province. Unfortunately the demand here is not nearly so great as the condition of the commercial flocks would indicate. Lnprovement in this respect is evident in many quarters. The progress of the sheep industry has not been proportionate to the increase in population nor the general progress of agriculture. Bather it has gone backward in regard to numbers, and in some districts quality also. Many things have contributed to this condition of affairs. The enormous growth of the dairy and its sister industry, hog raising, have been two potent factors. Coupled with these goes the cry that sheep are hard on pasture. Better times, cheaper cloth and for several years the low price of wool have been other factors. To these may be added a deplorable lack of knowl- edge of sheep husbandry generally, with its attendant train of mistakes and failures in breeding, care and management. Some districts have for years inbred so closely that 90 to-day their sheep are run out in size, bone, wool, flesh and early maturing qualities. These sheep bring the lowest price on the market, and would not be bought at all if the demand was not in excess of the supply. Bam lambs are another source of great loss. Prom three-quarters to one and one-half cents are frequently deducted in the late fall from the price paid for wethers of equal weight. One of the largest firms of Montreal sheep buyers reports that not one-fourth of the ram lambs are castrated. A lack of preparation for fall finishing is another source of loss. In grading up the small native sheep the largest breeds should not be used in the cross. Such a cross is too violent. Where the ewes are small, such breeds as the Southdown, Cheviot or medium sized but well-fleshed Shropshires would likely give better results. These breeds can live on scantier pastures, and will under severe conditions give a better class of lambs and consequently more money. To-day no province has a better outlook as regards this industry. It has much rough land that is admirably suited to sheep raising. The demand for mutton far exceeds the supply. The prices paid for the inferior sheep and lambs are fair, while good ones are at a premiimi. Wool is in demand at paying prices, which could be much increased if properly handled. Local demand for good mutton is increasing, while the close proximity to New York and Boston ensures a market at all times of the year. The export trade is almost at the door of the people, and all that is needed for the prosperity of the industry is faith in the business, then a careful study and compliance with its requirements. Ontario. The sheep raising industry finds its highest development in Canada in the pro- vince of Ontario. It has occupied a prominent place in the agriculture of the province for more than a century. Many of the early settlers brought with them small stocks of sheep from which flocks were developed. The earliest importations of which records are available were the sheep brought in by the United Empire Loyalists, who came from New York, Pennsylvania and New England colonies towards the end of the eighteenth century and settled in districts bordering on Lakes Ontario and Erie. Naturally the sheep brought by these people were those commonly raised in the districts from whence they came. As a rule these, were rather rangy, coarse-boned animals, weighing from 100 pounds to 125 pounds and shearing from 3 pounds to 5 pounds of rather fine, short wool. They are said to have been of mixed breeding, containing the blood of the Wiltshire, Eomney Marsh, Hampshire, Southdown, Cots- wold and Suffolk. Many Pennsylvania Dutch farmers who settled in the province about 1790 brought sheep of much the same general character as the United Empire Loyalists had done, although it is chronicled that the blood of Friesland breeds was rather more evident than that of British sorts. The flocks thus established were perpetuated largely without the introduction of new blood until about 1830, when immigration from Britain commenced. A small number of British immigrants brought seed stock of the several classes, including sheep, and with these the quality of the established Canadian flocks was much improved. It will be understood that the flocks of sheep in those days were as necessary to the needs of the people as were the cattle, the former to supply the clothing -and mutton, while the latter yielded the milk, the beef and most of the draught labour. While the blood of the Southdown and the Hampshire was present in the early flocks, the oldest settlers, upon the evidence of their fathers, claim that the common flocks were practically all white-faced, except the few all black sheep that were kept to produce black wool from which the fulled cloth ' Sunday ' suits were made. The sheep of the best flockmasters were, as a rule, vigorous animals, with dense fleeces of about the quality of the Dorset wool of to-day. They were chiefly polled, although an occasional one wore horns. In the inferior flocks of those days there was' occasion- ally a black sheep, with white face and feet, and now and then specimens marked similar to those shown in Eig. 31, representing unimproved flocks of the present day. 91 EARLY IMPORTATIONS. Up to the early forties few, if any, pure-bred sheep had been imported into Canada. About the year 1842 a small number of Leicesters and Ootswolds were imported from England, and a few years later the Soutiidown commenced to appear. From that time onward shipments were landed almost every year. A report of the first provincial exhibition held in Toronto in 1846 states that the exhibits of Leicesters and Southdowns were of excellent quality and well adapted to the country. Two years later, in addition to the two breeds already named, Merinos were shown at the provincial exhibition. The numbers increased year by year until the exhibit at London in 1854 amounted to 400 head, divided as follows: Leicesters, 200; South- downs, 44, and Ootswolds, 30, the last named being newly imported by Geo. Miller, of Markham. In addition to a small exhibit of Cheviots made that year by Geo. Kuddick, of Northumberland county, the remainder consisted of grades. The following year the show of Leicesters was not quite so large, but the entries of Southdowns, Cotswolds and Cheviots were more numerous than heretofore. The prize winners were as follows : — Leicesters. — Chris Walker, London; Wm. Miller, Pickering; Geo. Miller, Mark- ham, and Jas. Dickson, Clark. Southdowns.— John Spencer, Whitby; E. W. Gordon, Paris; E. W. Stanley, Haldimand; Eichard Coats, Oakville, and A. Burroughs, Brantford. Ootswolds.— John Snell, Edmonton; Wm. Smith, Clark; Wm. Miller, Pickering; F. W. Stone, Guelph, and Geo. Miller, Markham. Cheviots. — Wm. Euddick, Markham. A number of these men occasionally showed at the New York State fair and brought away much of the prize money competed for; the entries of pure-breds kept up well. Three years later, 1858, the show of Leicesters numbered 188 ; Cotswolds, 39 ; Cheviots, 15; Southdowns, 49; Longwools, not pure-bred, 68; Merinos, 29, and fat sheep, 19. The Longwools, including grade Cotswolds, Leicesters and Lincolns, were magnificent sheep, equal in many respects to the pure-bred classes. The Merinos and Cheviots did not gain ground, but all of the other breeds improved, multiplied and increased in popularity until the sheep industry of the province in the early sixties had become a very popular and profitable branch of agriculture. To encourage importation the Board of Agriculture in the early fifties resolved to double, and a few years later, to triple the amount of any first prize granted at the provincial exhibition to any animal which had been imported during the year. An increasing number of enterprizing men year by year took advantage of the opportunity to introduce improved blood into their fiocks, which by this time had grown numerous and many of them fairly large, County agricultursil societies also were taking a keen interest in stock improvement by purchasing and~ distributing improved males among their members, as for example, in 1854 Grey County Society bought ten rams and sold them out for $285; three years later the Kent County Society paid $320 for 21 rams and sold them for $175. Much good resulted from this public spirited effort. From this time onward, until about 1870; sheep raising flourished in almost all .parts of the province devoted to agriculture. About this period dairying began to receive special attention in the eastern portion of the province as well as in some of the most fertile counties in the west. Fruit growing, too, in counties bordering on Lake Erie and the Niagara river, soon attracted the attention of many away from animal husbandry, with the result that many farmers abandoned sheep keeping. About that date the sheep population of the province began to subside. In 1871 the numbers are given as 1,514,914, which by 1881 had fallen to 1,359,178; in 1891 to 1,021,769, when the industry was at its lowest ebb. Ten years later the numbers had increased to 1,042,431, and seven years later, in 1907, to 1,106,083 head. These figures represent the stocks in the early spring, before the arrival of the season's crop of lambs. 92 It will be remembered by sheep men everywhere back in the nineties the sheep industry in common with others was much depressed. This was undoubtedly the result o£ a period of over-production and financial distress experienced in the United States, which had become the chief market of the Canadian breeder of pure-bred and commercial stock. With the return of prosperity, affording increased purchasing power of urban populations, together with the increase of immigration, the domestic market for mutton greatly improved and wool values enhanced, with the natural result of stimulating the industry. The improvement has not been general over the province. The tide towards dairying and hog raising and away from sheep was not easily stayed, and to this day the profitable and easily cared for sheep is not looked upon with favour by the rank and file of Ontario farmers. In the older settled portions of the province. Prince Edward and Prescott are the only counties showing increased flocks. In northern districts, Muskoka, Nipissing, Algoma, Thunder Bay and Rainy River show increases; while in Manitoulin Island and Parry Sound the industry has just about held its own. , PURE-BRED FLOCKS. The sheep industry of the province is conducted in two more or less distinct branches, viz., the breeding of pure-bred animals for breeding purposes, and the production of lamb and mutton for the market. The former has from the early years been a prominent industry; in fact nowhere in North America are better sheep of mutton breeds reared than in Ontario. International contests year by year prove this contention. At the Pan-American at Buffalo in 1901, and at the annual International Live Stock Show held at Chicago, championships and many first prizes have been year by year brought back by Ontario exhibitor for home-bred animals. Shropshires, Oxfords, Southdowns, Cotswolds, Lincolns, Leicesters and Dorsets share in the annual triumph that may well be envied by the breeders of any country against such odds in territory and capital. A carefully calculated estimate of the number of pure-bred sheep in the province places the number at 19,545 head, divided as follows: Southdown, 600; Oxford, 4,000; Shropshire, 6,000; Dorset, 350; Cotswold, 2,000; Leicester, 6,000; Lincoln, 4,000; Hampshire, 120, and Suffolk, 15 head. The United States is the chief market for Ontario sheep. For half a century the mutton raisers of the Republic have looked to Ontario for rams to improve their flocks. The free admission of pure-bred animals recorded in recognized United States flock books has maintained a constant flow of seed stock from the flocks of the Ontario breeder. Indeed it is not improbable that the home commercial flocks have suffered from this cause. The prominent breeders, with their eyes constantly towards the south and west, have neglected to develop a home market for rams, with the result that large numbers of flocks in the back country are still using grade sires. It is desirable in the interest of both classes of sheep men that the home market for pure- bred males be exploited and fostered. Replies to inquiries sent out to extensive sheep breeders indicate that a very large proportion of each succeeding crop of pure-bred males and females go to the United States. The numbers exported, it is claimed, range from 60 to 90 per cent, while one extensive breeder reports the sales of fifty across the line for one at home. Shrop- shires and the long-wooUed breeds go principally to the western states, Southdowns to Kentucky and other central states, while the demand for Dorsets is chiefly from the eastern states of the Union. Many Oxford breeders claim an excellent demand from owners of the grade flocks in Canada. COMMERCIAL MUTTON FLOCKS. The mutton industry of the province, which for a number of years showed signs of decline, has recently taken on new life on account of the improved prices of mutton and wool. In a number of counties farmers are exhibiting a strong inclination to return to sheep keeping. On July 1, 1897, the total number of sheep, including young 93 lambs, in the province was 1,690,351 head, of which 732,872 were that year sold or 'slaughter€d. On the same date, 1906, the total number was 1,304,806, of which only 574,416 head were disposed of. These figures indicate that owners of flocks are show- ing a determination to increase their sheep stock, even though better prices could, be obtained than heretofore. The output of 574,416 head in 1906 brought $58,258 more money than the 732,416 brought in 1897. It must be remembered, however, that these figures have reference to pure-bred sheep disposed of for breeding purposes as well as grade stock sold for slaughter. The values of sheep and lambs for slaughter on the Toronto market for 1897 and the following years up to July, 1907, are here given : — Date. Exporters. Butchers' Stock and Rams. Lambs. High. Low. High. Low. High. Low. 1897— July Per Cwt. 3 3.50 3.20 4.00 3.26 3,90 3.25 4.26 3.44 3.60 3.15 4.00 3.40 3.90 3.60 4.16 3.50 3.90 4.25 4.60 4.65 5.25 4.40 4.25 Per Cwt. 3 3.25 3.00 ^er Cwt. 3 3.25 2,76 3.25 2.60 3.00 2.60 3,50 3.00 3.00 2.50 3.00 2.75 3.50 2.75 3.25 3.50 3.50 3.50 4.00 3.76 4.50 3.80 3.25 ,Per Cwt. $ 2. .50 2.25 2.75 2.00 2.75 2.00 3.26 2.76 3.50 2.00 2.75 2.50 2.60 2.60 3.00 2.00 2.60 3.00 3.60 3.50 3.50 3.00 3.00 Each. $ 4.50 *4.00 4.75 3.50 4.25 *3.75 4.25 3.60 4.00 3.00 4.00 *3.60 4.60 4.00 4.50 4.50 5.26 6.10 6.25 *6.65 8.00 *5.75 *8.50 Each. $ 4.50 *3..80 1898— July 4.00 November 1899 July 3.00 3,75 3.00 3,75 3.25 3.50 3.00 3.50 3.25 2.75 3.40 3.85 2.60 3.00 4.00 4.25 4.25 5.00 4.00 3.50 2.76 3.00 *3.60 1900 — July 2.50 2.50 1901— July November 2.50 2.50 1902— July 2.50 *3.00 1903— 3.50 3.50 1904— July 3.50 4.00 1905— July 3.50 5.60 1906— July 4.00 *6.00 1907— July 6.00 4.25 1908— July 7.26 * These prices are per cwt. During the same decade wool prices showed a similar improvement. Quoting washed wool at Toronto, the prices per pound year by year from 1898 to 1907 were in cents as follows : 16, 14, 13, 16, 17, 22, 26, 24 and 16. Unwashed wool showed a less wide variations as foHows : 12, 9, lOi, 9, 7, 9, 13, 15, 18, 14 and 10 cents per pound as the highest valuation during the years. On the whole the lambs which come to Toronto market are of very desirable quality in spite of the fact that the best are marketed at Buffalo. The trade with this and other eastern United States markets has for many years been very large. In the year ending April 1, 1907, the export of lambs from Ontario to the United States amounted to about 125,000 head. During the same period about 33,000 head went from Ontario to the British market. The tendency is toward a greatly increased home demand for mutton and lamb of high quality. Heavy sheep are not wanted by the domestic trade, but these can always be sold at profitable prices for export to Great Britain. Extensive dealers claim that the home consumption of lamb has trebled in seven years, and would still further advance if freshly killed stock were obtainable at all seasons. According to 94 the present system the great bulk of Ontario lambs is disposed of during the three fall months. Most of the best of these go at once to the American market, while most of the remainder are slaughtered to go into immediate consumption, or be frozen and stored for the winter trade. Needless to point out, this frozen mutton is much inferior to freshly killed stock, provided, of course, the latter is allowed to mature on the hooks in a chilled state before consumption. A very small percentage of the ewe and wether lambs marketed in the autumn are returned to the country to be fed for the winter and spring trade. These, with the lambs held back by their growers for fattening, invariably command an excellent price from February onward. They are especially desirable to United States buyers for the reason that the wool they carry goes over duty free, saving an amount in many cases equal to the duty paid on the lambs. An excellent opportunity is afforded Ontario mutton raisers to increase their revenue by wethering all their ram lambs, fitting them properly and disposing of them at intervals throughout the season. If this were done the heavy autumn run, amounting almost to a glut in some seasons, would be avoided, the consumption of mutton would increase and a much higher average price for the lambs would prevail throughout the year. NEED OF A REVIVAL. The sheep industry in Ontario stands in need of a revival campaign similar to that accorded the dairy and the swine raising industries during the past two decades. While these latter branches of agriculture have been pressing forward, both in the . direction of development and improvement, the sheep industry has been almost at a standstill. Perhaps the greatest lack at the present time is a knowledge on the part of the average farmer of proper sheep management. If this industry were taken as seriously as the raising of hogs for the bacon trade, and the improvement of dairy herds for the production of milk and its products, it would not be long before farmers were as familiar with the conditions necessary to successful sheep raising as they are at present conversant with the proper management of hogs and cows. With this knowledge and a proper appreciation of the sheep as a profitable farm animal, viewed not only from the standpoint of the economical production of mutton and wool, but also from their ability to enrich and clean farms, this industry would soon take its place among the others, and instead of going back, as it has for many years, would merit the designation ' Golden Hoof,' as it has in England, where the sheep has become one of the chief sources of agricultural revenue. Manitoba. Sheep were introduced into Manitoba as early as 1833. In that year Governor Simpson, of the Hudson Bay Co., with the object of benefiting the little band of settlers that comprised the Selkirk colony, organized a joint stock company and sent agents south into the States to buy sheep. These agents went first to Missouri and then to Kentucky, where they purchased 1,475 sheep at about $1.60 each, and started to drive them back to the colony on the banks of the Red river of the north. Through bad management most of the sheep died on the journey, only 251 arriving at their destination. Subsequently the shareholders in the company quarrelled and the governor took over what was left of the flock. These when sold by auction, brought as high as $2 each, a lot of money in those days. Somewhere about 1840 the Hudson Bay Company is said to have brought out from England some pure-bred rams for the improvement of the sheep colony. (This information is taken from Gunn's History of Manitoba.) Tip to about 1880 many of the settlers along the Eed and Assiniboine rivers, in the vicinity of Winnipeg, maintained small flocks of sheep. The wool was worked into yarn for home consumption. Blankets and home-spun cloth were manufactured to a small extent by the use of hand looms. With the rapid increase of settlement 95 after the above date, these small flocks were disposed of. Since that time sheep have been introduced into practically every district in the province, nearly all the v?ell knovra breeds have been tried. No disease other than goitre has caused any par- ticular trouble. There has always been a good demand in the tov^ns and cities for mutton and lamb, and yet it is doubtful if there are more sheep in the province to-day than there were twenty years ago. The question that most naturally ariss in one's mind is — why is it that sheep raising does not become a more popular branch of farming? And the answer that will come most readily froni nine-tenths of those who have had experience is — On account of the prairie wolves and the expense of proper fencing. Unless the industry is taken up on a sufficiently large scale, say a flock of 500 or over, to warrant the keeping of a herder with the sheep at all times, special fencing must be provided. Almost any of the woven wire fences now on the market will answer, a fence say' 36 inches high with a strand or two of barb wire strung above it, answers well, but the erection of such fencing requires a considerable outlay. Small flocks of 25 or 50 require almost as great an exjjenditure of time and trouble as flocks of several hundred, and it is mostly small flocks with which first trials have been made, naturally the results have not been encouraging. The enthusiast starts in with a small flock of his favourite breed, but after a year or two, finding little demand for his surplus breeding stock, concludes that the returns in wool and mutton do not pay for the investment and trouble in keeping pure-breds, and he consequently drops out. Others seeing these apparent failures hesitate before making a trial themselves. , Here and there grade flocks of fair size have been successfully maintained for a number of years until the coyotes became educated to a taste for mutton, and then so insistent do their attentions become that in sheer self defence the whole flock has to be disposed of. The prairie wolf is a sneak and a coward. Until educated to kill, or starved to it, he won't tackle anything so large as a sheep, but, like the dog, once he has tasted the warm blood of a sheep or lamb, the habit can never be broken. Like the sheep-killing dog, he will kill for the love of it even after his hunger is appeased. It is claimed by some that the wolves are not so troublesome in bush or scrub districts as on the open prairies. One breeder on a bush farm reports that with a flock of from 25 to 100 he has lost only two sheep by wolves in thirteen years. A system of giving bounties for wolf pelts has been tried and is still in vogue in the province; $2 each being allowed for prairie wolves and $1 for pups. The total paid out does not vary very much from year to year, but instead of diminishing, rather increases, so that there is little permanent benefit derived from the bounty. The amount, it is claimed, is not sufiicient to induce the serious hunting of the coyote, but with the large areas of wild lands within the province which are breeding grounds for this pest there appears little hope of being able to exterminate the wolf. Some naturalists contend that if the wolves were killed out that the country would soon be overrun with gophers, mice and other vermin. The only remedy would appear to be wolf-proof fencing, as above referred to. GREAT NEED FOR SHEEP. The method of farming usually followed in this province, of cultivating the largest possible areas with the least possible amount of labour, the wide open fields, the reckless and wasteful way of threshing, together with the natural fertility of the soil, has tended to overspread whole districts with weeds of the most noxious character. To put these lands back into condition to grow profitable crops will require care and skill. The acreage per man must be reduced, and more systematic methods of cultivation adopted. In this connection sheep could most economically be utilized to help clean such land, as they will eat almost every variety of weed, and while they are eating the weeds they firm the soil, putting it in ideal condition for cropping. They could also be profitably employed in converting into mutton the thousands of bushels of weed seeds and screenings upon which dockage and freight is now lost to the farmer. Weed seeds that pass through the grinders of a sheep will not germinate. In connection witli the disposal of screenings quite an industry has sprung up in feeding range sheep at elevator centres, such as Moosejaw, Brandon and Port Arthur. At the latter point hundreds of tons of screenings accumulate, and some thousands of sheep are fed during the winter. These sheep are obtained from the western ranges and are chiefly Merino grades, with one or more mutton crosses; they are marketed after about 100 days feeding on an almost exclusive diet of screenings, and are nearly all disposed of in Winnipeg and Toronto. The Winnipeg market is supplied principally from the western ranges, as the sheep raised in the province do not supply the local demands. Frozen mutton is also brought to Winnipeg from the maritime provinces. For the first six months of 1907 upwards of 8,000 sheep were received at the Winnipeg stock yards, the price ranging about $7.25 per head. From what has been said it is quite evident that there is a profitable opening for sheep raising in Manitoba. A different system of farming must be adopted, or weeds and poor tillage will ruin whole areas. In the evolution that will take place a crop rotation, including grass and clover, is essential. With a crop rotation, fencing must be resorted to; barb wire is not the fence for such purpose, whatever kind of stock be kept; the standard woven fences are rather expensive; something cheaper and equally effective must surely be found. With suitable fencing at reasonable cost, sheep will be found one of the best assistants in cleaning the land. The capital required is not great, they do not require expensive buildings, they call for little labour, they are in large measure free from disease, aiid their products command a ready and profit- able market. , Of the many breeds that have been kept here, the Shropshire is probably held in most general favour, owing to the closeness of its fleece, good mutton qualities, and general adaptability. It is, however, worthy of note that for several years past the Leicesters have been making the most attractive, if not the most numerous, displays at the larger fairs of the province. Reports from sheep raisers within the province show clearly that the demand both for killing stock and pure-bred breeding animals has improved very much during the past few years. From 1896 to 1898 butcher's lambs brought about 3J cents per pound, and sheep a trifle less. In 1899 4 cents was paid at the shipping points for lambs and 3J cents for ewes. The following year the price had increased another half cent, and since 1901 from 4| to 5 cents per pound has been the prevailing price for both sheep and lambs of good killing quality. Eeporting upon sales of pure-bred stock, breeders state that from 1895 to 1900 rams lambs brought from $5 to $10 per head, and good shearlings from $15 to $25 each. Good ewes were worth from $10 to $15 each. About 1903 prices began to improve that year, reaching $16 for lambs and $20 to $40 for shearlings of either sex. These values have been maintained and in a few cases surpassed, while the demand in 190? was so firm that the supply was not enough to meet the requirements. The above quotations are for Leicesters. A few breeders of Shropshires and Oxfords report slightly higher prices with a keen local demand for good stock. Saskatchewan. Sheep raising in Saskatchewan is a branch of farming that has made very little headway during the last fifteen years, a number that kept small flocks of sheep in the early days disposed of them after a trial. TJie sheep did all right, but a good many things combined was the reason of their being i done away with. Some of the causes were the great losses from wolves or coyotes; another cause was the high price of fencing, people couldn't afford woven fences in the early days. Mutton and wool was also low in price, and wheat was high and paying well. Within four or five years a great many farmers have desired to go in for sheep, from the inquiry for 'breeding ewes, quite a few have actually done so. Fig. 64.— A Mutton Plock in Manitoba. 2514—11 Fig. 65.— The presence of sheep helps the yield of wheat. < I to 97 Jn Saskatchewan the industry is carried on under much the same methods as in Alberta. There are very few pure-bred flocks of sheep in Saskatchewan, not more than eight or ten: Leicester, Cotswold, Shropshire and Oxford are the breeds represented. The flocks are yet very small and not increasing rapidly. Good ram lambs bring from $15 to $25, as flocks are only being formed, no females are yet sold. Lambs in pure-bred flocks mostly come in March, they need to be housed all spring, and the mother liberally fed, and have plenty of exercise. Any pure-bred sheep intended for exhibition during the summer or fall should be shorn bare when housed in the spring. Quite a few sheep are exhibited in the west with the whole or the greater part of their old wool on. This is bad practice and should not be tolerated by fair boards. The number of farmers in the province keeping ordinary grade sheep is very small indeed, taking the size of the province into consideration. Flocks run all the way from a dozen or twenty to six or seven hundred. So much depends on location, environment, etc., for numbers kept and the method of grazing them during the four months the crop is on the ground. Several farmers sometimes join their flocks, employ a lad or man to herd the bunch on prairie some distance from home. The herder has a temporary shack put up or a caboose to sleep in. A large corral is made to shut up the sheep at night. ' Some farmers have a fenced pasture at home for keeping their flock during the summer. Where a farmer who has a large flock of several hundreds can get "an open run and employ a lad or man to herd them during the day, bring them home to a fenced pasture or corral at night, he gets along well; but few flocks are large enough to work that way. On a cropping farm it is profitable to grow some rape on summer fallow. The land can be ploughed whenever seeding is finished and sown with four pounds of rape seed and one peek of grain of some sort; an ordinary disc or shoe drill will sow it. The rape will be ready for pasturing about the first week of August, when pasture gets dry. Great care needs to be taken not to put sheep on it when wet, as sheep are very liable to bloat. After the grain crop is thrashed, sheep, as a rule, run at large. There is always excellent feed on the stubbles and summer fallows. If wolves disturb them they require to be watched, and should always be brought home at night. WINTER FEED. Oat straw, oat sheaves, with hay if it can be spared, is the winter feed; some give a feed of grain in the spring. They should always be kept in good thriving con- dition and not too warmly housed. Lambing starts in some flocks in the beginning of March; it is a very great mistake having lambs some so early. When the weather is severe and spring late, it is simply impossible to keep newly dropped lambs alive. There should not be a lamb in a farmer's flock come before the 25th of April. A lamb born in the first half of May will be worth a great deal more in the end of October than one coming in the beginning of March. With ewes in fairly good condition, weather moderate, feed plentiful and with experienced management, there will usually be a high per cent of lambs saved. If the flock is large twins are not profitable. Lambs should be castrated and docked at from three to four weelcs old. There is quite a difference of opinion in regard to the method of wethering. Cutting the end of the scrotum with a sharp knife and drawing the testicles with the teeth is the almost universal way of performing the operation. If the operator is skilful, the fold or house clean, and the lambs not over heated there will be little or no loss. A great deal depends on the condition of the sheep and the weather when shearing should start. About the 10th of June is a very good time. It does'nt pay to wash sheep in Saskatchewan before shearing. Several farmers have shearing machines, but hand shears are in more general use, but not many can handle them well. 2514r-12 98 RANCHING. As the cattle and sheep men had differences in regard to paying leases, parliament some years ago set apart certain districts where leases for grazing sheep alone could be got. Thei'e were 17 townships along the international boundary line southeast of the Wood mountains, 11 townships southwest of Swift Current, and between 60 and 70 townships mostly north of the Canadian Pacific Railway main line and Maple creek, set apart for sheep grazing. Quite an area in those districts can yet be leased for sheep. Eanching flocks vary greatly in size from one or two thousand up to four thousand in a ranch. One sheep man can look after that number in summer. They are usually taken a good many miles away from winter quarters or the home ranch. The herder has a horse, a couple of dogs and a caboose to sleep in. Provisions are taken to him about every three weeks. When the ground gets dirty he moves his sheep to a new location. The sheep are kept out till the snow comes. All the hay and feed of any kind that can be got are put up at the home buildings for storms and deep snow in winter. Some seasons very little hay or feed is needed, but a rancher should always be prepared for any contingency. Ewes on the -ranches should not start lambing before the first of May, except in a very late spring there is always quite a bite of fresh grass by that time. Newly dropped lambs, in fact the whole flock, require a lot of care and attention during lambing. Shearing on the ranches is mostly done by contract at from 7 to 8 cents per head. Most of the draft sheep from the ranches are shipped either east or west for further feeding. The breed of sheep on the ranches are mostly Merino grades — the foundation flocks came from Montana. Shropshire, Oxford, Leicester and Lincoln rams are used. There have not been many sheep fattened during the winter in Saskatchewan. It has been successfully tried at Moosejaw, where several thousand were fattened on wheat screenings. Now, when the production of wheat is increasing so rapidly and so much good feed in small wheat and screenings is going to waste, sheep feeding in winter is a branch of the industry that might be very profitably engaged in. Alberta. In the province of Alberta sheep raising is carried on under two widely different methods. In the northern portion of the province, where general agriculture ia pursued, sheep raising is carried on in much the same manner as in Ontario and other eastern provinces. A small portion of the farmers have small flocks, which are kept in inclosed pastures during the summer season and are fed in more or less inclosed sheds during the winter. In Southern Alberta sheep raising is carried on almost entirely under the ranching system. South of Calgary there are probably not more than twenty small bands of sheep, and of these only three or four are pure-bred. Farther north, between Calgary and Edmonton, there are a few flocks of pure-bred sheep. Shropshires are the most popular breed, fanners like the 'black faces.' The demand is about equal to the supply. In 1906 and 1907 Shropshire were shipped to Montana at prices running from $12 to $16 for lambs and $14 to $25 for shearling rams. Ewes were aboutjthe same price, though most farmers are grading up with pure-bred males, and the dl|iand for ewe stock is easily met by the supply. There are not more than one or two flocks of Rambouillets in the province, and only a few Lincolns and Cotswolds. Were it not for the coyotes, raising pure-bred sheep would be very profitable, but the fences must be good or that gray shadow will pick off a $20 lamb as quickly as a $3 one. FARM FLOCKS. The grade fiocks have principally a dash of Merino in the ewes. Grade Lincoln and Shropshire bucks are bred from, but the- wideawake farmers are finding out it is a better investment to buy pure-bred male stock. The lamb crop from these small 99 bands is usually heavy. One Lethbridge farmer raised 130 lambs from 100 ewes. The fence problem and the coyotes are the main drawbacks to keeping sheep in small bands. There is a strong tendency towards increased sheep breeding on the farms of Alberta. A number of farmers from the Lloydminster district, early in October, 1907, were out to buy breeding stock. One of them, Mr. Burton, an experienced Australian shepherd, wanted to get 50 or 100 yearling ewes. He put up plenty of hay for winter feed and runs his sheep in open sheds during the cold weather. For summer grazing he says he thinks the rolling country there would be ideal. For the market he says that they could get any reasonable price for lamb and mutton at the small towns. It is almost impossible to get any now. If farmers in any neighbourhood would only combine and buy from 500 to 1,000, keep them separate during the winter and during lambing, then throw them into one band to be herded during the summer, they would .surely find it exceedingly profitable. Undoubtedly the mutton breeds will be much more profitable for the north. The Merino does not stand the cold well enough. The needs there are practically those of Ontario. Prices to-day are high, and the quantity of breeding stock oifering very small. If prices weaken a little south of the line it may be possible in the near future to buy a little cheaper, but farmers can buy in Alberta yearling ewes for less than $6 each.. If they could buy in carload lots the freight would be about 50 cents per head, other- wise $1. With the establishment of woollen mills like those of Lethbridge and Edmonton the local market will be a more certain thing and a coarser grade will find a more ready market sale. To sum up — Farmers' flocks have and are proving very profitable. Feed and shelter are needed north, and some will pay even in the south. Very soon farmers will have to fence, with chicken netting or some heavier woven wire. The local demand will take all the mutton and wool at good prices. In buying, two or more farmers should combine and buy in carload lots to save freight. Only young ewes, should be bought, the better returns and lessened risk amply justify this course. Where possible all sheep should be put on stubble so as to go into winter in good heart. RANCHING. In the ranching country the soil is rather dry and the rainfall light. The natural herbage upon the prairie and undulating river banks being short and fine is much relished by the sheep and suitable for the production of mutton of fine flavour. The sheep differ widely from those reared in the eastern provinces. The founda- tion stock which came largely from the adjoining states of the American Union, principally Montana, are chiefly of Merino breeding. The stock from these naturally yield small carcasses and heavy fleeces. In recent years Down and Long-wool sires are being introduced with a view to increasing the weight of carcass. The range flocks vary in size from two thousand to twenty thousand head. They are grazed under the care of herders the year round in bands of from two thousand to four thousand head. In winter they are expected to rustle a living, which they can usually secure with a little assistance on the part of the shepherd. If the snow becomes deep or crusted a snow plough is used to uncover the grass, or a small allowance of hay and oats may be fed until the mild chinook melts the snow from the prairie. In earlier years no feed was put up for the sheep in winter, but experience taught that if a month or two of cold weather with deep snow occurred, weak members of the flock, including old ewes and lambs, died in large numbers. A winter's loss of two or three per cent was expected, but occasionally it has reached twenty-five per cent when no provision had been made to feed during a cold spell. In the earlier years lambs were dropped on the prairie during April and May, frequently without shelter. Usually under these conditions from YO to 80 per cent of the lamb crop was saved, but in severe seasons the increase did not exceed from 40 to 50 per cent. Taught by experience, ranchmen of the present day put up a greater or less supply 2514— 12J 100 of feed, and nearly all have sheds for the protection of the flocks when occasion requires. It is the rule with the more successful ones to put up from 25 to 40 tons of hay for each thousand head of sheep in addition to a good supply of oats, which are useful for improving the conditions of their ewes or lambs, before the winter sets in. THE LAMBING SEASON. The lambing season on the range is a busy one for the shepherd. He may have charge of from 500 to 2,000 head of ewes. At night the ewes are inclosed in a shed or corral and a night man gathers and cares for all the lambs coming during the night. As soon as a ewe has dropped her lamb and has had time to ' mother ' it they are both placed in a compartment of the lamb wagon. When the wagon is full it is driven to the shed and the ewes and lambs are put into small pens. Here another man in charge sees that the lambs suck, takes care of the weak ones and provides suitable food and water for the ewes. A ewe that refuses her lamb is placed in a pen so narrow that she cannot turn or get away from her hungry offspring. In this position she usually takes up with her lambs within a few hours. The day following this lot of ewes is turned out in small bunches, where they remain until they become accustomed to finding their lambs in a crowd. As the lambs get older the ewes are gathered into larger bunches, until at six weeks old they may all be thrown into one flock. In the meantime the lambs have been docked and castrated — operations sadly neglected by many mutton raisers in other parts of Canada. The wool side of the range sheep industry is a very important one. In no part of Canada outside of the range area can fine wool be attained in large quantities, ■and it is to the range country that many of the eastern tweed manufacturers look for their supply of fine wool. Some years ago the clip was finer than now, owing to the great predominance of Merino blood. More recently Down and Long-wooUed sires are being used for the purpose of improving the carcass. This, naturally, is bringing about a change in the character of the fleece, which is becoming coarser with each succeeding mutton cross. SHEARING. The shearing of Alberta flocks is done by contract, the price paid being about 7J cents per head. A gang of shearers consists of from a dozen to twenty men, who shear from 50 to 100 sheep each per day. This is done by hand shears, but machine shearing is being introduced upon the large ranches. The sheep shear from 6 to 9 pounds per head. Each fleece is tied separately and the fleeces are tramped into large sacks about fifty to a sack. A number of the more careless operators tie the fleeces with cord, but those who have regard to the require- ments of the trade use the twisted wool band to bind the fleece. The use of binder twine in tying up wool causes serious loss in the woollen mill, as the strands become incorporated with the wool, getting into the fabric, reducing its value several cents per yard. Prices for range wool have gradually increased during recent years. In 1903 the clip brought from 6 to 10 cents. In 1906 as high as 171 cents was paid, while the clip of 190Y sold for an average price of 16 cents per pound. Mutton is also showing a fine advance in value. In 1904 $3.15 per cwt, with a 5 per cent reduction for shrinkage, was paid. In 1906 $5 per cwt. was not an uncom- mon price for moderately good stock, while in 190Y $Y.50 live weight was reached for well-fed butchers' sheep. Lambs in 1904 sold at $1.Y5 to $2 per head; while three years later the price had reached $3 to $3.25 per head, and comparatively few ewes were for sale early in the season at this figure, since the demand for ewe stock for the breeding flocks was strong and it was felt that the males, most of which are wethered, would grow into more money by autumn. The improving demand for mutton has induced the ranch men to let go old ewes, weakly lambs and yearling wethers, thus removing the inferior specimens, thereby placing the flocks in a much stronger 101 position for the future. It has also inspired that confidence in the industry that begets safer methods, better handling and increased prosperity. THE OUTLOOK. Without doubt a bright future awaits the sheep industry in Alberta. There is- bound to be a growing demand for the products of the flock. As years pass the ranges, with their wholesale and rather rough methods of handling, will give way to more numerous but smaller flocks. This will make possible and profitable better attention to housing and feeding in winter. With the production of tame hay, includ- ing alfalfa, and large yields of coarse grains upon the farms, the sheep will be fed and sent to market in a finished condition. The question of fencing, that has stood in the way of sheep raising, will of necessity receive that attention that mixed agriculture on smaller farms requires. Many who do not fence for their flocks will combine with their neighbours in having several flocks herded together during the summer where suitable range and water can be secured. The tendency will be to produce mutton first and wool as a secondary consideration. Early maturing lambs will be raised and sheep farming will become a valuable staple industry of growing importance from year to year. DIFFICULTIES. It must not be overlooked that the sheep raisers of Alberta experience difficulties. While the general health of the flock is good, the sheep in Alberta are subject to the several ailments that affect this class of stock in other districts. Scab has existed in one or two limited areas, but careful attention to dipping with suitable insecticides quickly eradicates this malady. Tapeworm, too, is not unknown in the sheep of Alberta. In some seasons con- siderable losses in lambs and ewes were experieijced early in the season, but after green grass had arrived the losses have almost entirely ceased. With the better care in feeding and shelter that has been given in recent years trouble from tapeworm is gradually disappearing. As in all new countries where the native herbage is the chief source of food' supply, troubles from poisonous plants are sure to occur. The admirable disposition of sheep to consume weed growth increases the risk from this source. In a small number of reported cases sheep have been lost by eating young plants of Death Camas. In one case a rancher is reported to have lost on one occasion 150 of a flock of 2,000 head from this cause. As cultivated pastures and fodders come into more general use losses from poisoning will become less and less frequent. Abortion has worked serious havoc in certain flocks and districts, although it is quite unknown in many sheep-raising sections. The losses on the small number of affected ranches ran from -01 to some 30 per cent, which latter was reported by one firm, and in no case has the same rancher experienced loss in two succeeding years. Abortions usually occur in March or April, but are not confined to that period. Ergotted grasses are blamed for a small proportion of the losses, while rough herding, accident and poor condition are also considered responsible for losses. Pasturing on land closely cropped or mowed the previous year is recommended as a preventive against abortion from eating grasses affected with ergot. The coyote, or prairie wolf, is looked upon as an enemy of sheep. This animal to infestation with lice and ticks. Of these the louse is most to be dreaded, both on by hunger, full grown sheep are attacked and worried. It seldom occurs that a raid is made upon a band of sheep, a victim usually being a single animal that from lameness or weakness has become separated from the others. The natural antipathy of man 'for an animal of the wolf species, together with the bounty of $10 per head for timber wolves and $1 each for coyotes and pups, is having a fine effect in keeping down the wolf and coyote nuisance. 102 British Columbia. It would be impossible to properly outline tbe early history of the sheep industry in British Columbia without first giving a short account of its early development in the Pacific Northwest, north of the Columbia river. In the early part of the nineteenth century the Hudson's Bay Company, and later the Puget Sound Agricultural Company, the latter largely composed of Hudson's Bay employees, established farms at Port Nisqually, on the plains of what is now Washington State, a few miles distant from the present city of Tacoma. At that time this territory was under the control of the Hudson's Bay Company, and the inter- national boundary between the United States and the British possessions had not been finally decided on this part of the continent. Sheep driven from California were purchased by the agents of the companies, until in the early forties the flocks numbered some thousands. The quality of these sheep was improved by the importa- tion from time to time of well-bred rams from Great Britain via Cape Horn on sailing ships, which brought for the companies their annual mail and fresh stocks of goods. When the boundary line was finally agreed on these flocks were disposed of, a large number of sheep going to Oregon, where they played an important part in founding the great sheep industry of that state, and from there were scattered about the neighbouring states. It will thus be seen that the early British settlers were among the first promoters of improved sheep husbandry in the Pa-cific Northwest. On the establishment of a Hudson's Bay post on the present site of Victoria, B.C., at the southern end of Vancouver Island, in 1843, farms were located by the two above companies and sheep brought from Port Nisqually to stock them. These isheep were principally of the Merino, Southdown and Leicester blood and were the foundation of the sheep-breeding industry in this province. They did very well on these farms situated near and within the present boundaries of the city of Victoria, ■and in 1849 numbered several hundred head. They suffered somewhat from the depredations of panthers, wolves and bears, and occasionally from vagrant dogs. The sheep were herded by armed Indian shepherds in the day time and coralled at night. Indians from early times showed their appreciation of a change of diet from fish and venison by occasionally raiding flocks. This love of mutton made a little British Columbia history in the early fifties, when a warlike band of Indians swooped down from their village a short distance up the coast to Victoria, and raided a flock, murdered the shepherd, and carried off a number of sheep. Their village was visited by a British gunboat from Victoria some time afterwards and the murderers captured and hung to a tree nearby. This first experience of British justice made a deep impression on the natives, which was shown by their carving and painting a large figure of a British marine standing at attention. This adorned a prominent spot in the village for years afterwards. IMPORTATIONS BY PRIVATE INDIVIDUALS. Some time after sheep were first brought to Victoria by the Hudson Bay Company a number of small private flocks were established near Victoria by employees. The Hudson's Bay and Puget Sound companies imported improved rams from Great Britain, and thus raised the quality of the flocks. During this time some sheep were also imported from the Hawaiian Islands. The first importations of pure-bred sheep by private individuals was in the early seventies, the first being Leicesters from Oregon, soon followed by Southdowns from Ontario. About this time a number of flocks were established on the islands in the Gulf of Georgia, and some trade in sheep begun with the American possessions in that region. Por some years after the settlement of the San Juan Islands' dispute by arbitration, when that island was ceded to the United States, considerable smuggling of sheep, and lambs was carried on among these islands. The extraordinary large numbers of lambs marketed in Victoria from small flocks of ewes in some of the Canadian islands, was a great surprise to many who were not familiar with the condi- tions, and seemed to speak volumes for the prolific ( ?) Canadian ewes. 103 Since that time the quality of the sheep has been greatly improved, and several first quality flocks have been established principally on the coast, and scattered over the lower mainland and upper country a few farm flocks are to be found. Range flocks are not nearly as numerous as might be expected, due largely, no doubt, to the fact that sheep are not allowed to pasture on public ranges in cattle districts. On many of the islands where sheep do particularly well a law passed in 1888 limits the number to be grazed on Crown lands. This, coupled with the growth of the fruit and dairying industries, has reduced the number of sheep kept. The high prices for farm produce, such as hay and grain, and the rapid growth of dairying along the rich bottom lands of the Fraser valley, have kept the sheep industry from developing as it should, though of late both breeding and feeding are being followed more than formerly. The rich pastures of the coast and on Vancouver Island makes this business always a safe and profitable one. The following figures will show what can be accomplished in the way of sheep raising near Victoria. Mr. 0. B. Jones has an average Victoria district farm partially cleared. Mr. Jones has charged nothing for pasturage, as these sheep grazed in slashed, burnt-off land, and he estimated that they paid for their pasturage by keeping down the second growth. He says this land was of very little value in its present condition except as sheep pasture. Statement showing profit derived from thirty ewes, 1905. Revenue. S cts. Disbursements. $ cts. 168 00 18 00 By feed in winter Interest on investment of J180 at 6 30 00 10 80 Loss of 2 ewes 12 00 133 20 186 GO 186 00 Statement showing profit derived from fifty-eight ewes, 1906. Revenue. $ cts. Disbursements. $ cts. 272 00 100 00 36 00 7 50 By feed during winter Chemicals used for dip 60 00 3 00 240 lbs. wool, at 15c Interest on investment Loss of 3 ewes 21 60 18 00 312 90 415 50 415 50 Statement showing profit derived from sixty old ewes and twenty yearlings, 1907. Revenue. $ cts. Disbursements. S cts. 330 00 148 50 41 60 By Feed during winter Loss of ewes Interest on investment of $460,00, at 6 per cent Net gain 75 00 30 00 320 lbs wool at 13c 27 60 387 50 520 10 520 10 SUMMARY. 1905. Net gain on 30 ewes, S133.20; or S4.44 per ewe; or 74 per cent. 1906. Net gain on 58 ewes, $312.90; or $5.39 per ewe; or 89 per cent. 1907 Net gain on 60 old ewes and 20 yearlings, $386.50; or $4.85 per ewe. 104 IMPORTATION OF MUTTON. Despite the fact that sheep raising is a paying industry, over sixty thousand head of live sheep are imported annually from the State of Washington and a number from the province of Alberta to help supply the British Columbia trade. Besides these many thousand frozen carcasses are imported from Australia. The consignments arriving at British Columbia ports are composed of mixed lots consisting of about half wethers and the balance fuU-monthed ewes. They weigh on being landed at Victoria or Vancouver about 100 pounds each. Freight from the ranges to the docks is about 50 cents per head and the duty is $1.12 per 100 pounds. Thus the local man has an advantage of $1.62 per head in competing with imported stuff. The price of these sheep on the coast docks ranges from 5 to 7 cents per pound. They sell in the market at from 13 to 16 cents per pound by the carcass. Australian mutton sells at from 11 to 12 cents per pound by the carcass. THE INDUSTRY UNDER VARYING CONDITIONS. As the industry is carried on under such different conditions and circumstances, it will be necessary to say something of management on the farms of the islands, the lower mainland, the interior and on the ranches. On Vancouver Island and the islands of the Gulf of Georgia the keeping of flocks of from twenty-five to four hundred head has always been a profitable business. On account of the rainy winters the medium and short wool breeds have taken precedence over the long wools, although the latter also do very well. The foundation of nearly all the flocks in this region are Down grades, on which are used Shropshire, South- down, Oxford Down, Leicester and Cotswolds. Owing to the mild winters compara- tively little winter feeding or shelter is provided, in the worst winters only a few weeks being necessary. More liberal winter feeding could be done generally with advantage and would give good returns. In the island districts for the production of mutton the flockmasters aim to have the lambs arrive in April and May, when the grass is good. For the lamb market they come during January, February and March. The yield here, as under farm conditions generally, runs from 100 to 150 per cent and upwards. Earn lambs are usually castrated at from three to four weeks old. Growing lambs for market is one of the most profitable lines of the flockmaster here. The lambs are usually disposed of when weighing dressed from 25 pounds for very early, to '65 pounds for late summer and fall. These lambs bring from $4 to $6 per head, with a brisk demand for anything in good condition. THE LOWER MAINLAND. On the lower mainland sheep are very profitably reared in many places, par- ticularly at Chilliwack and at Ladner. In these districts, possessing soil as rich as is to be found anywhere on this continent, and with a mild climate and sufficient rain- fall, a luxuriant growth of grass is accessible almost at all times of the year, with the result that for ordinary flocks feeding is seldom necessary. The commercial flocks of these districts are principally of a Down foundation, and on these pure-bred rams are used. One Ladner man disposed of fifty grade Oxford Down ewes at Christmas time that averaged 250 pounds each ; they were sold off grass and had never been fed grain in their lives. Sheep are profitably kept on many farms in the interior in small lots, and where alfalfa can be grown they are produced at minimum cost. It is estimated that good alfalfa pasture will support five sheep per acre during the growing season, provided it is not cropped too close and the animals are changed from one pasture to another, this is in strong contrast to the open range, where it is estimated that from three to four acres are necessary to support one sheep the year round, with extra feed during heavy snow. a a O Fig. 68.— Merino Grades in British Columbia. ^ ^;<^ ^S^^^&^Ci&^m^USHH '^^^1 K^^^^^^^He£^ / ^^H^^^^^^^H P .^H^M ^S^H wS^KII^^S^ntBSI^B^ Xa'^ '*Sl ^ ^B^^B^^H^In ^HHr'HHt a^H^KnfiHi ^SH^^fc-^- m^^ ■<**w-^ ^E_-«ai ^f UgHiiMI sflrifl H Fig. 69. — Three Lusty Lambs. 105 FKEDING FOR MARKET. Sheep feeding has been carried on to a limited extent at Ladner during the last few years. Mixed lots of thin Washington sheep, principally from the Island of San Juan, are purchased during the late summer and put on the aftergrass of meadows. They cost, in mixed lots, ewes and lambs, at steamboat landing, about $3.70 per head, and picked lambs about a dollar more. They are turned off from Christmas to the end of March, and net the feeder from $1.50 to $2 per head. No feed is given these sheep except hay if the ground is covered with snow. Between two and three thousand head were fed at Ladner during the winter of 1907-8, a great many more could be handled, but the right kind are difficult to secure, owing to the great demand for sheep everywhere. RANCHING. To handle sheep in large lots in the interior of the province without fence it will be necessary for the prospective flockmaster to select these parts where cattle ranching is not being carried on to any great extent. In order to secure a large enough range with the necessary meadow for hay cutting it will be necessary to go to the sparsely settled districts as all the older districts have large numbers of cattle grazing in them. No very large flocks of sheep are kept under range conditions. Erom 1,000 to 1,500 head are the largest bands and these are few in number. The range management difEers considerably from that already described. The foundation stock of the range bands are principally Cotswold, Lincoln, Southdown and Shropshire grades, with a small admixture of Merino. Breeding ewes weigh about 130 pounds each. On these are used Oxford, Shropshire and Cotswold bucks at the rate of fifty ewes per buck. At lambing time, which is about the middle of April, the breeding ewes are kept close to headquarters and those that have lambed are kept by themselves, being removed from the main flock morning and evening as the lambs are dropped. Ewes with twins are placed in a separate bunch for a few days until they become accustomed to their lambs. Twins are marked so that if they lose their mothers there is less difficulty experienced in restoring them. Lambs are castrated at from two to three weeks old with comparatively little loss. The marketing of mutton sheep takes place from June to December. Erom 5 to 5J cents is the price paid at the railway station. Good shepherds are scarce, they are paid about $50 per month. In their herding they are assisted by two or three good dogs, which are valuable in keeping coyotes away and in driving the sheep. In mild open winters feeding is not absolutely necessary, but better results can be obtained by feeding from two to three pounds of mixed clover and timothy hay per day, with the addition of a few roots and some grain for their breeding stock. PURE-BRED FLOCKS. The pure-bred flocks are found principally on Vancouver Island and the island of the Gulf of Georgia, the districts tributary to the Eraser river and in the Okanagan valley, probably flfty flocks in all, and with from five to fifty in a flock. The breeds represented are Cotswold, Leicester, Lincoln, Shropshire, Southdown, Oxford Down, Hampshire, Suffolk, Dorset and Tunis. Prices of pure-bred ram lambs range from about ten to thirty-five dollars ; yearlings from fifteen to forty ; ewe lambs from ten to twenty-five each. The breeders are supplying the demand at present, but more could be used, if some flock owners could be induced to realize the benefits to be derived from using pure-bred sires. The breeding of pure-bred sheep has, with few exceptions, fallen into good hands in this province. The breeders improve their flocks by importations of improved animals from the east, south and from Great Britain. Exhibitors usually show their animals properly prepared, and in competition with imported stuff at the fairs here, and the Lewis and Clark Exposition at Portland, Oregon, have shown that they were capable of successfully competing with the best. 106 WOOL. The average wool clip of coast sheep is from 5 to 7 pounds for the small breeds, while small flocks of the heavier breeds wiU sometimes average 10 pounds. Farther inland it runs from 6 to 10 pounds. On the ranges shearing costs 8 cents per head, and from 6 to 8 pounds of wool of good quality is the average. In the early years of the sheep industry in British Columbia wool brought 30 cents per pound. The general quality of the wool is good, but it is often sent to market in poor condition, contain- ing foreign matter of various kinds, which causes a shrinkage. Sheep skins bring from 30 cents to $1, depending on the quality and length of wool. As the industry develops a woollen factory would improve the conditions of the wool market. PREDATORY ANIMALS. In this province the sheep industry suffers in a greater or less degree from dogs and other predatory animals, such as timber wolves, bears and lynx, but the damage done by these animals is comparatively small. Panthers and coyotes are the greatest source of loss. On the smaller islands of the Gulf of Georgia there are no predatory animals. On "Vancouver Island panthers give the most trouble. The government has increased the bounty to $15 per head, which should keep them in check. In the interior the bands kept under range conditions have to be corralled at night and herded by day to protect them from the attacks of panthers, wolves and coyotes. Panthers are rare, and wolves but rarely attack a flock, but coyotes, despite the bounty of $2 per head, seem to be almost as plentiful as ever. In some large flocks the loss runs as high as five per cent. So far coyote-proof wire fences have not been used in British Columbia, but have been successfully used in some of the American states. DISEASES. "Very little dipping is done. No scab or other contagious disease is to be found in the province since the inspection of sheep at the American boundary has been enforced. Dipping for ticks could, however, be done oftener with benefit. On some low lying undrained farms Liver Pluke does considerable damage. In some districts where the rainfall is heavy and sheep are not given shelter wc find them affected with snuffles, a catarrhal condition of the nasal membranes. Parasitic Bronchitis, or Hoose, is occasionally encountered. ASSOCIATIONS. The organization of the Vancouver Island Plock Masters' Association at Duncan, B.C., for the purpose of stimulating the breeding of improved sheep has done a vast amount of good, and the organization of similar associations in other parts of the province would greatly help the industry. This association was formed in 1892 for the purpose of improving the quality of sheep in the district. They imported pedi- greed rams which were rented to members at so much per ewe. They gave an extra bounty for panthers killed in the district, and offered premiums for sheep at fairs with excellent results. This association receives a provincial government grant of $250 per year. THE OUTLOOK. The opportunities offered by the sheep industry in many parts of the province are excellent. The market is first class at present, and when we consider that the vast mineral, timber, fisheries and agricultural resources are just beginning to be develoi>ed, with available agricultural land small in proportion to the area of the province, the prospects for the future of the sheep industry seem bright indeed. Consider, again, that it is estimated that the province has less than 30,000 sheep at present, and that its area is nearly 300,000 square miles, and further comment seems unnecessary. 107 DISEASES OF SHEEP. (By J. G. EuTHERFORD, Veterinary Director Oeneral and Live Stock Commissioner.) Sheep in Canada are particularly free from disease. The climate of this north land has proven to be particularly healthful for sheep. Alike in the clear, cold climate of the west and the snowy winters of the east, sheep do well, their warm coats protecting them sufficiently, while the pure air and sunshine keep the lungs and con- sequently their whole system in good order, so that good health is practically assured, if the management is even -half what it ought to be. This bulletin would, however, hardly be complete without a chapter on at least the most common ailments which may be now and then met with. The diseases of sheep may be divided into several classes. First those caused by external parasites such as scab and foot rot; along with these may be mentioned ticks and lice, which when neglected, frequently bring about unthrifty condition bordering closely on disease. Then there are internal parasites such as worms of various forms, which may infest the stomach, the intestines and the respiratory organs or the head. Digestive derangements, too, manifest themselves at times. To these may be added the diseases and accidents peculiar to reproduction. Scab. Sheep scab, when once introduced into a flock, must be dealt with by thorough measures. It is a strictly contagious disease caused by a minute specific mite technically known as Psoroptes Communis Ovis. It is so small as to be difficult to discern with the naked eye. This disease generally affects the parts which are covered with wool. It usually begins at the upper part of the body, thence spreading over the neck, shoulders and hips, extends slowly but surely in ever-increasing areas. In two or three months the entire body may be affected. The disease spreads, as a rule, much more rapidly during the winter than in the warm weather. In sheep on grass, after shearing and washing it may remain for a long time in an almost latent condition. Sheep well fed and otherwise strong and healthy resist its ravages in a remarkable way, while those which are thin or badly nourished, rapidly become debilitated, and if left untreated, live but a short time. Affected sheep experience great itchiness with irritation, formation of pauples, inflammation, and the development of crusts or scabs under and near the edge of which the parasite lives. The sheep are restless, they scratch and bite themselves, rub against fences, posts, etc., as if in great torture. The fleece assumes a tufted, ragged and matted condition. Tufts of wool are pulled out by the sheep with the teeth, or are left on fences, posts, etc., where they have rubbed ; to each tuft scabs are attached, which are usually replaced at the seat of origin, by thicker or more adherent crusts. The skin becomes more or less bare and furrowed, and from the furrows blood oozes. Without treatment the disease goes from bad to worse, spreading the infection, which is readily taken up by other sheep which may come into contact with a diseased one or with infected objects. Under the provision of the Animal Contagious Disease Act it is the duty of every owner, on perceiving the appearance of sheep scab in his flock, to give immediate notice to the Minister of Agriculture at Ottawa, and to the nearest veterinary inspector of the Department of Agriculture, of the suspicion or presence of the disease. Instructions will then be issued and carried out according to government regulations. Two principal preparations are recommended for the treatment of scabby sheep, the lime-and-sulphur dip and the tobacco-and-sulphur dip. The former is recommended and used by the Department of Agriculture. Its preparation is as follows: Take 10 pounds fresh lime and add enough water to make a paste. Sift into the lime paste 24 pounds of flowers of sulphur and stir thoroughly. Boil this mixture in 30 gallons of water for 3 hours, frequently stirring the mixture. The solution should then be a brown or chocolate colour. Allow the mixture to stand for a few hours, preferably 108 over night, and then draw off the liquid. Care should be taken not to disturb the sediment, which is slightly injurious to the fleece of the sheep. To this liquid add sufficient water to make 100 gallons. It should be used for dipping at a temperature not lower than 106 degrees, and not higher than 112 degrees Fahrenheit. The hot dip softens the scabs and destroys the mites. The sheep should remain a full two minutes in the tank. The head should be plunged, and if there are thick crusts on the skin the dip should be rubbed into the wool with a stiff brush or otherwise. Two dippings are necessary at intervals of from 10 to 12 days. In very bad cases a third dipping may be necessary. The sheep should be clipped whenever possible before dipping. When the flock has been dipped once, their quarters should be changed; the barns, fences, etc., where they have been kept should be well covered with a lime wash con- taining at least five per cent of pure carbolic acid or creolin. Further instructions for dipping are given elsewhere in this bulletin. Foot Rot. Foot rot is of two kinds, viz., contagious and non-contagious. The latter is a simple disease usually due to excessive wear of the hoof and the irritation caused by the introduction of dirt to the sensitive tissues of the foot. It is, therefore, most prevalent on low, wet land and in filthy yards and barns. Prevention is better than cure. Sheep should not be fed in wet, muddy or filthy places. Their hoofs should be examined and pared when necessary to remove super- fluous horn. When the disease appears in a small flock the hoofs should be trimmed down closely and the feet washed or soaked in a solution of copper sulphate, 1 ounce to 2i pints of water, then dress with watery solution of chloride of iron or with chloride of antimony, or preferably with a mixture of equal parts of chloride of antimony and tincture of myrrh. After such dressing the raw surfaces should be protected by a coating of pine tar or gutta iwrcha varnish. Then remove the animals to a dry, clean pasture. If the disease is not of long standing this treatment will generally effect a cure, although in confirmed cases where much destruction of tissue has taken place it may be necessary to repeat the dressing several times. For large flocks on the range or elsewhere a more general treatment is necessary. A suitable solution is made in the proportion of ten pounds of copper sulphate, dis- solved in five gallons of water. The solution is put in troughs two or three inches deep. The sheep after being driven through water, preferably running water, to cleanse their feet, are, by using a narrow chute, made to pass one by one through the preparation. As an alternative to the above, affected sheep may be held for a short time on a floor sprinkled to a depth of three inches with freshly slaked lime. Canadian sheep men may be thankful that the contagious form of foot-rot is almost tmknown in this country. The few cases seen are as a rule in recent importa- tions. For this reason imported sheep and others that have travelled in dirty cars should be carefully examined on arrival and treated at the same time as they are dipped. Prevention of the trouble is much cheaper than effecting a cure. Treatment is similar to that described above, although owing to the persistent nature of the disease recovery is generally much more protracted. As in this form the trouble begins in the skin of the interdigital space and works downwards through the sensitive laminse, it is advisable to dress the skin between the dew-claws with a mixture of one part carbolic acid to ten parts of glycerine, or with vaseline twenty parts to one part of iodine. Ticks and lice. In examining sheep for skin disease it is well to remember that they are subject to infestation with lice and ticks. Of these the louse is most to be dreaded, both on account of the rapidity with which it multiplies and the serious effects which it is liable to produce on the health, as well as the wool, of its unwilling host. The tick, which by the way is not a true tick but really belongs to the louse family, while much less prolific, develops rapidly and is most frequently troublesome in lambs, although 109 like the white louse it is found on sheep of all ages. As in other species of domestic animalsj these parasites are most frequently found and appear to flourish best on thin and badly nourished sheep rather than on those in good condition. When present in any number both ticks and lice induce great irritation, causing the sheep to scratch with the hind feet, gnaw the sides and rump and rub on any convenient object in a manner very similar to those affected with scab. In this way the fleece is often seriously depreciated, while from its mode of feeding, the louse also cuts the fibre near the root, thus greatly lessening the growth and value of the wool. The effects on the skin of the a.ttacks of these animals, and especially that of the white louse, may very easily be mistaken for scab unless a careful examination is made. It cannot, however, be too often repeated that there is no excuse for error in a diagnosis of this kind, for although scab, lice and ticks may undoubtedly exist on the same animal, a sufficiently close and painstaking investigation, with the aid of a moderately powerful pocket magnifying glass, will enable any intelligent observer to reach a definite conclusion as to the nature of the trouble, whether it be simple or compound. It must be borne in mind that the presence of lice is no proof that a sheep is free from scab. While the converse is also true, it is not so important, as while lice and ticks are disagreeable and unwelcome guests, their presence is a matter of slight consequence, especially to the sheep owning public, as compared with that of the smaller but more deadly and persistent scab mite. Stomach Worms. The stomach worms, of which there are several varieties, are generally somewhat under an inch long and live in the fourth stomach. Lambs suffer particularly from their attacks, which begin any time after the little fellows start to eat grass, and may continue even till cold weather comes. Some of the symptoms in lambs and sheep are loss of flesh, dullness, languor, failing appetite, thirst, occasional colics, black diarrhoea, dry wool, chalky skin, and a general anaemic condition. Lambs and weak sheep are especially afflicted by these pests, which frequently cause death, while strong healthy sheep, though infected, may show but little evidence of the fact. The worms in the stomach produce eggs, too small to be seen by the naked eye. These pass out of the animal in the droppings and hatch in a temperature of 40 degrees Pahrenheit or over. Their most favourite hatching place is in muddy stagnant water. They will not develop in pure water, and when deposited there, generally die in the course of a few weeks. These little worms grow until they are about one- thirtieth of an inch in length. After being swallowed by a sheep or lamb they arrive at maturity in three weeks or a month. Good management seems to be the best remedy for these pests. Keeping the digestive organs in a healthy condition by the use of roots in winter and vetches, rape or other succulent plants in summer, along with other foods, seems to be a preventive. A liberal allowance of salt should be furnished regularly. In infested districts the pasture should be hurdled off and the sheep kept on one plot for about ten days and then moved to the next. This should be done from June to October. This method keeps the sheep from feeding over infested pastures, preventing reinfection, as at least two weeks are required for the eggs to hatch. Pastures known to be infected should either be ploughed up or thoroughly dressed with lime and salt. Many remedies have been tried with more or less success. Gasoline, coal-tar, lysol, creosote, kamala and bluestone (copper sulphate) are used. Possibly the last named is surest to reach the fourth stomach of the animal, which the parasites mostly inhabit. This treatment has been used successfully in Cape Colony and is recom- mended by the authorities there. The bluestone should be pure and clear blue in colour. Dissolve 2 ounces of finely powdered bluestone in 1 gallon of warm water, or better, dissolve it in a quart of boiling water, then add the remainder and mix. The doses are as follows: — , Lambs three months old 1 ounce of the solution. Lambs six months old li ounces of the solution. 110 Sheep twelve months old 2^ ounces of the solution. Sheep eighteen months old 3 ounces of the solution. Sheep twenty-four months old 3J ounces of the solution. Care should be taken to give the right amount according to the age of the sheep. When kamala is used it should be given once a day in doses from half a drachm to a drachm in thick gruel, treacle or raw linseed oil. Picrate of potass, which is highly xecommended by continental authorities, is administered daily in doses of from 5 to 20 grains, according to age and weight. It is said to be less irritating than any of the other remedies mentioned. Except in one or two localities Canadian sheepmen have not suffered to any extent from the ravages of this pest. The Grrub Worm,' The grub worm is found in the sinues of the sheep's head. It is the offspring of the sheep gadfly {oestrus ovis). The eggs are deposited in the sheep's nostrils and when hatched the worms crawl up into the sinuses and become full grown grubs. Prevention is undoubtedly better than treatment, although skilful shepherds are often able to relieve the sheep of their unwelcome guests by trephining the sinuses. Peed well and keep the sheep strong and healthy. Tar or fish oil smeared on the noses of the sheep or placed on the edge of narrow salt troughs or around 2-inch auger holes in a log in which salt is fed, will help to keep the flies away. A dark place during the midday heat lessens the attacks of these insects. Access to a piece of summer fallow where the sheep can stamp and raise a dust also helps to discourage the tormentors. During the months of July, August and September sheep should, if at all possible, be kept on pastures free from trees or shrubbery of any kind. Tapeworm. The sheep is known to harbour more varieties of the tapeworn than any other of our domestic animals save the dog. Eight species are found, of which, however, by far the most common in America is that known as the Twnia expansa. This tapeworm varies in length from three to six yards, and from one-twenty-fifth of an inch in width at the head to one-half an inch at the tail. It is composed of segments, dull yellowish white in colour, and about one-fourth of an inch in length and a little more in breadth, any one of which if picked up by another animal may grow into a mature tapeworm. Sheep suffering from tapeworm first show paleness of the skin and mucous membranes, accompanied by brittleness of the wool and rapid loss of con- dition, although the appetite may continue good or even excessive. This is followed by digestive disturbances, irregular cud and offensive breath, bloating, constipation or diarrhoea, the foeces being yellowish in colour and often containing segments of the worm. The sufferer becomes more and more feeble, and unless prompt relief is afforded death soon follows, usually preceded by convulsions and violent diarrhoea. Fortunately tapeworm is not very difficult to eradicate. The sheep should be fasted for from twelve to twenty-four hours. An injection of warm water given a few minutes before will help to promote the rapid action of the medicine. The dose, 1 drachm of the oil of male shield fern in from 2 to 3 ounces of castor oil for a mature sheep, is best given when the sheep is standing and after a fast of twenty-four hours, as then most of the dose passes to the fourth stomach. Kamala in doses of from 1 to IJ drachms in thick gruel or treacle, followed after three hours by from 3 to 4 ounces of castor oil, is also often effective. For small lambs one-fourth of these doses is sufficient, and as the size and age increases the dose may be given to suit. In drenching sheep the mouth should not be raised above the level of the eyes, lest part of the dose pass into the lungs. After being treated sheep '.should be shut up for at least thirty hours to prevent the segments of the worm expelled being scattered about and much ground being infected. Subsequently they should be put on fresh ground in order to avoid the risk of reinfection. Tapeworm is most common in wet years and in wet, muddy Ill districts, and although the life history of the parasite is not fully known, it is probable that it finds direct access to the sheep in its larval or cystic form by being taken up with the grass. Infected pastures should, therefore, be burned over, ploughed up if possible or top dressed with salt, nitrate of soda or gas lime. Droppings should, when practicable, be collected and carefully burned. Gld. Gid, Sturdy, or ' Turnsick ' is caused by an encysted parasite, cenurus cerehralis, in the brain. This is the ovum of a species of tapeworm which infests dogs, foxes and wolves. The eggs pass out of these animals and infest the grass or water, in either case under favourable conditions, retaining their vitality for several weeks. The sheep swallowing these become infected. The young worms are hatched in the stomach and penetrate its walls, getting into the blood. Many of them becoming scattered through the muscular and other tissues suffer degeneration and perish. Those which reach the brain or spinal cord, which they do in about a week from the time they are swallowed, burrow in through the tissues until a suitable place for development is reached. In this stage many die, but such as survive form a small transparent bladder, gradually increasing in size from that of a pinhead to that of a hazel nut. On reaching the dimensions of the latter, which is generally about two months after infection, numerous new tapeworm heads, often many hundreds, are formed in each cystj the latter continuing to grow until the death of the patient, frequently attaining the size of a walnut. This, which is known as the cystic form, is only seen in sheep whose brains contain but a few cysts, and is that which produces the symptoms of genuine gid or sturdy. Where the embryos in the brain are numerous acute inflammation of that organ generally destroys the animal before the close of the first month after infection. The mortality is sometimes very large. The disease is most in evidence in wet seasons, moisture being necessary to preserve the fertility of the eggs after leaving the original canine host. For the same reason infection is more common in the spring and fall than in the summer or winter. It is not until after the embryo has reached the brain that the symptoms of gid make their appearance. The first of these generally noticed is dullness, followed by wasting and disinclination to move. The head is carried low or drawn to one side, while impaired vision is a common feature; the animals sometimes become totally blind, while in other cases one eye only is affected. Squinting is frequently notice- able, or the eyes may be drawn backward and present a sunken appearance. The locomotive powers soon become affected, the animal losing control of one or more limbs and exhibiting, as the disease* progresses, marked peculiarities of gait and action, these of course varying widely in different cases. As already stated, death is not uncommon at this stage, being due to general brain inflammation and consequent functional derangements. * When, however, the patient survises this stage, which is only the case when the encysted parasites are few in number, the true symptoms of turnsick usually begin to show themselves. The affected animal may travel for hours in a circle, sometimes following a regular track, while in other cases the circle becomes larger or smaller with each completed round. In the latter case the animal frequently concludes the performance for the time by turning as if on a pivot, until losing its balance it falls exhausted, only to recommence its eccentric movements when sufficient strengtih returns. It is sometimes possible to locate the exact seat of the cyst in the brain by a careful observation of the vagaries of the patient. When only one cyst exists the animal will, as a rule, turn towards the side on which it is situated, but this is not an infallible guide, as it is not uncommon to have two or more cysts located in different parts of the brain. When, however, one cyst only exists, the rule above mentioned generally holds good, in which case the eye on the opposite side is usually blind from amaurosis (glass eye). If the cyst is situated near the front of the brain the patient steps high and keeps the head drawn backward. If the cyst is in the posterior part of the brain the animal will either lose all power of movement or will turn towards the wind, holding the head high and well forward. 112 Skilled shepherds with long experience of the disease become very expert in locating the exact seat of the cysts, and some claim that when superficially situated the bone immediately over them becomes thin and softened. When the affected animal is valuable and the cyst can be located, the skull may be carefully trephined and the bladder and its contents removed. In ordinary cases the best plan is undoubtedly to slaughter the affected sheep and bum the head. If the latter is eaten by a dog, wolf or fox, the worm grows in this new host to maturity and produces eggs. This round is kept up. It is well also to rid the farm of dogs, or if ihis is impossible, to rid the dogs of tapeworms by giving them at least twice a year, after starving them for twenty-four hoursi a full dose of some reliable vermifuge, such as kamala, areca nut or male fern, followed by a purgative. The dogs undergoing this treatment should be kept shut up and all material passed by them carefully burned or treated with quicklime. Inquiry recently made indicates that gid is almost unknown among Canadian sheep, but imported sheep, and especially imported dogs, should be closely watched for some time after arrival. Acute Indigestion. Acute indigestion in. sheep frequently takes the form known as hoven or bloat, which consists of the fermentation of food and the consequent formation of gas in the first stomach or rumen. It is generally due to sudden change of food, and is most often seen when hungry sheep are turned into clover, rape or alfalfa, or allowed to have access to frozen turnip tops. Under such circumstances it not unfrequently affects a considerable number of animals at once, in which event it is necessary to take prompt measures to avert heavy loss. If observed in the early stages a good remedy is half an ounce of hypo-sulphite of soda mixed with a drachm of ginger in J a pint of water, to be followed later, unless permanent and effective relief is obtained, by from 4 to 6 ounces of raw linseed oil, to which may be added i an ounce of turpentine. If the distension is extreme the paunch may be tapped with a trocar and canula. This is done on the left side at a point midway between the point of the hip and the last rib, and a similar distance from the transverse process of the backbone, which may be felt towards the upper part of the paunch. It is necessary, especially in fat animals, to be careful in locating the seat of operation, as otherwise serious injury may result to one or other of the internal organs. The wool should be carefully parted so as to avoid the carrying of strands into the wound to «ause subsequent irritation and suppuration. Every sheep owner should keep a trocar and canula where it can be found at a moment's notice. Where the proper instrument is not available it may, in an emergency, be better to risk puncturing the paunch with a pocket knife rather than let the animal die unrelieved, but the practice cannot be recommended, inasmuch as when the paunch begins to collapse, some of its contents are almost certain to escape into the abdominal cavity unless the opening is protected by the canula. Spasmodic Colic. Spasmodic colic is an affection of a different nature, and although sometimes due to the causes mentioned as producing acute indigestion, is more apt to be produced by other dietetic errors such as the feeding of lambs with cows' milk or changing them too suddenly and completely from a milk diet to solid food. It may also be induced, both in lambs and in adult sheep, by acrid herbs or by any unusual diet. The pain should be relieved by the administration of an anodyne mixture such as a teaspoonful each of laudanum and sweet spirits of nitre, dissolved with a teaspoonful of ginger and two teaspoonfuls of baking soda in J a pint of water. It may be necessary to follow up with a dose of raw linseed oil in order to relieve the bowels and remove the irritant, for which purpose also injections of warm water will be found useful. Fig. 70— SuffoUc Rai 2r.l4-13. Fig. 71- -Southdown Ewes. 113 Constipation or Stretclies. _ Constipation is not uncommon in sheep that are kept on coarse dry feed. The name indicates the nature of the symptoms shown, and this condition can best be relieved by the administration of a cathartic. For this purpose 6 to 8 ounces of raw linseed oil, with from 2 to 4 drachms of turpentine, may be given. Injections are also recom- mended. The tendency to constipation is best combatted by the judicious feeding of roots and other succulent feed through the winter, when it is most frequently seen. Inflammation of the Bowels. Inflammation of the bowels, properly so called, is almost unknown in sheep, although as in^ horses there are many conditionB which produce acute inflam- matory action in some one or more of the internal organs, giving rise to the symptoms generally associated with the name given above. The symptoms presented are similar to those of colic, but much aggravated, violent and almost constant abdominal pain being present. The medicinal treatment is similar to that for colic, but larger doses of the anodyne mixture may be given and repeated at intervals of several hours should the pain continue. Eelief may sometimes be afforded by the application of mustard to the abdomen. Treatment is frequently unsuccessful, but should be persisted in, as such attacks occasionally terminate in diarrhoea, which, after being allowed to continue for a reasonable length of time may be controlled by the administration of starch or flour gruel, to which may be added the whites of eggs and a little whisky or brandy. Diarrhoea. Diarrhoea is as a rule the result of bad management, overfeeding with succulent food, or an indigestible diet, such as unripe food or frozen grass — that caused by the latter being a very serious form. It may also be caused by a sudden change to a diet of roots, especially mangels, and is also observed among sheep turned for the first time on alkali lands, and in those having access to water strongly impregnated with alkali. Treatment consists in removing, if possible, all the inciting causes and by changing the diet to dry feed of a simple character. It is sometimes best where the trouble is evidently -due to an effort of nature to get rid of irritation, to assist the process by the administration of a mild laxative, and for this purpose a few ounces of castor oil may be given, combined with a drachm each of laudanum and ground ginger. Should the diarrhoea persist after this treatment, it may be combatted by the administration of starch or flour gruel, combined with whites of eggs and a little stimulant, should the need of the latter be indicated. Wool Balls. Wool balls in lambs' stomachs may cause considerable loss, particularly among long wool breeds, if the habit of wool eating is persisted in for a sufficient length of time to allow of the formation of many of these peculiar concretions. Digestive troubles, a craving for salt or some constituent lacking in the food may cause the lambs to chew wool; biting the sides to get rid of ticks is a common cause, and for this reason lambs should be dipped together with the ewes after the latter are clipped. The loose wool should be cut from the ewes' udder to prevent it getting into the lambs' mouths when sucking. Confinement should be avoided. The flock should be turned out on a wide range if possible as soon as the habit is noticed, and the separation of the first offenders should be effected at once, as imitation is a frequent cause of spread- ing the trouble. Free access should be given to salt, phosphate of lime or bone meal. Linseed oil in appropriate doses may afford relief, but if much wool is swallowed the balls may block the small intestine and cause serious derangement of the digestive functions, followed by emaciation and even death. 2514—14 114 Derangement of the Urinary Organs. Many of the diseases affecting the kidneys and bladder of other species of animals are almost unknown in the sheep, and when they do occur, being difficult of diagnosis, are seldom recognized and still less frequently successfully treated. Trouble is occa- sionally caused, especially in male animals, by the formation of calculi, which, how- ever, seldom give rise to definite symptoms except when lodged in the urethra. In this situation they give rise to serious difficulty in passing urine, and are, in fact, the most frequent cause of what is known as ' stoppage of the water.' The formation of calculi is induced by the too free use of highly nitrogenous foods and those rich in sugar and phosphates. Among the articles of diet held by different authorities to be responsible are peas, beans, maize, mangels and new mown, clover. The condition is also more frequent in limestone districts, especially where the water supply is strongly impregnated with lime salts. The affected sheep generally lies down, and on being made to rise gives a peculiar spinal jerk, followed in some cases by the passage of a few drops of water. He is very uneasy and restless, changing his position frequently, respiration is hurried, and often each breath is accompanied by a painful grunt. The urine passed is thick and cloudy; the appetite fails; fits of shivering follow, and unless relief is afforded the bladder ruptures or acute urine poisoning sets in, either of these conditions being rapidly fatal. When, as is not unfrequently the case, the obstruction is at or near the external opening of the urethra, relief can often be given by clipping away the wool, and removing the accumulation, which is often more of a sabulous mass than an actual stone. Often the urethra is simply blocked by a mass of sediment behind the worm-like appendage at the end of the tube, and in such cases when manipulation fails, the worm itself may be removed, thus affording relief. In all cases in which the obstruction is situated in front of the peculiar flexure of the urethra which characterizes that passage in sheep as well as in cattle, an effort should be made to secure its dislodgment by gentle massage, fomentations and the injection . of olive oil into the urethra. Actual incision into the urethra is difficult and dangerous, and should not be attempted by any one except a skilled operator, and even then only as a last resort. Medicinal treatment is of little value, although the administration of belladonna in doses of from ten to fifteen grains may occasionally assist in reliev- ing the tension of the parts. Benefit sometimes follows the administration of a dose of physic, and in these cases Epsom salt is, for obvious reasons, the most suitable agent. The dose is, for a full grown sheep, about six ounces dissolved with a handful of salt and two drachms of ginger in at least a quart of warm water. Abortion. Abortion may be caused in different ways. Injuries sustained by crowding through doors, hooks from cattle, or chasing by dogs have caused many a ewe to give birth to an immature lamb, usually dead. Ergotized grain or hay, smutty grain or its straw, frozen turnip or beet tops and impure water are other sources of this trouble. Careful management, clean, sound food and pure water are the best preventives of sporadic abortion. Some of the symptoms are a loss of appetite, dullness and desire on the part of the ewe to isolate herseH from the flock. Generally abortion takes place before any symptoms are noticed, but it is occasionally necessary to remove the foetus and placenta lest blood poisoning set in. Both fcetus and afterbirth should in all cases be burned, and the uterus flushed out twice a day for several days with a three per cent solution of ereolin in warm water. Epizootic abortion is caused by a germ allied to the common moulds. It is con- tagious and spreads rapidly through a flock unless proper precautions are taken. An animal which has aborted should be at once removed from the flock, and the uterus injected with the ereolin solution mentioned above. Foetus, afterbirth, etc., should be burned, and the place where the main flock are kept should be thoroughly cleaned. All bedding should be burned and the floors covered with sawdust containing ten per cent by weight of crude carbolic acid. The walls and ceilings should be whitewashed 115 witli lime and carbolic acid in the proportion of one pound of commercial carbolic acid to each five gallons of lime wash. Earns that have served affected ewes should be disinfected by syringing into the sheath a five per cent solution of creolin, or a 1 to 1,000 solution of bi-chloride of mercury. For this purpose a fountain syringe is the most convenient instrument. Such rams should not be used again for breeding until a considerable time has elapsed. Eversion of the Womb. Some time after the birth of a lamb (usually a case of difficult parturition), a red bladder-like body may be seen protruding from the vulva. This is due generally to a weakened condition of the ewe, and consequently of the ligaments by which the womb is attached, and also the failure, owing to exhaustion, of the os uteri to close normally. It frequently follows the retention of the afterbirth, when the whole organ is ejected, together with the membranes. In such cases the placenta should be separated at each cotyledon to prevent bleeding. After removing the placenta or afterbirth, the organ itself and the surrounding parts should be washed clean with a two per cent solution of creolin or carbolic acid. Next have an assistant place the ewe on her back and grasping her hind legs raise her hindquarters nearly a foot above the floor or ground. In this position the womb may be most easily returned. The operator should next flush out the womb with a pint of luke warm water in which a little powdered alum has been dissolved. The ewe should be tied up for a few days in a narrow stall by herself, with the bedding built up in such a way that her hind parts are about 6 inches higher than her front parts. If straining continues and does not yield to medicinal treatment, a simple truss may be a-pplied in the manner familiar to most shepherds. Stitching the vulva is not recommended, although it may be necessary when the attendant does not know how to make and apply the truss. In no case should more than two or three stitches be inserted. Sore Teats. Wet, cold weather and damp or wet quarters cause sore teats in ewes. Sometimes the lambs bite the teats because of a lack of milk to satisfy their appetites. Any good healing salve will prove beneficial. Equal parts of sweet oil and glycerine applied two or three times a day has given good results. Caked TJdder. Swollen udder is a common ailment at lambing time and again when the lambs are weaned. The heaviest milkers are most subject to it. The majority of cases are traceable to neglect on the part of the shepherd. Heavy feeding before lambing time is a frequent cause; exposure to draughts or a wet bed are responsible for many bad cases. These are easily avoided. At weaning time, to prevent swelling, the ewes should be milked out for two or three successive mornings, and this should be con- tinued in such as show any tendency to cake. Inflammation of the Udder or Garget. Inflammation of the udder or garget is a very serious condition, and not at all uncommon. It may follow caked udder or may be induced by exposure to cold and wet, particularly the latter, to bruises from the head of the lamb or from lying on stones or dry, lumpy soil. It occurs most frequently in wet seasons and occasionally causes the death of the ewe from mortification. Instances are on record where the specific contagious inflammation of the udder which affects cows, has been transmitted to ewes occupying the same quarters. In the treatment of severe cases of caked udder or of inflammation of that organ, it is advisable to administer about 4 ounces of Epsom salt dissolved in 4 a pint of warm water. Bathe the udder with water as warm as 2514— 14 i 116 can be borne for at least balf an hour, then dry thoroughly and rub well with an oint- ment composed of lard 8 parts, belladonna 1 part. Keep the ewe in comfortable quarters and repeat the local treatment as required. If any tendency to suppuration is observed, it is advisable to apply heat and moisture, and for this purpose a poultice of spent hops is very suitable, or the udder may be packed with clean woollen waste, saturated with hot water and kept in position with a cloth, preferably waterproof. Peed lightly on clover hay and warm bran mash and give chilled water to drink. As abscesses show signs of pointing they should be opened with a sharp knife and treated as indicated below. Abscesses. Abscesses in sheep are not uncommon, being, in these animals, easily induced by bruises and other comparatively slight causes. As soon as the presence of pus is definitely ascertained the abscess should be opened and the cavity injected with a 2 per cent solution of carbolic in warm water. This should be repeated from time to time until the wound heals. Goitre. Goitre shows itself as an enlargement of the thyroid gland which is situated beneath the throat close to the head. Sheep of all ages are subject to it, but it is most frequently seen in lambs, causing heavy loss. Authorities do not all agree as to the cause. It is considered hereditary, while it is also undoubtedly, in some cases, due to malnutrition, apparently arising from certain conditions of soil and water as yet imperfectly understood. Insufficient exercise, the mating of overfat rams and ewes, inbreeding and weakly constitutions are other causes given, but it is improbable that any of these produce it unless the local conditions are favourable to its development. Lambs afflicted with goitre are frequently born dead or die shortly afterwards. Curative treatment for goitre is but little resorted to for the reasons that young animals seldom respond satisfactorily. Mature goitred sheep (which in no case should be bred from) are only slightly inconvenienced by the disease and may be readily fitted for the block. The most experienced sheep breeders avoid the use of a goitred ram, knowing well that he is likely to leave a stunted progeny. The safest plan is to breed only from sound stock, the ewes of which, during the season of pregnancy should be given ample opportunity for exercise, with a plentiful supply of plain and suitable food. Catarrh. Catarrh begins with frequent sneezing, a discharge of mucus from the nostrils, inflamed eyes and loss of appetite. If allowed to go on it may become malignant, in which case the lining membranes of the nasal passages, throat, and even the stomach and intestines may become affected. Death frequently results, while such animals as recover from attacks of this extreme nature are generally almost worthless. Simple catarrh may be due to infection, and its development is favoured by changes of temperature, exposure to cold rains or chilling winds or by confinement in a draughty or poorly ventilated building. Malignant catarrh is seldom seen except when the conditions are unsanitary. Strong, vigorous sheep in good condition are less liable to seizure, and if attacked, are easier to treat and make a better recovery. The first treatment (which it is advisable to try before the symptoms appear) is to place the animals in a clean airy place, dry underfoot and with good shelter easily accessible. When a nasal discharge is observed, flax-seed tea may be given three times a day, with plenty of good food. Warm mashes are beneficial, while in bad cases marked relief is afiorded by steaming the head with hot water in which a little carbolic acid has been dissolved. Some rather ancient authorities recommend blowing different mixtures into the sheep's nostrils, but little benefit is likely to result from treatment of this kind. 117 Soreness of the Eyes. , Sore eyes may be due to enzootic ophthalmia or to constitutional causes. Serious irritation is often induced by the entry of dust or chaff into the eye. Exposure to severe weather or draughts, or a continued heating diet occasionally causes more or less severe inflammation of the eyes. Lambs are not infrequently affected, and in them, as in fact in all severe cases, the tendency is to lose flesh rapidly. Treatment consists in examining the eye for foreign bodies, which, if present should be removed if possible. A little cocaine solution, which can be procured from any druggist, is especially convenient in dealing with this sensitive organ. In this, as in all other cases, the eyes should be well bathed with warm water, after which a solution of 2 grains of sulphate of zinc to 1 ounce of water should be introduced with an ordinary dropper or a small glass syringe. A mild laxative or at least a laxative diet is to be recommended and it is well to protect the eyes from exposure to strong light. Enzootic ophthalmia is, of course, contagious, and for this reason it is advisable to isolate at once any sheep having sore eyes, except of course those in which, on examination, the trouble is found to be due to the entrance of some foreign body or other well defined local cause. 118 THE CANADIAN WOOL INDUSTRY. Sheep raising in Canada is carried on more for the production of mutton than of wool. That is to say the first object of the Canadian sheep raiser is to produce mutton, and secondly to get what he can without special care for his annual crop of wool. In this respect the sheep raising conditions in Canada do not differ materially from those in other parts of the world where advanced agriculture is carried on. Simple- wool growing cannot be maintained in any country where land has any considerable value. As civilization has advanced and the processes of agriculture have improved, one country after another has ceased to grow wool for itself alone; mutton has become the principal and wool the incident of the business. This transition was accomplished in England first by the improvement of the Leicester, the Southdown and the Hamp- shire. France by slow degrees transformed the Eambouillet Merino into a mutton breed of no mean quality. Australia and also New Zealand are becoming mutton shipping countries, and the United States is rapidly getting away from the fine woolled breeds to crosses of British varieties for the purpose of increasing the production of mutton. It is toward this end that Argentine breeders find it profitable to pay English farmers long prices for Lincoln rams, while the same motive prompts the demand from the ranges of the Western States for Canadian-bred long-wooUed males. Canada has never given special attention to wool raising. True, the foundation stocks of the western range bands approached more nearly the wool than the mutton type, but each succeeding year finds an improvement in the direction of the mutton side, with a corresponding tendency towards coarser wool. Much Canadian wool is of excellent quality as compared with its own class from other countries, but the very general lack of care given to its production and handling has given it a rather indifferent standing in the wool markets of the world. As a matter of fact the Canadian wool supply has little interest for the large wool markets. The entire export- able supply is not great and it is of so mixed a character that more than very meagre shipments of definite classes are out of the question. Our total annual export has not for a number of years reached two million pounds — about one-fifth of the total shorn crop — and the great proportion of this has gone to the United States. The Annual Crop. The annual wool clip of Canada in recent years amounts in round numbers to twelve million pounds, divided by provinces about as follows : — Lbs. British Columbia 95,000 Alberta 631,000 Saskatchewan 496,000 Manitoba 135,500 Ontario 5,519,500 Quebec 2,670,000 ;New Brunswick 986,000 Nova Scotia '. 1,189,500 Prince Edward Island 385,500 Total 12,108,000 These figures represent the total weights at the farms, including both washed and unwashed wool. In the province of Ontario from 70 to 80 per cent of the wool is washed. West of a line drawn north from Kingston the usual practice is to wash the wool on the sheep, whereas east of that line, also in Quebec and the maritime pro- 119 vinces, tub washing is the rule. In the western provinces wool washing is little practised by the sheep raisers, and then only in British Columbia. Sheep washing was tried in Manitoba, but the scarcity of running streams and the natural hardness of the water rendered the operation difficult and unsatisfactory, and it has been discontinued. Practically all our range wool is marketed in the grease, which accounts for its heavy shrinkage owing to unavoidable accumulations of dust and dirt gathered during the dry, warm weather which is frequently more or less windy. Apart from the range wool, which contains more or kss Merino character, Canadian wool ranges from medium clothing to coarse combing, varying in proportion to the prevailing breeds. On the evidence of the most extensive dealers and manu- facturers the finest grades, outside of the province of Saskatchewan and Alberta, are found in the maritime provinces, the Eastern Townships of Quebec, the Ottawa valley and in British Columbia. Even the common or unimproved flocks of these districts produce a relatively fine grade of wool, while the improved flocks possess more of Down than of long-wool character. In addition to this the soil and the climate of the sections referred to, more especially the maritime provinces, appear' to exert a favour- able influence on the wool as regards softness of texture and working quality. In these sections fully 60 per cent of the clip is classed as clothing wool and 40 per cent as combing, whereas the crop shorn in central and western Ontario, Manitoba and parts of Quebec the proportion of long combing wool reaches quite Y5 per cent. As already indicated, the great bulk of the wool grown on the ranches of Saskatche- wan and Alberta occupies a class of its own among Canadian wools. The yearly clip approaching 1,000,000 pounds in the grease, representing from 400,000 to 500,000 pounds of scoured wool, is classed as fine medium. That is to say it is finer than the finest grown in other provinces and coarser than the fine wools clipped from Merino sheep in South Africa, South America and Australia, of which large quantities are imported into Canada each year. It is the regret of the woollen manufacturer that this wool is each year growing coarser, the result of additional mutton crosses upon the Merino stock originally brought from Montana. The Export Trade. The United States has always been the chief outside market for Canadian wool. Great Britain takes a small quantity each year, and a few small shipments are occasionally made to K'ewfoundland. The annual exports to the United States for the past thirty years have usually been above the million pounds mark; less than half a dozen times it has fallen below the million, and twice that number of yearly periods it has exceeded the two million mark. In 1855, 3,550,000 pounds crossed the United States boundary, while during the three years commencing 1895 the export ran up to 5,449,955, 3,851,432, and 7,499,949 pounds, respectively. The great increase during these years was due to the withdrawal of the customs duty on wool entering the United States as a condition of the Wilson-Gorman tariff. The year later (1898), when the tariff had been restored, the amount fell to about 1,000,000 pounds, and in 1899 to some 22,000 pounds. Since then it has been fairly constant, running from a little under 1,000,000 to about 2,250,000 pounds. Practically only one class of wool goes from Canada to the United States — comb- ing wool of a length of five inches and upwards, washed on the sheep's back. The United States market does not want clothing wool or pulled wool from outside, and their tariffs have been framed accordingly. In this respect a preference is shown wools classed as Cotswold, Leicester and Lincoln, on which the tariff is 12 cents per pound. In order to admit of classification the wool must be presented in individual fleeces and since the seller could not afford to pay duty on dirt, all our wool going to the United States must be washed before being shorn. An extensive Canadian buyer who secures a good share of the clip from western Ontario gave the writer the follow- ing figures as representing the classification of an average lot of 15,000 pounds: Combing (Leicester, Lincoln and Cotswold) 10,500 pounds; clothing (Downs and similar wool) 3,300 pounds; unwashed 600 pounds; rejects (cotted, unduly coarse,, 120 dead, filthy,- etc.) 650 pounds. The first of these classes is in very limited demand in Canada and goes chiefly to the United States, the others are practically all used up in Canadian mills. The exports to Great Britain have only once exceeded half a million pounds in one year (1879), when 640,000 pounds were shipped. Prior to 188Y fairly large shipments were made each year, hut from that year until 1895 little or no Canadian wool found its way to Great Britain. Since that time the average has been about 200,000 pounds, the quantity for 1906 being 200,039, and for nine months of 1907, 223,347 pounds. Except for a few lots of range wool the exports to Great Britain have consisted of washed clothing wool. Dcmestic Consumption. The comparatively small export of wool leaves about 10,000,000 pounds of shorn crop for domestic use. It is impossible to properly estimate the quantity that is still worked up at the farm. In New Brunswick, Quebec and to some slight extent in the other provinces, home carding and spinning are still in vogue, and no doubt consider- able wool is used in the homes for making mattresses, quilts, etc. The quantities used in these ways are year by year decreasing, thus augmenting the supply to be taken care of in the mills. In addition to 8,000,000 to '9,000,000 pounds of home grown wool consumed in the Canadian mills large quantities of imported wools are brought in each year. Eor the years ending June 30, 1905, 1906, and the first nine months of 1907, the quantities imported were respectively as follows: 7,617,211, 6,311,837, and 3,928,791 pounds. These wools, with slight exception, are said to consist of fine Merino qualities such as are not grown in Canada, and are required in the manu- facture of fine goods, such as flannels, fine tweeds, meltons, beavers, whipcords, covert cloths and fine rugs. These wools also enter very largely into the manufacture of underwear and other fine knitted goods. The mills using Canadian wools manufacture such staple lines as blankets, maokinaws, friezes, etoffs, tweeds, homespuns, sweaters, yarns, etc., each of which fills a large place in the requirements of the ever increasing population. Many of the smaller mills depending upon the local wool supply use Canadian wools almost exclusively. These manufacture several lines of goods, and in this way consume the different grades of wool produced. With few exceptions what may be termed the large mills import most of their wool and mix with it a little Canadian and a certain proportion of shoddy and of cotton. That there will always be a strong demand for the substantial goods made from the finer grades of Canadian wool admits of no argument. Their wearing qualities appeal to the rural dweller and the more frugal of the urban population. Just now the fashions in both men's and women's clothing call for a fine fabric presenting a smooth surface. These are made from Cape, Australian and other Merino wools and in the cheaper grades shoddy and cotton are very largely utilized. Sooner or later, however, the fashions will change and the coarser fabrics will command the attention of the purchasing public. The reversion to Canadian wool goods will be hastened by reason of the short life of the composite cloth, which soon shows wear on the exposed parts. Cloths carrying a high percentage of shoddy and cotton soon lose shape. It is this peculiarity of the popular clothing that gives much work to the numerous repair shops and pressing wardrobes that are springing up in every town and city. It is safe to predict that the fashions in men's clothes, more especially business suits, will revert toward the tweeds such as are readily made in Canadian mills from Canadian wools replacing the smooth imported worsteds now so generally worn. Defects of Canadian "Wool. LACK OF UNIFORMITY. Canadian wool, as compared with that grown in countries devoted largely to sheep raising, and where the climate is never severe, presents defects that are complained of 121 by every wool dealer and manufacturer. The very general lack of uniformity in breed naturally gives a mixture to the character of the wool. This presents a difficulty to the manufacturer of special lines who desires to purchase a large quantity of one class. He is now compelled to purchase more or less mixed lots and pay men at his mill to re-sort them. This defect will continue until we so increase our sheep stocks that extensive Canadian wool markets are developed to better classify and take care of the output. To indicate the insignificence of the Canadian wool crop of some 12,000,000 pounds of shorn wool and upwards of 1,000,000 pounds of pulled wool it may be compared with the annual yield in Great Britain of some 130,000,000 pounds, to which may be added 700,000,000 pounds imported into that comparitively small area each year. Of these combined quantities about 543,000,000 pounds are consumed in Britain, the remaining 316,000,000 pounds being exported. The wool industry of Great Britain is a definite one of first importance, commanding the attention of both the manufacturers and the grower wherever he may be situated. So well are the London wool sales organized that one can buy almost any quality desired from samples secured by mail or by personal examination of offerings. When sales are in progress the different lots are classified and catalogued. Buyers are allowed to examine the offerings in the forenoons from gashes made in the bales. In the afternoon when the sales are in progress purchases are intelligently made by reference to the catalogue marked in the morning. Eather than bother with Canadian wools, which are difficult to classify, some of our largest manufacturers purchase at the London sales the exact qualities required. CHAFF, BURRS, ETC. The presenec of foreign matter such as chaff, bay seeds, burrs, etc., in most Canadian wool detracts very largely from its value. Unfortunately our long Canadian winters, necessitating housing and the feeding of dry fodder, are responsible for much of the vegetable matter found in our wool. In addition, too many sheep raisers q.re not careful to clean their farms of burrs, with the result that the fleeces become badly infested with each recurring autumn. The losses from the presence of vegetable matter are very large and assuredly come out of the wool grower. It is removable only by expensive machinery or a process known as carbonizing. In the process of combing most of the chafi, etc., is removed, but for carding carbonizing is frequently necessary. This process consists of treating in an acid bath and raising the temperature to about 220 degrees, holding it there for sufficient time to reduce all vegetable matter to dust, which is shaken out by a special process. According to some authorities carbonizing greatly weakens the wool and renders it harsh, while others claim that the fibre is only slightly damaged. ■At any rate the process is expensive and the wool grower pays the bill. The use of properly constructed racks, careful feeding, shearing on a clean surface and the protection of the sheep from burrs would go a long way toward increasing the value of Canadian wool. COTTED WOOL. Wool buyers and mill owners that purchase direct from growers and country storekeepers, complain of the presence of much cotted wool in each year's crop. One dealer estimates the amount at 6 per cent of the clip, while others place the proportion lower. This defect is most general in back country wool and is seldom found in lots from districts where the system of agriculture is well advanced. It is confined to the long-woolled breeds and grades of these, and is never seen in Down wool. Cotting is believed to be due to several causes. Some sheep have a tendency to produce cotted wool; again neglect of proper shelter in bad weather, improper or insufficient feeding, extreme changes of temperature, ill health, second growth, etc., are all blamed for the cotting of wool. These conditions can practically all be guarded against in the breeding and care of the flock. Cotted wool is of very little value as it can be used in only the cheapest of goods. 122 SECOND GROWTH. A second growth of wool lessens the value of a fleece. It is due to late shearing. It is natural for the sheep to lose its wool each spring, and nature makes an effort in that direction. If shearing is delayed after the beginning of warm weather the fibres tend to separate at the body and a new growth commences which pushes its way up into the fleece. The presence of new short wool in a mature fleece is troublesome to the manufacturer, and, therefore, reduces its value. Shearing should, therefore, not be delayed after warm weather sets in. TYING WITH BINDER TWINE. With one accord dealers and manufacturers proclaim against the tying up of fleeces with binder twine. The following quotation from a reliable wool journal expresses the objection to this practice, which is not so common as it was a few years ago : — ' Again the growers of fleece wools are admonished not to tie wool with sisal or binder twine. Manufacturers and dealers are up in arms against this practice, and the manufacturer is more and more refusing to accept from the dealer wool tied with sisal or binder twine, and the time has come when the buyer of wool must discrimin- ate against this kind of twine. In untying the fleeces, it is impossible to remove this kind of twine without leaving some of the fibres in the wool. This causes a defect in the goods when made, to the annoyance and loss of the manufacturer, who has to put such pieces of goods into his seconds. It leaves white or yellow streaks throughout the goods, as it will not take any dye. A farmer buying a piece of woollen goods, either black or coloured, would hardly accept a piece streaked with white or yellow. A farmer who insists on tying up his wool with binder twine will run the risk of having it rejected altogether, or be obliged to stand a reduction of several cents a pound. Wool should be tied with small, hard twine that will not rub off.' Range Wools. A wide difference of opinion prevails among manufacturers and dealers in regard to Canadian range wools. A number hold a rather poor opinion of them, while others find them quite satisfactory for the manufacture of the medium fine tweeds, flannels, fine blankets and underwear. After summing up the various opinions the writer concludes that these wools differ widely according to the character of the sheep from which they are shorn and the care given to them, especially during the winter and spring, as well as the grading and general care given the wool after it has been shorn. It appears to be perfectly true that much of our range wool lacks uniformity in quality according to the breeding of the bands. The original stocks were very largely Merino, but all the grading has been in the direction of mutton. The character of the wool, therefore, differs according to the number and breed of mutton crosses in the shorn sheep. A long wool cross produces a coarser wool than a Down cross, and so on from year to year and from cross to cross. Again a great deal of complaint is expressed with regard to the strength of fleece as well as the presence of coarse fibres known as ' kemp ' throughout the fleece. An investigation of this charge brought out the fact that the conditions complained of exist in the product of careless ranchers, while the wool raised on and shipped from well managed range fiocks is not only uniform and strong in fibre, but almost or quite free from kemp. It is a well understood fact that if a sheep suffers from illness, shortage of food, or hardship of any kind producing an unthrifty condition, the wool ceases to grow during that period. It not only ceases to grow, but a weak place known as ' break ' is produced at that point. The ' break ' in range wool is believed to be caused by the periods of severe weather and shortage of feed experienced to a greater or less degree each winter or spring. The wool produced on ranges that provide food 123 and shelter from storms and severe cold does not show that tenderness complained of by certain manufacturers. That other defect ' kemp ' is by many considered evidence of a more or less remote cross of a breed naturally prone to produce these stout hairs in the fleece. The old Mexican, as also the Welsh sheep, had this tendency. Again, exposure to severe weather causes an extra growth of stout hair, and in the case of sheep, to kill the fibre. While true kemp and dead hairs may not be strictly identical they are about equally objectionable and are present in a proportion of our range wool. The extra growth is a provision of nature to fortify an animal against suffering. This is strikingly exemplified in the case of horses and cattle, which when allowed to run out all winter produce long, coarse coats, whereas th-^, same animals warmly housed remain sleek and smooth. The presence of kemp greatly reduces the value of a fieece. The long stout hairs break readily and have another serious defect in not taking the dye well and, therefore, show up strongly in the manufactured fabrics. The precautions against kemp are practically the same as against 'break,' although it is advisable also to cull out such ewes as are noticed to produce kemp in their fleeces. One of the features objected to by eastern mills and warehouses is their lack of proper grading. This prevents mills buying direct from growers, while dealers will pay only a low price for it in order to recoup themselves from loss on low grade lots. Better grading before shipment east would establish a confidence between grower and buyer that would increase the price at the range of these wools. Certain ranches have established reputations for good wool, well put up, and the secret lies in the principles adopted in their management. Sheds are provided to protect the sheep during storms and a good supply of fodder is put up for winter feeding. These precautions insure continuous thrift of the bands and consequently healthy wool. Their methods of grading the wool are good. Each fleece is rolled up separately and each class kept by itself. These are: 1st, shearling; 2nd, ewes and wethers over one year old; and 3rd, rams. A fourth grade consists of taglocks, pickings and dead wool. Each grade is properly labelled and baled or put up in sacks. Firms who are known to produce good wool and handle it as described receive a higher price than the haphazard wool grower. On account of the long haul it is important that the wool be put up in bales or in very substantial sacks. Either process is satisfactory, provided it is very carefully done. The bailing is usually done by a hay press or similar machine. The bales ranging in weight from 250 to 300 pounds, are bound with wire, and then covered with cheap sacking. Even though the sacks are torn during transportation the wool suffers no injury. Sacking is as satisfactory provided sufficiently strong material is used; a sack not less than 3J pounds will usually deliver the wool in good condition. The wool from the largest and best managed ranges is usually shipped in bales. Pidled Wool. In addition to the shorn wool, amounting to upwards of 12,000,000 pounds annually, there is also produced in Canada a large quantity of wool taken from jjclts of slaughtered sheep and known as ' pulled ' wool. The quantity from year to year usually exceeds 1,000,000 pounds washed, reaching 1,500,000 pounds in some years, the variation depending upon the export of pelts, which some seasons reach 250,000. These are pulled in the United States and thus swell our exports of wool to that country. Throughout the Dominion there are about a dozen wool-pulling firms. These people buy the skins, wash or brush them, strip off the wool, which is sorted in the pulling into the several classes called for by the trade. The average weight of wool per hide is about three pounds washed, the quantity varying according to the breed of the sheep and the season at which it was slaughtered. 124 Pulled wool is the most easily sorted, as the pullers quickly detect the different qualities which are thrown each by itself as follows: Lamb's extra, super, combing, low grade, called No. 1 ; and burr clipped. Each class is adaptable to a certain purpose,, and varies in value accordingly. Most of the short wool 1 and 1^ to 3 inches taken from sheep and lambs slaughtered from June to October goes into the knitting trade for underwear and similar lines. Our finest underwear, however, is practically all manufactured from imported wools of the Merino class. Some of our largest knitting firms use fully 90 per cent of imported wools, while others making a heavier, coarser line of underwear and socks, use as high as 80 per cent of Canadian wool. It might be pointed out that Canadian made underwear bears an excellent reputation and is able to hold its own against even the finest imported lines. For this reason our knitting mills are doing a flourishing trade, whereas our cloth mills are not so pros- perous. The longer grades go into the clothing and combing classes, respectively, similar to shorn wool. A very common defect complained of by wool pullers is the presence of burrs. These have to be clipped out by hand at a cost of from 1 cent to 5 cents per hide before the pulling is commenced. Apart from the expense of the labour the wool is much injured, more especially if it be lamb's wool, which is of greatest value. In the opinion of the pullers the sheep raisers are not altogether to blame for this defect. It frequently happens that the damage is done after the sheep leave the farm. It is not uncommon for dealers and butchers to collect and hold sheep for days or weeks in pastures, not infrequently vacant lots, that are more than likely to be infested with burrs. It is here that many, but not all, of the burrs are gathered in the fleeces. Shearing. The date of shearing has much to do with the quality and condition of the fleece. Sheep not clipped until the weather is warm will rub off considerable wool, because they are too warm. They also collect much dirt of one sort or other. Sheep should be shorn while the weather is quite cool, cold some would call it. A better fleece is secured, the sheep do better afterwards as they do not suffer from the heat and ticks, and there is no wool to bother the lambs while sucking or to form deadly balls in their stomachs. Sheep should be shorn on a clean, dry floor. The fleece should be carefully trimmed either before or after shearing. Stained locks or tags should be put in a separate pile to be properly cleansed before offering for sale. The fleece should be folded neatly, skin side out, and tied with sufficient twisted wool or ' wool twine ' to hold it together. Afterwards it can be put into sacks or bales. In shearing, the shears or clippers should be held close to the body and not allowed to run off at a tangent, cutting the staple into two or more pieces, thus seriously injuring much good wool. The Outlook. At the moment the wool man is having a dull time, but wool is the genuine article and will come into its own. It has always had its ups and downs, and like all other necessities, it will rise and fall in value according to the purchasing power of the people and the caprice of fashion. During the later part of the year 1907 and the early months of 1908 no class of woollen manufacturer has seen fit to stock up for the future. Even though the prices have been low purchasing has been done in a very conservative way, with the result that wool has been accumulating. The faithful sheep has been yielding as well as before, and at the same time the shoddy mills have by no means been idle. The Canadian sheepman need have no fears for the future of the wool side of the business, provided he takes precautions to produce healthy, clean wool and gives 125 attention to culling out the bad fleeced breeding stock. The conditions necessary to produce high class mutton are favourable to the growth of sound fleece. Canadian mills favour the Down wools, while the United States market takes care of the long wools, but each requires a sound staple as clean as possible from burrs, chaff, and other vegetable matter. Mutton will continue to be the chief aim of the Canadian sheep raiser, but the wool side is not to be despised and will increase the revenue from Ms flocks according to the condition of each season's clip. THE LAST OF THE FIOCK.' (By Wordsworth.) In distant countries have I been. And yet I have not often seen A healthy man, a man full grown. Weep in the public roads alone. But such a one, on English ground, And in the broad highway, I met; Along the broad highway he came, His cheeks with tears were wet; Sturdy he seemed, though he was sad; And in his arms a lamb he had. He saw me, and he turned aside. As if he wished himself to hide; And with his coat did then essay To wipe those briny tears away. I followed him, and said, ' My friend. What ails you ? Wherefore weep you so ? ' — ' Shame on me. Sir ! This lusty lamb. He makes my tears to flow. To-day I fetched him from the rock; He is the last of all my flock. ' When I was young, a single man. And after youthful follies ran. Though little given to care and thought, Yet, so it was, an ewe I bought; And other sheep from her I raised. As healthy sheep as you might see; And then I married, and was rich As I could wish to be; Of sheep I numbered a full score. And every year increased my store. 126 IV ' Year after year my stock it grew ; And from this one, this single ewe. Full fifty comely sheep I raised. As fine a flock as ever grazed ! Upon the Quantock Hills they fed; They throve, and we at home did thrive; This last lamb of all my store Is all that is alive; And now I care not if we die, And perish all of poverty. ' Six children. Sir, had I to feed ; Hard labour in a time of need ! My pride was tamed, and in our grief I of the parish asked relief. They say I was a wealthy man; My sheep upon the uplands fed And it was fit that thence I took Whereof to buy us bread. " Do this : how can we give to you," They cried, "what to the poor is due?" VI ' I sold a sheep, as they have said. And bought my little children bread. And they were healthy with their food; Por me, — it never did me good. A woeful time it was for me. To see the end of all my gains. The pretty flock which I had reared With all my care and pains, To see it melt like snow away, For me it was a woeful day. ' Another still ! and still another ! A little lamb and then its mother! It was a vein that never stopped, — • Like blood-drops from my herd they dropped Till thirty were not left alive. They dwindled, dwindled, one by one; And I may say, that many a time I wished that all were gone, — Keckless of what might come at last, Were but the bitter struggle past. vin ' To wicked deeds I was inclined. And wicked fancies crossed my mind; And every man I chanced to see, I thought he knew some ill of me; 127 No peace, no comfort could I find, 'No ease, within doors or without; And crazily and wearily I went my work about; And oft was moved to flee from home. And hide my head where wild beasts roam. IX ' Sir ! 'twas a precious flock to me. As dear as my own children be; Por daily with my growing store I loved my children more and more. Alasl it was an evil time; God cursed me in my sore distress; I pray, yet every day I thought I loved my children less ; And every week, and every day. My flock it seemed to melt away. ' They dwindled, Sir, sad sight to see ! From ten to fiv§, from five to three, A lamb, a wether and a ewe; — And then at last from three to two; And, of my fifty, yesterday I had but only one. And here it lies upon my arm, Alas! And I have none; To-day I fetched it from the rock; It is the last of all my flock.'