Southern standard. (McMinnville, Tenn.) 1879-current, 1881-07-30
Look to the Lambs.

Many dollar that would otherwise
come to the flockowner is lost through
his failure to appreciate the fact that
maximum profit is secured through the
quality and condition of his sheep, rather
than through their numbers. Quality
and condition are the Indispensable
requisites to real success. The first of
these is secured through breeding, the
second through subsequent attention.
"Blood will tell" but its record will
neverb be satisfactory unless the breeders
art is supplemented by the feeders lib
eraltv. The well-bred lamb must be
well-ied lamb, or the breeders ideal wiz
never be attained.
Keep the lambs thriving. During the
hot and dry summer days, extra atten
ton will be necessary to insure this, but
compensation therefor will surely come.
Where the young and tender animal is
required to withstand privation and
hardship, dimished size and impaired
vigor will follow, to the embarrassment
of every subsequent effort at maximum
results. Mistakes in early management
may be avoided; they cannot be wholly
corrected in the life of the animal.
Scanty pasturage must be pieced out
from other sources; and artificial food
should be supplied before the advascing
season robs the pasture of its:1igMst
nourishment. 4. ~. .
Experienced shepherds are soHQj Wss
asked for devices by which sucking
lambs can be fed ration of grain, bran
or meal, aside from what is given their
dams. Devices of this character-such
as a small pen inside the usual resting
place, with openings through which the
lambs can pass, but not large enough 20
admit the grown animals-will readily
suggest themselves under s%ll. $tAcumf-
stances as warrant this tre%ment: The
strongest apology for such arraS)tSnent
is found in the exemption frcSf crowd
ing, which allows the smaller animals TO
get their proper allowance. The factis,
the mothers can proiitably be allowed
as liberal treatment as their offspring.
The effect of a little attention to tire
dam, while on pasture, will be quAG a
apparent in her lamb as upon herelff
and without this regard to hes. SNadi-
ton, much of effort for lamb thrift will
be vain.
All that has been heretofore said in
behalf of comfortable surroundings for
the flock receives emphasis in its appli-
cation to the lambs. The idea that psi
walton and harsh treatment tougher the
young animals is a delusion. A per-
feet physique and vigorous constSll
ton are not to be secured by eXposuas
to extremes of heat and cold, and by
subsection to hunger and thirst. The
perfectly developed and healthy sheep
can withstand these to almost incredible
extremes; but its capabilities in such
direction do not result therefrom. Swell
tering beneath summer sun, or SILVER
ing before a wintry blast, developes
neither health nor strength. Forced
subsistence on scanty pasturage may
test constitutional hardness, but does
not create or foster such characteristic.
Many owners fall into the error of Civ.
ing the lamb flock the same treatment
rs is bestowed upon those animals Of
more advanced Accommodating the
luCO llub NudO lCduliVo uONOAOpiiiohO ~
the one instance needs but to be main
tanned in the other. AS the sturdy tree
notwithstanding its exposure at the
roadside, could once have been crushed
by a fawn's footprint, so is there to bC
found in the young sleeps life time
when harm will result from incidents
which would in nowise effect the ma
tured animal-a fact which finds un
pleasant emphasis in the experience o
the most careful shepherd.
What with docking, and marking
and weaving, and the other rough treat
ment inseparable from lambhood, thu
little ones Of the flock have rougl
time, be the supervision of their owners
ever so thoughtful and thorough. WheI
these tf1als are reduced to the minimum
and all the avenues TO Thrift and com
fort are opened wide before them, theT
it is, and only then, that the reasonable
estimates of the owner may he realized
and, under exceptional conditions
sometimes exceeded. -NdtiondL Nr
Stock Journal.