The colored patriot., 1882-04-27
Spring Care Of breeding Ewes.

The care of breeding ewes relates not
only to their own welfare, but that of
thsir lambs The successful growing
of lambs has the most important be@r'
ing upon the profit of the sheep busi-
ness.
The lamb depends for its grOwthup m
its mother milk, and this milk is pT0-
duced from the food. When the early
lamb raiser takes this business view of
it, he is successful. In growth of ami
mails, it is so much food for so much
growth-and there is no getting some
thing for nothing-there must always
be an equivalent.
Let us see how great demand thel ,
is upon the dam. A lamb intended fer
the early market, should reach weight
of forty pounds or more at the end OF
three months. The growth will usually
be: First month, ten to twelve pounds;
second month, thirteen to fifteen
pounds. This will require the dam to
Weld from three to four pounds of milk
per day A good milking eve, with
good keeping and comfortable quarters,
will yield this amount of milk; and then,
if the lamb has good constitution, it
will make the monthly gains mentioned
in steady, natural growth.
The eve cannot yield this necessary
milk without generous feeding of rich,
| milk-producing food. A large mixer
/ will WELD this amount for short time
on a poor diet, but it is produced by 9
rapid waste of her own flesh, and sh'
soon falls off in milk, and decreases
rapidly in value; while the lamb. de-
4 prived of It's full ratiOns, is checked al
once in growth, and only starts agair
after it is able to eat fodder or grass
This sort of lamb is not wanted for the
spring market, and can only be SOLD
after it has summers run on goOt
pasture. But then it brings only Sl.7'
10 =. p. instead of selling for Sc 10 $lt
Mt three months old. And all this los:
is occasioncd for the want of a little ex
ira food to the eve during the first thre,
months after veaning. One-half to On'
pound of new process linSeed mea
would have kept the eve healthy an,
strong. with such yield of milk that tn
lamb would have grown into fine pro
portions. attracted the eve of tn
butcher. and secured a liberal price
And this extra food would cost about ~
a sum fully compensated by the bette
condition of tho eve herself, beside
paving four-fold in the value of tn
lamb.
When the eve has just food en0ug
to keep her from losing flesh withou
Welding any milk, n great change
produced by feeding so small an eNtr
amount as mentioned. This all goes I
the production Of milk. and the milk I
the growth of the lamb. We mentio
linseed meal. because this contains 5
. large a proportion of muScle-fornin
matter. and phosphate of lime to gro'
the bones. or, in other words. contain
lust what a poor diet lacks But thi
extra food NAV be made up of two part
of bran or middlings by weight and on
. of corn. or corn and oats, half and hal
or one of couon-Secd meal 10 two
|. corn. Corn alone has too much stare
tn produce the best result; but one piI
of corn with nice clover hay answer
very well. The sheep grinds bette
than the OK. and maSticates corn quit
3 well. But no valid excuse can be give
= for poorly feeding breeding ewes. Su,
! cess never comes TO a poor feeder. 7
: him who literally gives. shall come
? liberal reward -Ndti0nn Lire Stoc
y Jai!FHdL