St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1889-10-19
FACTS ABOUT LAMBS.


How the Little Things Behave During
the Firse Hour Of Their E<'stenos.
About five minutes after the lamb Il
born he is on his feet The unsteady
earth under him now heaves to the
right; surges up and then down. and it
whirls and it twirls with him while he
staggers and struggles. and twists ono
leg around the other like a vine
around a tree; or else he spreads those
members all out until they look like
the forks under q weather vane. He
tambles down for the fiftieth time,
and for the fiftieth time renews the
fight to secure that footing in the
great world from which only can he
reach the life-giving milk. His mother
particularly If it Is her first-in her
crazy anxiety to help. knocks him
down. steps on him, and does-withOut
leaving out possible exception
every thing she should not do. while
she leaves nearly every thing undoue
that might help the little fellow to got
the desired nourishment
About the first error the lamb makes
in its life is to mistake the shepherd or
his dog for its mother. and many are
the maneuvers that must be gone
through with to make the new arrival
follow the right party. The next error
is likely to be an attempt to walk on
air when he comes to a place where he
should 60 down hill. His ten minutes
experience in life has made him be-
lieve that all the earth is a level plain.
and in broad daylight he steps of the
top OF hill just as serenely as man
steps of the top landing of the stairs in
total darkness when he is certain that
the stairs are yet twenty feet away.
The result is a great surprise to Ian
and lamb in each instance.
The lamb picks himself up, and con-
tinues down the hill; he soon comes to
the conclusion that every thing is
down hill in his life, and not on dead
level. Upon getting to the foot Of the
hill. he still tries to continue down.
ward, and rs a result runs his nose
into the ground and looks surprised
again. He now comes to a place to get
up hill, and goes up just as our man
starts to go upstairs in total darkness
when he thinks the stairs are seill
twenty feet away.
Our lamb is now getting very sus-
picious. He was pushed over and
growled at for following the dog when
he thought it was his mother; the
shepherd kicked and abused him for
following him; he tumbled down hill
when he saw nothing unusual in the
looks of the ground, and up hill again
under similar circumstances In this
frame of mind he comes to q shadow
cast by a neighboring hill This is
the most appalling thing he has yet
seen in life. He stands in the bright
sunshine; twelve inches ahead Of him
all the world is black. How shall he
get over that trouble line? 1t must be
worse than going down hill. or up hill.
Dr. running after dog that gr0wls or
man that kicks. 1t surely looks much
more trightful than any Of these
things. His mother is in the shadow,
and coaxes him to come along; but he
will not risk it-he stands on the edge
and bawls at the top of his powers.
The shepherd with his big foot comes
to the irescue, and our poor lamb is
lifted from sunlight to shadow on the
end OF a number nine bOOt
He trots along after his mother for
a few yards and meets a new difficulty.
This time it is from shadow to sun.
light 1t looks tough; the situation
seems to present no end of difficulties.
He walks across the line with fear and
trembling. only to find it very simple
and easy. and concludes that things
are not SO bad as they look. He has
already begun to find out that things
which seem easy in life lead often to
disaster. and forbidding things often
present no real danger.
Afthis time he Is about one hour
old; for a whole hour he has been run
ming his respirative. circulative and
locomotive powers as an Independent
being. and has become quite lamb.
just at that instant carri age drives
rapidly along the road. His quick eye
sees it; he thinks perhaps it is his
mother, and that she is running from
danger. He strikes out after it. 1t is
what an hour has done for
him in the way OF developments; he
runs faster than the shepherd. faster
than his mother. and is in imminent
danger Of getting under the horses
feet or the wheels OF the carriage.
: 1t is here that the dog comes in play,
il he understands his business. He
runs up alongside Of the lamb. pushes
it over with his nose, jumps upon II
and holds it down upon the ground
with his nose until the shepherd comes
up. The shepherd takes the lamb and
stands it upon its feet so that it can see
its mother. who has come up to within
a few feet He holds it until it sees its
mother on move and then lets it go.
The old eve licks off the face OF sad
der and wiser lamb-lets him have an.
other dose Of liquid nourishment. anG
together they get home.-Montan,
"a
1t has been demonstrated by those
who made special experiments to de-
the matter OF feeding for fat
or lean. that a steer or hog can be
made to attain heavy weight, with
fair proportion OF fat and lean. by feed
ing for lean rs by the former method
Of feeding to secure weight of fat only.