The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1891-11-13
FARM AND HOUSEHOLD.
rHR REQUISITES OF GOOD
MUTTON SHEEP.
Eheep for Mutton-Ground Bono a. :
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES Of Twelve
Years With Ensilage-
Notes and Home Hints.
A Good Mutton Sheen.

A Good Mutton Sheep.
In choosing mutton sheep. either
10 feed or breed feeding stock from,
there are some principles that can be
laid down as true and applicable in al
most all cases, writes George McKer-
row in tie American Sheep Breeder.
The easy feeder must be of the thick
deshed, blocky sort for daylight that
shines under a sheep, hog or steer can
never be made into meat, and the pos
SCISSOR of long legs rarely makes a
6rst class feeder. The ribs should be
well sprung so as to give broad.
straight back from shoulder to hip
upon which good high priced meat
can be placed with judicious feeding.
The hips should be carried out on a
line with the back to the tail, keeping
q good width all the way, and should
be well filled at the thigh or waist
while the fore leg should be well filled
with meat above the knee. The Shout
ders must be full and muscular. In
short the carcass should be plump and
full throughout its whole length.
Constitution and healthy condition
are all important and are shown by a
bright clear eye one that is not yell
low, bloodshot or watery. A spright-
~, active step, as the animal moves
along. A snort, thick neck that ia
pers gradually from shoulder to head,
and is full of muscles on top of the
shoulders. A wide, deep chest and
heart girth giving room for large
lungs and heart and rich pink skin.
With all these points we'll developed
and large abdomen to give plenty of
room for the consumption and diges-
ton of food, you have a sheep that
with proper foods fed at regular times
and in proper manner will yield
profitable returns to the feeder and
give satisfaction to the shipper.
butcher and consumer making all
better for having owned him.
All rams or ewes that have been
highly fitted in small yards or sheds
should not be given the preference for
breeding as they often are. over sheep
of equal quality that only lack the
soft fabby flesh that is a detriment to
its possessor. Breeding rams should
be in good muscular condition brought
about by liberal feeding on muscle
forming foods, such as oats. bran.
clover hay and good grasses, while
they have a good range where they
can have sufficient exercise.
The most of American breeders still
insist that the fleece is the most i'm
portant part OF the sheep. and gener-
ally commence their inquiry for sire
to place at the head of their flock
with the question:; What will he
shear?" And if this can be answered
with large number of pounds sale
is made. 1t is well known to expert
enced feeders that the heaviest fleeced
sheep generally do not feed as well as
those that are Of lighter fleece.
While l would have our mutton sheep
carry good feeces of excellent quality,
yet I fear that we are striving to
make the fleece a leading factor, and
like the Merino breeders will wake
up some day to find that we have
placed too much stress on wool and
have allowed the constitution, good
feeding quality, prepotency and the
capacity to breed and feed well high
per centage of choice lambs to depart
from our focks. Early maturity is a
necessity and such animals or breeds
as develop into proper form quickly
should be sought after. The South
down. Shropshire. Oxford Down,
Dorset and Leicestershire are breeds
that lead off in this respect.