The Opelousas courier., 1893-10-07

tached to it, and set in the fence.
These creeps consist of openings in the
fence just large enough for the lambs
to creep through and to prevent tear.
ing of the wool the sides Of the open
ings are guarded by rollers fitted into
a sliding bar placed in the fence, by
which the rollers may be drawn care
10 each other or widened as may
be necessary to fit the lambs. The
food is placed in these pens, and the
lambs soon learn to creep through to
get the meal. These hints are especially
useful for thefeeding of marketlambs,
which need to be forced as much as
possible to make a rapid growth and
lay on fat.
The latest lambs are . cross OF
Merino with Southdown. They are
not the largest, but the plumpest and
heaviest for their size, of all early
lambs, and the black faces and legs of
the sire render them dear to the heart
Of n butcher, who will readily give
more for such lambs than for larger
white faced ones. He points to these
black marks with pride, and calls the
special attention of his customer to
them as proofs of their Southdown
lineage, "the finest mutton sheep in
the world" as he tells his exacting
purchaser. The Merino, however, has
something to do with the fairness and
tenderness of these lambs, andits early
fleece gives the appearance of f~ullness
of roundness to the plump it'll.
carcass.
Those lamb breeders who keep the
Dorsets for their twin lambs which
come quite early, will do well to use
the Southdown for the sires of the
lambs. This is the rule in England
where the Dorsets are kept especially
for Christmas lambs. There the ewes
of this breed lamb twice in the year,
and one is a cross Of the Southdown,
and the other is pnre bred the for
mer for the market, and the latter for
the flock. The Dorset, however, must
have the most skillful attention, and
the shepherd who thinks sheep r
able to take care of themselves
through winter as well as summer, will
be very much disappointed if he tries
the Dorset to experiment in this direc-
ton. The Christmas lamb is like the
Christmas strawberry, a dollhouse ere
alton, and those breeders who do not
understand this method Of forcing
lambs will do well to get lambs later
and at less cost, and yet make quite as
much profit out Of them. It is quite
possible to average eight to ten dollars
for a lamb in March and April, and
even in May, and this with the Mer-
ino-Southdown cross.
Many sheep breeders are asking
whether the Rambouillet merino yields
good mutton. It does, and has for
many years, and there is no reason
why it should not. Merino mutton
has been objected to on account of an
alleged woody taste in the flesh. This
is liable to happen with all kinds of
mutton, and may be due to several
causes. It is not the taste Of the
wool at all, but of the sheep. This
animal, allied to the goat, has a some
what strong odor which is quite per-
ceptible in a close unventilated sheep
pen, and is thus thought to be the
odor of the wool, but on the contrary
the odor of the wool comes from the
If in dressing the carcass, the
opening and airing oft is delayed and
it is cooled too rapidly SO as to con-
fine the odor, and the gases from the
intestines are permitted to penetrate
the meat, this will have the sleepy
favor but it is not the. taste of the
wool at all. Doubtless the very oily
may have a stronger natural
odor than the less greasy mutton
so-called, but if it is we'll
dressed the flesh is just as sweet
favored. American Agriculturist.