Arizona republican., 1898-01-12

to all of the region east of the ranges First I will mention the need of shel- ter. In other countries sheep are rare ly housed, and it is perhaps too com mon to allow the flock to take all weathers in cur country. This is a mistake, and a direct loss to the own CT. The sheep is an artificial product, perhaps more artificial than any o,her domestic animal. It is covered with a heavy fleece that keeps out cold excel lent1y, but that does not shed rain as well as doubtless did the old coat of hair with which the seep were no doubt provided at one time. The sheep is an animal that suffers very greatly from being wet. Moreover, when the wool is soaked during the winter it takes days for it to become dry again. Therefore I put shelter at the first place in considering the care needed by sheep. Shelter is cheap in our country. Building materials are in expensive, and men are ingenious and handy" with tools. Sheds may be built very warmly and cheaply of straw. Rather than it being true that heone cannot afford to shelter a flock" it is true that one "canlot afford to own flock that he does not shelter''
 There is, too, great economy Of for age in having it under roof and feed- ing it under roof. The waste of rain on hay is far more than the inter- est and wear and tear of building.
 But while the flock needs shelter it does not need, and. in truth, cannot well endure, confinement. Good man agement sees the flock indoors at night, shut in dry, we'll bedded, we'll ventilated shed or barn basement; sees them given feed there next morn ing, and then, the weather being fine, sees them turned out to roam the pas ture, to pick the tufts of grass neg lected last summer or to have feed of coarse fodder scattered perhaps on the sod along some dry hillside This outdoor life is the making of the eve With it and sensible feeding her lambs will drop strong and healthy as lit tie pigs. No nursing or coddling with puny weddings, no disheartening ex- periences of ewes without milk and lambs without strength to reach the teats when the flock has this rational treatment
 14ambing time is the anxious time with the shepherd. Not that ii need be a time of disaster; it is, if right management has been done, rather a time of triumph, yet it is a time of care, and some loss is unavoidable. The tendency at present is toward earlier lambing seasons. Given shel- ter and food, February is as good a month to lamb in as there is, and O. e February lamb is easily worth two May lambs. The reason for this lies in three facts; first, that it is better for the eve to have her lamb then. She is we'll fed while sucking; she weans her lamb before the grass has dried out and the sun becomes un- bearably hot, and she is relieved of the drain upon her system of sucking lamb during this trying time. The second fact is that the lamb starts before the flies, learns to eat ground feed while too young to be harmed by it, gets a robust start, and when green grass comes is ready to devour it and assimilate it. He is weaned while grass is yet green and tender, and does not notice the change much The third fact is that the early drop ped lamb escapes the plagus of para sites to very large extent.
 Washing is nearly thing of the past. The washing of sheep is at pest farce. The shock to the sheep's system by immersion in cold water is great and the labor costs considerable. Wool consigned to re- sponsible and competent wool mer- chants is sold on it's merits, taking into account the secured pounds, so that there is nothing at all gained bv washing out a portion of the oil be- fore taking the wool from the sheep's l back l It is now but a question of months when nearly all sheep will be shorn l by machinery. The newer shearing machines do very good work, cut the sheep less than hand shears, get the wool off better, with fewer cut flores get off from half a pound to a pound more wool (which more than pays the i cost of shearing, but only once in the life of the sheep), and also do much more rapid work than can be done by hand. The first cost is considerable but they are readily portable and g head shearer with four or six ma chimes and small gas engine can gc rounds and clip five hundred or six hundred sheep every day; or a central plant may be established where flock: may be driven for shearing.
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