The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-09-15

sheep are turned on grass and grain Is given to them at once.
 All of the sheep arrive in Missouri in September or October.
 As they do not know corn or any other grain. .they must be taught to eat
 Two or three bushels of shucked corn are scattered over the sod in clean place.
 Some of the ears are partly sneiled and salt is scattered over the corn
 Soon some enterprising sheep finds that he Is getting something else than salt as he iicks the salt.
 Next he discovers that this some thing else tastes good and 1t must be those kernels on the ear of corn.
 When he progresses this far. he quickly lets his friends know of his discovery.
 They investigate and tell their friends. and sooner than you imagine the whole flock eats corn as if raised on 1t.
 When oats are cheap, they are used to start the sheep. as the sheep seem to learn to like oats quicker than other feeds.
 As soon as they are eating oats, corn Is substituted, as the sheep will as readily eat one grain as another. Che of the most successful methods Is to turn the sheep into corn field when it Is still green, but after the corn IS matured.k
 It may seem improbable. but the sheep harvest the corn better than man.
 No ear is too high for these hardy rustiers. even the blades are stripped oN. leaving but field of bare stalks.
 |. E... 1R that sheep gain rapidly, do their own feeding, scatter the manure them selves and waste no feed. If the feeder is not situated so he can practice this method. he feeds corn on grass, scattering the corn on fresh clean sod.
 Fodder or cane is also scattered for roughage. When fodder or cane IS not to be had, plenty of bright, clean, mixed clover and timothy hay is fed. sheep with good grassing will be ready for market in from forty-five to sixty-five days, the yeariings weigh ing eighty to eighty-five pounds. and the lambs seventy to seventy-five pounds.
 This shows a gain of from five to eight pounds month for these hardy, "self feeding" New Mexicans. Mir. Starr had in mind one flock Of {, 300 yearlings that were put up to feed. On the 18th of October, weigh Ing seventy wounds, they were turned into a corn field. On December they were shipped to St. Louis. The next day they weighed eighty pounds in market Here is a gain of ten pounds in forty-six days, taking the market weights.
 Most of these yearlings sold at s5.40 per 100 pounds in St. Louis, bringing about s4.S0 per head, out of which freight and market charges had to come. but leaving a fair compensation for the feeder. The second method of feeding Is practieed when the sheep feeder in- tends to market his sheep in spring. On arrival in Missouri. the sheep are turned on grass and allowed to re- main there until 1t Is gone. They are then fed roughage, as hay. fodder and cane. until the latter part of January or February. Corn is then commenced. and as soon as all are eating the grain the ration i is increased to the amount they will clean up.
 In March they are clipped and mar keteI from the lbIh of April to the 1st of May.
 To feed in this way. barns or good sheds are required. while the other method does not require them. as there l is usually not much bad weather be- fore the latter part of January or the ist of February,