.
\Purdue University;
( LIBRARY.
5|AFAYETTE, IND?
VOL. LIX.
INDIANAPOLIS, MAY 14, 1904.
NO 20.
HOW   TO   MANAGE   SHEEP   AND    LAMBS
THROUGH SUMMER AND FALL-
Give Them Water Shade and Good Pasture.
lst Premium.—Tho sheep and lambs
should have plenty of pasture. If they
can have the run of a woods, they will
enjoy picking the briers, woods and
sprouts, and tho shade of the trees will
make a move pleasant place for thero, in
the heat ofl the day, than the fields. If
they can also have the nun of a field, they
will enjoy grazing tiiere in the cool of
the day, ami the grass is more nutritious
than that in the woods.
It is important that they .have fresh,
pure water. It is better if they can
havo water in a trough, from a well or
spring, than to drink from a branch or
marshy place. Liver fluke and other
diseases are caused by drinking or grazing on- marshy ground.
Hut few shepherds have sheds in the
pasture for the sheep in summer, but
they arw a prime necessity for your sheep
if they are to do their best. I prefer
a shed made irr sections, so that it may
be moved from one place to another
when  desired. Put  it  on   the .highest
and poorest knoll in the fi.lu." Wheir
tli_ field is put in corn, the shed having
->eeri removed to another pasture, that
knoll will bring the best corn of any part
of   tine   field. Have   windows   in   the
shed, and covor them with burlap to make
it dash and keep tho flies out. Tack burlap at the top of the door, letting it
nang down lose. The, sheep will go in
, and out under the burlap, and the flies
will not bother them when in the shed,
'i ney will also learn to go to the shod to
got out of the rain. Have a salt box in
the shed, and keep it filled with four part:,
sale one part sulphur and five parts wood
ashes. This is the best medicine I have
ever nsed to keep them free from stomach worms. It will also do much towards driving the ticks from their wool.
The lambs may be weaned at 41/. to 5
months old. If the Iambs are to go to
markot in the fall, they should have some
grain in addition to good pasture. Keep
tnem growing right along until thoy nr.*
sold. The ewes shonm lie put with the
buck five months before the time the
lambs are wanted to arrive the next
spjiiig, and thoy should bo gaining flesh
at Hie time of copulation.
A field of rape is one of the best pas-
lures for both ewes and lambs. Prof.
Thomas Shaw says of it: "It will produce 12 tons of green forage por acre
on good land. It has twice the feeding
value of green clovor, and is even moro
palatable. The sheep may bo turned in
npon. it loan and two months later taken
out of the field fat." When finishing the
lambs for market, I think it pays tj> feed
pasture. C. 1".
grain, even when they have plenty of rape
Hendricks Co.
Counts on $7 Per Ewe  Each Year.
2d Premium.—During the summer and
fall our sheep and lambs don't need much
managing, or at least don't got it. We
have about 20 head of good grade ewes,
Shropshiredown and Oxforddown blood.
They hare plenty of blue grass 'pa.ture.
In the main pasture thero are several
acres of thicket, whore saplings 20 to 50
foot in height grow so close that the sun
seldom reaches the ground. This during the summer is the sheep's paradise.
They graze during the night and irr early
morning,  then hie  themselves  oil  to the
hushes, whore they lie on' cool mother
oj'irtli, in the deep, dark shade, and contentedly chew tlieir cud. They are left
on this pasture until along bout December
then brought to pasture nearby tlie barn-,
and are fed corn and bran and perhaps
some little oil meal, clover luiy and fodder being preferred as rough feed.
The lambs come mostly iu January and
February. This year we have 29 lambs
and only lost one. When weaned they
are put in a separate stall with their
mothers for ai few days, then turned back
with the main flock. They are taught to
eat bran and meal when about two and
three Weeks old, and this year it was not
beon kept in in good, condition through the
winter months, if you icxpect them to do
well in the .summer. They should be
kept free from ticks, as the ticks go from
the sheep to the lambs and are injurious
to them. They may be killed by dipping, or using insect powder through a
small bellows. This quickly destroys
them. During the lambing period, if
one keeps the sheep close at home he will
save lambs which otherwise might stray
away, afterwards being disowned by tho
mothers.
Sheep do well ou a clover sod, but in
dry season, will "eat it out;" but the
host pasture for sheep is a June grass sod.
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WHATCOM   FALLS, WASHINGTON*.
unusual to see from 15 to 20 of the little
follows crowded in 'a row along their
trough, in. __ pen in which thoir mothers
cojuIiI not come on account of the narrowness of the door. This makes them
grow, and gives them an excellent start.
They are fine big fellows now and will go
to market in a month or so as springers
and bring ,r> cents or more per pound net,
aud should average 80 pounds or more.
Tlie wool, soon to l>o shorn, averages'
us $1 more per head for the 20 ewes each
.war, and the Iambs about ,f(i por acre,
thus making nn income of .$" per ewe
oach year, and the ewe herself loft for
farther usefulness.
When- the Iambs are taken away, their
mothers are milked some two or three
times, and offerer if necessary, so tlieir
udders will not spoil and damage them
for the fkiture. As far as ticks or disease
is concerned, we ar<» not bothered much
with . ither. A sheep will die once in
a while anyway, but it seems that we
lose very few. These hills are adapted
to the sheep business, and they stay
healthy as a rulo. SJome >use a dipping
solution for ticks, made out of tobacco
leaves. This tobacco tea settles Mr.
Tick.
Taken all in- all, a small flock of good
sheep is the farmer's best friend in this
region; but thoy are hard on pasture, if
too many are kept, and wc would prefer
to reduce our flock rather than otherwise,
.is loss stock w. 11 kept pays l>est in the
long rnn. R.  W.  S.
Jefferson Co.
If the sheep anc kept in the woods, they
keep the briers and shrubs down. Sheep
should   be  salted   regularly   once a   week.
AVh-n the lambs are young they should
not be allowed to stand out in a cold rain,
for   it  nearly   kills   them. When   you
eommenoo feeding the lambs in the fall,
di> in>t put them on full feed at first or
they will waste it. ('lover liny, shelled
corn anil oats make a good feed for them.
Sheep are the nicest stock on the farm,
and if properly tended are profitable. You
should be careful not to let your Ilock get,
old.  but sell off the old ones each year.
AVhen you dock the Iambs it is well to
put some lard and turpentine on the
wound, to lake the soreness out. As a
rule, if lhe lambs are thin and poor, they
will not be good foiilers, but if they are
stout and healthy, they will prove pro-
til able. F. O.
Lagrange Co.
Mastodon Task Found.
Keillors  Indiana  Farmer:
AVhilo ditching recently I unearthed the
tusk of a mastodon, 12 feet loug. It
was imbedded in soft clay, three feet below the surface, as natural as when it
came off the animal, but it crumbled when
exposed to the air, and I did not get
but short pieces. It was .-ight inches
thick at tho base. AVallace Stout.
Somerset.
Premiums of $1, 75 cents 50 oents
are given for the first, second arrd third
best articles for the Experience Department each week. Manuscript should be
sent direct to the Indiana Farmer Company and should reach us one week before date of publication.
No. 428, May 21.—Tell how to care for
chickens, from hatching time to maturity.
No. 429, May 28.—Describe the summer
con-veniences the farmer's wife should
have about the house.
Alwayj Keep Sheep in Good Condition.
3d  Premium.—The    sheep    must havo
A boy in Sydney, Australia, was bitten
by a flea from the body\ jot a rat which
had died of the plague, and he himself
died of the plague.
Select tbe Best Men for tbe Legislature.
Edltora Indiana Farmer:
I heartily agree with Air. Ira Johnson
on the importance of all parties selecting
good men for tho (next legislature, and
accept all the reasons ho enumerated for
doing so as good, and will add somo
others.
First, we not only want men of sterling
integrity but men of good morals and upright and unimpeachable character, who
will put conscience into their work r_-
gardless of lobbists or party lash.
The Indianapolis News, that great
moral daily, of which not only Indianians,
hut the moral people of the entire conrr-
try should be proud, bas given us warning that the liquor ami brewers' league
,is going to make a great effort to get
. enough of their meu elected to the next
_...-gi.-l'aliire to destroy the validity of
the. Nicholson law, by repealing tlie
blanket remonstrance clause. Each former
effort of this organization in this direction
has been thwarted, and the law has been
made stronger as the result, and I hope
the good people of the State will defeat
their present effort by electing- men to tho
next General Assembly who will further
strengthen it to meet a growing demand
of tho people who are the very salt of our
commonwealth, who believe in law and •
order arrd good government.
Next (is the subject of taxes. I behove it is the duty of every good citizen
lo contribute a reasonable portion of their-
means for the support of civil goifrn-
ment to give us the protection we (should
1'irjoy, of lifo and property, and such public improvements as we need for con-,
vtiiieiice   anil   utility. These   We  have
generally got in most or all the counties iu
the state, and yet our taxes are getting
higher every year until in some couirtii-s
it is like paying rent, and will soon begin to drive people and capital from our
statJ. to invest where they can enjoy niove
of'their labor and income. This is a
subject that affects the whole people, anil
onr taxes should be retrenched aiul re-
-ui-iii.l from the state to the township
governments, that they may all bo run ou
,-iu economical basis, as we have to run
onr private affairs, ..specially wo farmors
who have it about all to pay, as all wealth
coin'-s  from  the  ground.
As a rule our best and most suitable
men will riot offer themselves as candidates for the legislature on account of tho
dirt and immorality in politics. They do
not care to be asked by county committees
and pa ity organs, pay tlieir own expenses,
give tlieir valuable time and perform the
arduous labors of an honest -legislator
for the sake of having "Hon" prefixed to
their names. If we would have that
class of men represent us we shonld seek
for thom and solicit thom to do this important work for us; this we should do
and not go iuto our conventions ami sim-
ply( vote for our choice of those who have
offered themselves as candidates regardless of whether they are the right kind of
material or not. A Farmor.
Remington.
AATe are having many showers.