The Southern Farm Gazette

Lambs for Profit.

J. T. Childs, Starkville, Miss.

I recently had an example of the difference between well bred lambs and common ones that is worth reporting in the Gazette for the instruction it may give the paper's readers. The last day of May I killed a Southdown lamb that lacked at least one day of being five months old and that dressed 55 pounds. I had common lambs as old as this one that would not dress out 20 pounds, and their meat was inferior. Such lambs are easily worth $3.00 or $1.50. This lamb was rather better than others from the same flock of Southdowns, but the others dressed from 45 to 50 pounds. The difference between the poorest of them and the common lambs was so great that no one seeing the difference would for a minute think he could afford to raise common sheep when well bred ones could be raised just as easily after breeders were procured. These very superior lambs never had any feed, but just made their fine mutton on a pasture of blue grass, white clover and bur clover. There can be no doubt that raising such lambs will pay and pay well. I have the sheep driven into a wire enclosure at night; and while there are many dogs in the neighborhood, I have never had a sheep killed by them. Early pasture that includes clover will promote the desired rapid development of lambs to a degree that is very desirable.