Show gestation of sheep bulletin 95 of the wisconsin sta tion says at the experiment station our service rams are kept separate from the flock during the breeding season and only turned with the ewes for a short time each day during which the shepherd or an assistant Is on hand to note which ewes are in heat and which ones breed conse f c antly we have no difficulty in keep ing an accurate record of the time of service of each ewe of ewes eves that have hane been bred and dropped their lambs the period of gestation has ranged from to days and the greatest number ewes or 21 6 per cent dropped their lambs on the day after service the next greatest number 81 ewes or 15 5 per cent dropped their lambs days after be ing bred and ewes or 77 1 per cent dropped their lambs between the and days after service only two ewes carried their young for more than days one yearling yeaning and the other days after taking the ram w aile only one ewe yeaned as early as days after service all three of these ewes gave girth to dead lambs which would at least suggest that these extreme periods were viere abnormal from the data here ghen representing as R does the various breeds of sheep we feel quite justified in stating that the extreme range of the normal period of gestation in breeding ewes is thirteen days beginning at and extending to days after service we may alao alo safely conclude that the greatest number of ewes may be expected to drop their lambs iambs at least six days earlier than was found by tessier to be the case with breeding ewes in france this difference may be accounted for in part at least by the peculiar characteristics of the va rious breeds of the 32 pure purebred bred southdown ewes 20 or 62 8 per cent carried their lambs less than days and of the 8 purebred merinos P 6 or 75 per cent tarried carried their lambs lamb over this period while the grades and the various crosses of shires with borsets and merinos occupy a middle position between the two above mentioned breeds from this it would seem that the more compact and quick maturing the breed the shorter the period of gestation and vice versa since the merinos are much longer in reaching their matur ity in breeding as well as in growth and general development than either the southdown or the we might reasonably expect them to carry their young a longer time this conclusion would serve to explain the longer period of gestation noted in france since practically all of the sheep of that country are of the merino type farmers review what type of hog to breed swine breeding as a profession will become more and more of an exact science and many of the methods of feeding and breeding malch have here tolore yielded fairly good results must soon be discarded for better ones there seems to be some differ ence of opinion as to just what the great american hog is some would have us believe that he Is of a bacon type but I 1 am convinced that the bacon type of hogs for this section Is a long ways in the future it is remarkable ld to how ne near arthe the game same stand ard all the breeds of hogs are work ing to day it would seem hardly probable that such a practically unan amous opinion as Is evidenced by the ren are convinced that we are chas ing after false gods and could make a great deal more money it if we were careful to produce a little different type of hog and market it at pounds weight they point to the tact fact that they get over 1 per hun dred weight more for hogs than we do making allowance for the differ ence in freight rates but I 1 think the much talked 0 ot bacon demand d would fade into insignificance if it was sup plied piled at the rate of hogs per week of this type going into the chicago market so I 1 am convinced that our type and our methods as rec ree by the moat moa up to date breed ers are the proper ones tor for the coun try in which we live and that a thor ough study and improvement of them will result in the most profit and best advancement of swine growing as a profession W M mcfadden before iowa swine breeders |