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cult and of questionable policy for an agricultural extension division to finance w o r k of this kind w i t h o u t cooperation. T h e above
m e t h o d has given our own extension division an o p p o r t u n i t y to
make the sire selections, v e r y largely eliminating the chances of
having inferior animals b r o u g h t into the state.
This cooperative plan capitalizes on the work of the scientific
experimenter, the agricultural teacher and the breeder of improved
livestock. This plan t h r o u g h all of its c o o p e r a t i n g agencies, each
doing its own part, c a r r y i n g its own interest and enthusiasm and
spreading the information to others, binds t o g e t h e r the entire educational s t r u c t u r e so that it is not simply a t h e o r y but a workable plan which completes the job.
THE
MISSOURI
PLAN
OF SHEEP
IMPROVEMENT
BY J. W. B u e c u
University of Missouri
T h e purpose of this p a p e r is to discuss methods of securing
the adoption of approved practices in sheep production and to report some of the results o b t a i n e d . T h e Missouri Plan of Sheep
I m p r o v e m e n t as presented to the sheep producers of that state
includes :
1. Use of purebred rams.
2. Breeding for early lambs.
3. Proper winter care of bred ewes.
4. Docking and castrating of lambs.
5. Creep feeding of grain to lambs.
6. Marketing of lambs before July. 1.
7. Marketing lambs on a graded basis.
T h e sheep producers in Missouri are general farmers. W h i l e
a few of them are lamb feeders the great m a j o r i t y are owners of
farm flocks that contain from 30 to 50 ewes. C o n s e q u e n t l y this
Missouri Plan of Sheep I m p r o v e m e n t is intended for the farm flock
owners.
D e m o n s t r a t i o n s U s e d to l~orward Plan
In the counties w h e r e this p r o g r a m is inaugurated considerable d e m o n s t r a t i o n work is done. Sheep m a n a g e m e n t demonstrations are established on the farms w h e r e the flocks are handled in
accordance with the above plan. Records are kept of the feed
given the ewes and the grain given the lambs. T h e cost of this
THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF ANIMAL PRODUCTION
157
is balanced at the end of the year against the returns from the
sales of wool and fat lambs. Meetings are held on these farms and
the results discussed.
Method demonstrations on docking and castrating, and treating sheep for stomach worms are given in the county before the
more intensive part of the program is undertaken.
Intensive Program Starts with All-day Meeting
After a county has done considerable demonstration work the
first step in the campaign or intensive phase of the program is to
call the sheepmen together in a meeting that includes representatives from each school district having any appreciable number of
sheep. This is an all-day meeting in early winter with a good fat
lamb dinner at noon. T he idea that is kept before the delegates
is that if they are to get good prices for their lambs the quality of
all lambs going to market from that section must be so improved
that the consumer will like what he gets, will use more of it and
be willing to pay the necessary price. W it h the carcass of a prime
fat lamb and one 0 f a cull lamb in comparison before them, the
school district representatives are urged to get the county on a
basis of producing only good lambs and eliminating the culls.
All of the steps in the Missouri Plan of Sheep Improvement are
discussed in this county-wide meeting but emphasis is first laid on
doing away with the buck lambs. This is the first definite task
assigned to the school district delegates. T h e y are asked to go
back to their districts and get all the lambs docked and castrated.
It is suggested that they offer to help do that work for their neighbors. It is explained that 0nly a limited amount of work can be
done by the county agent alone and that if a really big piece of
sheep work is done their help must be enlisted.
These same leaders urge the creep feeding work when they
talk to their neighbors about docking and castrating their lambs.
How Purebred Ram Phase Is Handled
Emphasis is laid on the value of purebred rams at the countywide meeting of school district delegates held in the early winter.
Later, during July and August, local meetings are held in the
county on stomach worm control and purebred rams. T he sheepmen come to see how to drench sheep for stomach worms and
stay to hear about the purebred rams. If possible a good purebred
ram with a couple of his lambs is compared with a scrub ram and
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a couple of his lambs. These demonstration rams are hauled in
a truck from one meeting to another.
Prior to the complete development of this sheep improvement
plan many meetings were held and demonstrations given, but it
was not until the purebred ram sales were started that the owners
of grade flocks really bought good purebred rams. T h e y wanted
good rams but were unwilling to buy by mail, or to travel very far
to get them. T h e rams that are put into the sales, under the
present plan, are selected by the animal husbandry extension men
from the flocks of some of the leading breeders in the state. These
breeders consign only rams that are good enough to pass inspection.
A local committee of sheep producers makes arrangements
for the place of holding the sale and taking care of the rams at the
time of the sale. The county agents take care of the publicity.
Local auctioneers do the work for a nominal sum. T he good these
rams will do in the community is used as an incentive to enlist cooperation and keep the sale expenses down to a minimum.
Marketing L a m b s on a Graded Basis
The lamb grading work was taken up almost as a matter of
self protection. Sheep producers had been told that if they followed certain recommendations they would make more money
from the operations. Many of them produced good lambs but had
to ship them with inferior lambs produced by their neighbors.
V er y often the lambs sold at the same price per hundredweight, the
good lambs helping sell the poor ones. This caused dissatisfaction,
led some men to quit trying to produce good lambs and indicated
the needs for a different system of marketing.
.An assembly day is set and as the lambs come in they are
graded into four groups. T he well finished ewe and wether Iambs
of good quality are put in the first grade. T h e y are marked with
a blue ring on the head. T he lambs put in the second or standard
grade must all be docked and castrated but need not be so fat as
the lambs in the blue grade. These are given a red ring on the
head. The fat buck lambs are marked with a yellow ring. T he
thin ewe and wether lambs that are healthy are sent home for
more feeding, the other thin lambs, together with the thin bucks,
are given a black ring on the head to show they will sell as culls.
Th e commission firm is instructed to sell the lambs according
to grade and the producer gets what his lambs are worth. If he
T H E AMERICAN SOCIETY OF ANIMAL PRODUCTION
159
produces good lambs he gets paid for the extra care and attention,
and if he produces lambs of inferior quality or sells b u c k y lambs
he gets w h a t his stuff is worth, and incidentally some education on
the value of p u r e b r e d rams, docking, castrating, grain feeding, etc.
T h e grading w o r k done d u r i n g the years 1927 and 1928 has been
done by sheep salesmen and packer b u y e r s from the m a r k e t and
the animal h u s b a n d r y specialists from the college. As the w o r k
g r o w s a local c o m m i t t e e of sheepmen will be trained to do the
g r a d i n g themselves.
Definite Publicity Program Is Followed
In e v e r y c o u n t y w h e r e this plan of sheep i m p r o v e m e n t is att e m p t e d a definite set of circular letters and n e w s p a p e r publicity is
u s e d . T h i s material is sent out to the c o u n t y agents by the extension specialists. T h e agents use local results to increase int e r e s t and send the letters to their mailing list of sheep producers.
This list is furnished by the school district representatives who attend the w i n t e r meetings. T h e circular letters are sent out as
follows :
December--Feed and care of the bred ewes.
February--Docking and castrating of lambs.
March---Creep feeding grain to suckling lambs.
April--Plans for grading days.
June--Stomach worm control.
July--The value of purebred rams.
July--The purebred ram sales.
August--Early breeding for early lambs.
September, 1st week---Care of the flock at breeding time.
Results Have Been Highly Satisfactory
T h e results obtained from the Missouri Plan of Sheep Imp r o v e m e n t have been v e r y satisfactory. A t the end of the first
year's w o r k in M o n r o e C o u n t y 35 of the school district delegates
t u r n e d in reports on w h a t t h e y had accomplished. T h e y got 121
m e n to dock and castrate their lambs who had n e v e r done this
w o r k before. W h e n this plan of sheep i m p r o v e m e n t was put to
w o r k in M o n r o e c o u n t y 60 percent of the male lambs w e n t to market as bucks. A f t e r three years of w o r k a check was made on one
day's shipment of lambs from four shipping points in the county.
O n l y 8 percent of the male lambs out of shipments totalling 1360
head, were not docked and castrated.
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Extension men had held meetings and had written articles on
docking and castrating for many years, but it was not until they
secured the assistance of the sheepmen themselves that outstanding
results were obtained.
Five purebred ram sales were held in 1928, w i t h 225 purebred
rams selling at an average of $47.00 per head. Approximately 175
more rams were sold privately as a result of the sales and the publicity given purebred rams. Practically all of these rams have
gone to owners of grade ewe flocks.
Examples of Value of Graded Selling
The results Of the lamb grading work can best be shown by
giving concrete examples of prices received for the various grades.
The lambs from Paris, Missouri sold on the St. Louis market on
June 5 as follows: 105 head of blue-marked lambs, weighing 76
pounds per head brought $18.75 per cwt; 259 head of red-marked
lambs weighing 70 pounds per head brought $18.00 per cwt. This
latter figure was the practical top of the market for the day. No
buck lambs came in on that grading day, all thin lambs were sent
home for additional feeding.
From Boone County, Missouri, 103 head of blue-marked lambs
sold on the St. Louis market on June 12 at $16.50 per cwt.; 356
head of red-marked lambs brought $15.50 per cwt; 16 yellowmarked (fat bucks) lambs brought $15.00 per cwt, and the black
marked or cull lambs brought $9.50 per cwt. The practical top
of the market was $15.25. The blue-marked lambs from the Boone
County shipment dressed 54 percent with the ordinary run of top
lamps showing a dressing percentage of 49 to 50 percent.
Approximately 7000 head of lambs were graded and shipped
during June and the first week in July from the counties following
this plan of sheep improvement. Blue-marked lambs brought from
50 cents to $1.25 per cwt. above the top of the market in every
0
instance. The red-marked or standard lambs averaged selling
at the practical top of the market without any culls. This grading work has done more to convince skeptical sheep producers of
the necessity of following the recommendations of the Missouri
College of Agriculture than any other one thing.
THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF ANIMAL PRODUCTION
161
Individual Records Show Good Returns
Individual sheep producers who have followed this plan of
improvement have found it very profitable during the last year.
Frank Wingate of Monroe County sold $21.65 worth of wool and
lambs per ewe, Ernest Berry of Ralls County sold $21.50 worth of
wool and lambs per ewe and W. D. Gardner of Boone County received a gross return of $20.50 per ewe. These flocks averaged
about 40 ewes each, meaning an average annual income per flock
amounting to $840, or $70.00 a month from these relatively small
flocks.
This plan has shown that it is sometimes necessary to take
an extra step in extension work in order to get the job actually
done. It also has shown how much can be done by putting a
workable plan into the hands of the sheep producers themseh, es.
H O W MANY ANIMALS P E R E X P E R I M E N T A L
LOT?*
BY JOHN M. EVVARD, C. C. CULBERTSON AND GEORGE W . SNEDECOR
Iowa State College
Much discussion has been current in recent years concerning
the number of animals required per experimental lot, when two or
more lots or groups are run in a comparative series, to insure within
a reasonable degree of certainty that the difference obtained will not
be vitiated by the experimental error.
There are many factors which should be considered in discussing the number of animals to include per experimental lot. It is
within the province of this paper to cover some of these correlated
matters.
Are Random Sample Formulas Correct for Selected Samples?
Heretofore, in animal husbandry experimentation, the major
emphasis has been placed upon the use of mathematical formulas
which have been derived by and from a study of random samples.
T h e experimental feeding and other research work, with which
we are cognizant in the animal husbandry field, is not and has not
*First
paper
on
partment cooperating.
investigation
in progress--Animal Husbandry and 3~Iathematies De-