46 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE, [Jan., 



kept out of the way of south winds. Sometimes they blow 

 raw, chilly, and damp, and then the flock should be protected. 

 So it is well to see that the sheep pen or the shelter is arranged 

 with that in view. 



There is another thing we have got to take into considera- 

 tion. There is but one breed of sheep in the world that will 

 not pack itself into a great cluster and literally smother them- 

 selves, and only one breed in the world that knows enough to 

 get on the windward side of the hill. So we have got to fur- 

 nish brains for our sheep. It takes less work and more good 

 judgment to take care of sheep than any other animal. 



Now, if the lambs sell well, and the wethers are to sell well, 

 you must have a good market. You must watch the prices 

 and know how to sell to advantage. With one hundred ewes, 

 if a man will be careful in marketing his sheep, or the wool, he 

 can, in a few years, pay the mortgage on his farm. He cer- 

 tainly can do it. And in a very short time he can double his 

 flock. It is quite within the possibilities in Connecticut to carry 

 six hundred sheep on one hundred acres of land. I do not 

 advise that, although I do more than that, I should not advise 

 a man to aim for that at first, but it is easy to carry six sheep to 

 the acre and do it without much trouble. I know men who 

 carry nine. That shows simply what can be done. So, in a 

 few years our farmer, if he is careful and frugal, can own his 

 place and be fore-handed. 



Now, let us take up the question of procuring food for the 

 flock. I have been in this business thirty-two years, and my 

 experience certainly ought to count for something. I know 

 this, that up to the present time a farmer in Connecticut should 

 not have fed his sheep anything in the way of artificial feed. 

 Sheep today, in this snow, are getting their living, and can do it 

 very readily. You cannot do that with cattle, and there are 

 only two or three other things that you can do it with. But I 

 want to talk with you a little about rape. I will confine myself 

 at present to rape. Now, it does not hurt rape to eat part of the 

 plant in August. That may surprise some of you, but it is a 

 fact. Furthermore, it is fully as good today, after it has been 

 frozen, as it was before. In fact, for edible use it is better after 

 it is frozen. It is a wonderful plant. You can raise thirty tons 

 to the acre. You should not attempt to raise less than that. 

 It never should be planted before the 226. of June, and from that 



