462 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



SUMMARY OF CLASSIFICATION OF SHEEP— CONTINUED. 

 CLASSES. SUBCLASSES. GRADES. 



i( Choice. 

 Ewes ] Good. 

 ■. Medium. 

 [^ Common. 



, \ Fancj' selected. 



^ I Choice. 



Ewes ^ Goofj 



[ Common. 

 Bucks (Not graded.) 



Breeding sheep (native and west- 

 ern sheep) 



Miscellaneous : 

 Hothouse lambs. 

 Export sheep. 

 Throw-outs. 

 Dead sheep. 

 Goats. 



FATTENING LAMBS. 



JAMES W. WILSON. 



The live stock industry has been and is a prominent factor in solv- 

 ing the pro^blem of retaining and improving the fertility of the soil. 

 It has been demonstrated that raising crops year after year on the same 

 land and selling them in their natural form, without the use of animals 

 to i)roduce manure, materially impairs the producing capacity of the soil. 

 ■Commercial fertilizers are used extensively farther east, which render the 

 vcost of production comparatively expensive. 



Hoberts, of the New York Experiment Station, found that sheep 

 manure was worth more per ton as a fertilizer than that made by any 

 other farm animal. 



To sheep belong part of this credit as economical producers, requiring 

 less than the average number of pounds of feed for the production of a 

 pound of gain. In former years many of the sheep raised in South Da- 

 kota were shipped to eastern feed lots and fitted for market on rape pas- 

 ture and a small allowance of grain. After careful inquiry it is learned 

 that these feeders figure on a profit of not less than one dollar per 

 head. This profit is obtained by the increase in value of the original 

 weight and gain put on during the short feeding period while on rape 

 pasture. 



The sheep has no equal as a weed destroyer, eating nearly all the 

 numerous weeds and grasses found on every farm. From all reports, 

 the sheep industry is increasing in the state, although the days of raising 

 sheep in large flocks for the feeding market are slowly passing away. 

 In the older settled sections many flocks have been established recently, 

 which will more than offset thje loss of the large number formerly raised 

 on the range. By this better care the lambs will be better fitted for the 

 .butcher and will command a higher price in the market than formerly. 



