370 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



' The farmer who is the sole grower of sheep in the neighborhood 

 must not expect to have the same measure of profit as the farmer 

 whose neighbors all join with him in keeping a few sheep. The lat- 

 ter's particular advantage will be in the sale of lambs. To make 

 sheep growing profitable it should be possible to buy them just as 

 you would buy hogs; in other words, be able to buy up a car load at 

 any time during the lamb selling season, say from June to January. 

 If farmers generally realized the real profit there is to them in keep- 

 ing a few sheep, this condition of things would soon exist. There is 

 no difficulty when a man can sell lambs to an advantage in making 

 the lambs and the wool pay the entire original cost of the flock, thus 

 giving him a start at the expense of the year's keep; that is, a man 

 can put $150 into a flock of sheep in October, 1903, and can stell $150 

 worth of lambs and wool in October, 1904, and in the years following 

 have as much money each year for the keep of the sheep. 



As 800 pounds of sheep can be kept on the same land as 1,000 

 pounds of cattle, our readers can readily see that there is plenty of 

 money in these small flocks of the animal with the golden fleece. 



GRAIN FOR SHEEP. 



Ho7nestead. 



Some very erroneous ideas have crept into the sheep business 

 that are difficult to eradicate. When once an old sheep man gets the 

 idea that exposure will bring scab it sticks to him like euthanasia to 

 a lifeless Ethiopian. It can not be shaken off no matter how much 

 evidence one produces that this' disease is one that can be contracted 

 only by infection and not by exposure. There is a prevailing idea 

 among some sheep men that sheep do not need shelter, or that they 

 really require water. Some have gone so far as to believe that they 

 need no grain in winter. In some countries but very little grain is 

 needed. In latitudes where grasses keep green all winter it may be 

 well to not feed much grain. In the great grain belt of the United 

 States, however, it will be fas'hionable a long time to feed some grain. 



We have long since been favorable to feeding sheep grain. We 

 have become convinced of this fact after giving the practice a fair 

 trial. It will be well to know for what sheep are fed before engaging 

 industrially in the business. If they are being fattened for the market 

 they should be pushed to a finish as fast as possible. If breeding 

 ewes they should be fed with a view to a healthy growth of the fetus 

 and a keeping up of the vitality of the dam. The conditions will 

 have to be surveyed and feeding carried on accordingly. Com has 

 become the universal grain feed in some localities and its use can 

 be abused in feeding sheep. It is an excellent fattening grain ration, 

 but will sometimes cause trouble when the feeder is trying to avoid 

 it. In cold weather it can always safely become a part of the ration. 



