SHEEP _ 1489 



iioi - Sheep-raising in La Mancha, Spain : Systems of Stock-breeding Combined With 



Cultivation. — vSoroa, J. U.,in La Induslria Pccuaria, 17th year, No. 326, pp. 717-71'). 

 .\todrid, August 20, 1916. 



In I^a Mancha, the farms usually combine the cultivation of 170 to 

 250 acres of arable land with a head of stock consisting of 200 to 300 sheep 

 for wool, about 30 pigs and 6 to 8 or 10 mules. 



Rotation of Crops. — Until a few years ago little but extensive culti- 

 vation was practised. The land was divided into three parts according to 

 the system named " al tercio ", one remained fallow and on the other two 

 cereals were grown. Now, owing to the work of the Agricultural Advi- 

 sers, cultivation has become more and more intensive. The systems of 

 rotation commonly employed are as follows. 



A. — Vetches turned in, barley, beans, wheat. This rotation has 

 been adopted in the Daimiel, on fresh lands in fairly good condition. 



B. — Green fallow, cereal, a leguminous crop, cereal. This rotation 

 is becoming general, and excellent results are expected from it, provided 

 that the manure applied is well rotted. The following rotation is also 

 sometimes practised: green peas (always in the spring), barley, lentils or 

 vetches, wheat or oats. 



C. — Rotation for irrigated land :, pearl millet (" panizo negro ", 

 i. e. Pennisetitm typhoideum), potatoes, beans, wheat. Practised in the 

 municipalities of Manzanares., Daimiel and Villarrubia. 



D. — The " al tercio " system, mentioned above, is the one most 

 often emplo3'ed. 



Pastures. — Once every seven years barley or oats are generally sown 

 in low forest to provide grazing for sheep. Breeding mules and sheep are 

 also grazed on the lowland and plain pastures in the spring and autumn 

 (Municipalities of Alcazar, Valle de Alcudia and those of the province of 

 Toledo which belong to La Mancha) ; but in the Municipality of Malagon 

 these pastures are intermixed with orchards of pear trees, plum trees and 

 apricots, whilst in the province of Cuenca they are planted with alders, 

 ash trees and sometimes willows. 



Manures. — Both dung and fertilisers are used, the latter in large quanti- 

 ties for cereals. Dung is not abundant, on account of the limited number 

 of animals, and moreover it is of bad quality because there are no well- 

 built manure sheds. Sheep are folded on the land. 



The artificial fertilisers consist of superphosphates and various mixt- 

 ures whose composition is not stated. The price of dung is very high, £3 5s 

 per ton without the cost of transport. The manurial value of folding 

 is estimated at ^d for 100 sheep passing one night on the land, which pro- 

 vide sufficient manure for 175 to 240 square 3'ards. 



Utilisation of the Products of the Trees. — At the present time scarcely 

 any use is made of the acacias and the few mulberry trees that exist; they 

 afford little else but their shade. As the chmate is not adapted for rearing 

 silkworms, the mulberry leaves cannot be employed for this purpose and 

 there are not enough of them for export. On the other hand the State 

 Nurseries each year export an incresing number of acacias. 



