DETAILS OF THE MANAGEMENT OF SHEEP. 21 



this connection it ma}' be well to note the possibilit}' that the failure 

 to provide salt for animals on the range maj'^ tend to produce a per- 

 verted or depraved appetite. Where salt is wantino- it is quite pos- 

 sible that stock more readil}- eat various noxious plants than when 

 they are receiving salt regularly in suitable quantities. 



In the absence of any direct experiments on this question, it would 

 seem safe to assume on general principles that the common forms of 

 alkali found in the State have no phj'siological effects which compare 

 with those of common salt. The forms of alkali which occur in the 

 State are sulphate of soda, epsom salts, and carbonate of soda; and, 

 as well known, the physiological effects of these substances differ 

 decidedly from those of common salt. 



Observations on this point can most easily be made on the sheep, 

 since these animals are under constant attention. A number of sheep 

 men have been led to believe that regular salting has a tendency to 

 render sheep more docile and more easily managed; that the failure to 

 give salt in sufficient quantit}' and at the right time tends to produce 

 a nervous uneasiness in the sheep which manifests itself partly in the 

 eating of undue quantities of soil containing alkali. As to any injuri- 

 ous effects which ma}' be produced in stock by the eating of large 

 amounts of alkali, no reliable observations have been made. It is 

 believed by some sheep raisers that the eating of alkali earth may 

 cause the so-called locoed condition of sheep, but no data are at hand 

 to prove this assertion. 



HERDING AND OTHER DETAILS OF THE MANAGEMENT OF SHEEP. 



Attention has alreadv been called to the fact that sheep have to be 

 moved over considerable distances in changing from one range to 

 another. Some of the most disastrous cases of poisoning among them 

 have occurred during these drives. It requires but little observation 

 to convince one that sheep when being driven hurriedl}' from place to 

 place are apt to eat many plants which they would not eat if allowed 

 to feed at leisure. When feeding quietly on the range they exercise 

 considerable choice in the selection of forage plants, but when being 

 driven from 6 to 10 miles a day they are frequently forced to bite off 

 almost all kinds of plants which grow along their course. The writers 

 have observed a number of striking illustrations of this fact at all sea- 

 sons of the year. On May 24 a band of 2,000 ewes and lambs were 

 driven a distance of about 3 miles. This band of sheep had been graz- 

 ing for two weeks on a range where death camas was quite abundant, 

 but no cases of poisoning had occurred up to this time. During the 

 day a number of sheep were observed to eat the plant. Six ewes and 

 10 lambs died. About 20 ewes and 50 lambs were affected. Many 

 other similar cases might be related, but the fact is well understood by 

 sheep men that sheep are more likely to eat poisonous plants when 



