PROGRESSIVE SHEEP RAISING 



Good Pastures a Basic Crop 



THE luxuriance of the pastures of a farm is a measure 

 of its fertility. Pastures are frequently neglected as 

 factors in agricultural prosperity. They should be 

 regarded as a crop, the same as wheat or corn, and made 

 to yield abundantly. 



"I cannot spare the space for sheep raising," says 

 one farmer. "I need all my land for money crops." 



In the first place, land devoted to pastures, if it is 

 made to yield abundantly, is not "spared." It con- 

 stitutes a valuable crop which yields a profitable return 

 on the investment, and if it is in leguminous forage, it 

 is contributing, at the same time, to the necessary fertility 

 for future crops. Furthermore, the animals grazing 

 upon it, also contribute to the maintenance of soil 

 fertility. 



The reader will no doubt remember John J. Ingalls 

 apostrophe to grass, in which he says: 



"Should its harvest fail for a single year, famine 

 would depopulate the world." 



The truth of this statement, once impressed upon us, 

 forces us to respect the economic importance of this 

 lowly herb. 



What Senator Ingalls really meant was that our live 

 stock could not exist without grass and that we could 

 not exist without the livestock. 



Poor pastures should not, and need not be tolerated, 

 but this form of inefficiency is far too common. Losses 

 through poor pastures are very apt to be ascribed to the 

 sheep or other live stock which cannot thrive upon them. 

 Unless sufficient fertility is maintained in the soil to 

 nourish grasses, and the grasses actually raised, sheep 

 cannot be expected to prosper any more than any other 

 crop. 



Page Thirty-Seven 



