574 FEEDS AND FEEDING 



after a week they may remain continuously on the pasture. It is well 

 to allow sheep to satisfy their hunger largely on other pasture or with 

 hay or grain, before turning them on these crops. Even when care is 

 taken, animals occasionally bloat, especially on sultry days following a 

 rain. Immediate attention is then necessary to save the afflicted ones. 

 Kleinheinz 83 of the Wisconsin Station recommends a drench of a pint to 

 a quart of milk warm from the cow. Others place a stick in the ani- 

 mal 's mouth, tied back of the head with a string, or resort to the trocar 

 or knife. 



Alfalfa is especially liable to cause bloat and can be recommended as 

 a pasture plant for but few sections, altho some skillful flockmasters 

 suffer little loss. In some sections of the West alfalfa is utilized for 

 winter grazing, as it is then so lacking in succulence that danger from 

 bloat is practically absent. (348) 



873. Annual pastures. Occasionally sheep are grazed chiefly on an- 

 nual pastures especially sown for them. This system is usually more 

 expensive under American conditions than a combination of permanent 

 pastures and annual grazing crops. The advantages of the system are 

 that it enables the flockmaster to maintain more animals on a given 

 area than otherwise; it favors rapid, continuous gains by providing 

 succulent pasture from spring to fall; it destroys nearly all kinds of 

 weeds; and it uniformly fertilizes the land. In this system grass pas- 

 ture should be available during wet seasons, especially on heavy soils. 



On British farms heavily stocked with sheep, a rotation of grazing 

 crops carries the ewes and lambs from the first of the season until wean- 

 ing, after which the ewes go on old grass land and the lambs to freshly 

 seeded land or other green crops. 84 Lands newly seeded to grass and 

 clover can be successfully pastured by sheep, provided they are kept off 

 when the ground is soft from rain, and if they are not allowed to crop 

 the young plants too closely. 



874. Supplementary grazing crops. The best shepherds commonly fol- 

 low the practice of using various annual crops to supplement perma- 

 nent pastures. The earliest grazing is usually furnished by the cereals, 

 of which winter rye is the best for the northern states. Rye is also 

 grown for fall grazing. Farther south winter wheat and winter oats are 

 excellent grazing crops for the colder months. 85 (318) The sorghums 

 are useful in the plains region, altho not especially relished by sheep. 

 Where they flourish, field peas, vetches, cowpeas, soybeans, crimson and 

 Japan clover, and velvet beans all furnish excellent grazing. (355, 359, 

 357, 358, 353, 360, 361) Rape is the most widely useful member of the 

 mustard family, which furnishes several other grazing crops. (381) 

 Kale provides excellent spring feed in the mild climate of the Pacific 

 coast, where it endures the winter. (382) In the fall kohlrabi and cab- 



^Sheep Management, Breeds, and Judging, pp. 120-3. 



"Craig, Sheep Farming, p. 206. 



85 Marshall and Potts, U. S. D. A., Famers' Bui. 1181. 



