ARTICHOKES — SHEEP. 247 



ARTICHOKES. 



And here let me say a word for the much discussed root 

 the Artichoke. For the last two years I have made a liberal 

 use of it for Fall, Winter, and Spring feed, for store hogs, 

 and find it to be all one could desire. I allow the hogs to 

 root for it, which they do with a will. Last year my store 

 hogs lived on artichokes, excepting when the ground was 

 frozen, from November first till about the middle of May. 

 This season I have only about thirty-five store hogs, they are 

 now in high condition, fat enough for market, and their living 

 is two ears of corn per head each day and the full run of the 

 artichoke patch. With me the yield per acre is, without cul- 

 tivation, about five hundred bushels. 



SHEEP. 



In concluding, I will give my little experience with sheep, 

 and a description of a sheep fold or house I obtained while on 

 a visit in southwestern Ohio. Two years ago I purchased a few 

 grade South Down and common sheep, and used a choice South 

 Down buck on them. The result is very gratifying, the little 

 flock has doubled itself each year, the ewes twinning almost 

 invariably, the yearling wethers, when clipped and taken to 

 the butchers, weighing an average of one hundred twenty-five 

 pounds, and usually bringing three to three and one-half cents 

 per pound gross in our market, and the average clip, for two 

 years past, has been six and three-quarter pounds of wool per 

 head. The feed in Summer is grass exclusively, in Winter 

 hay, straw, and corn fodder, to the general flock. The ewes 

 get, after lambing, till grass comes, a feed of corn once a day. 

 What the actual profit is I am not prepared to state, but my 

 best opinion is, that it pays as well as any^ other stock one can 

 handle here in Illinois. I find that these grade South Downs 

 are very healthy. The plan of sheep house referred to above 

 will accommodate from three to four hundred, and is as follows: 



SHEEP-HOUSE. 



The main building is twenty-five by twenty-five, the corner 

 posts being sixteen feet high, to admit of a large hay loft ; lower 



