RANGING ON ENCLOSED LANDS 



21 



formly fed as when it is kept within an enclosure because in the 

 enclosure the band breaks up into a number of small flocks that 

 live and feed more or less independently of each other. Then, too, 

 the sheep in a band tended by a herder must be driven a great deal. 

 They must be rounded toward camp and bedded down for the night ; 

 they must be kept from other bands of sheep ; and frequently they 

 must be driven to a watering place. All this driving is not so 

 beneficial to the sheep as exercise taken at their own inclination. 



FIG. 7. World distribution of sheep. It will be noted that there are six world centers 

 of sheep raising, of which four, the South American countries, South Africa, Australia, and 

 New Zealand, are new land with sparse population and are all located in the Southern Hem- 

 isphere. The two centers in the Northern Hemisphere are the Balkan States and Great 

 Britain. In Asia Minor and in the Balkan States conditions of topography, climate, and 

 the nomadic habits of the people in the recent past cause sheep to be important farm 

 animals. In Great Britain many factors combine to rrake sheep raising a prominent indus- 

 try in spite of high land values and extreme industrial concentration of population. The 

 Russian Empire and the United States, although they rank high in total number of sheep, 

 are, owing to large area, far down the list in number per square mile. (From U. S. De- 

 partment of Agriculture.) 



Still other advantages of the enclosure system are that the fences 

 are said to cost less than the extra labor required in the herding 

 system and to a large extent they are proof against animals that 

 make sheep their prey. 



In Australia and New Zealand, where both the herding and the 

 enclosure methods have been tried, sheep owners favor the enclosure 

 system. 



