OUR FIRST SHEEP 



handle them. But the children had no faith in Shep- 

 py. They threw clods and told him to "go home, 

 sir!" which he did in a humiliated manner. As the 

 sheep were again approaching the pen I had a chance 

 to observe their startling efficiency in the control of 

 burrs and weeds. I have been assured that if we 

 had kept sheep the farm would have been in a much 

 tidier condition, and I am inclined to think that the 

 statement is true. One of the sheep, on its way back 

 to the pen, saw a well-loaded burdock that had been 

 overlooked. It stopped to nibble a few burrs, and 

 when it was shooed on, it didn't stop to walk around 

 the obstruction. It simply walked straight over it, 

 and when it had passed there was not a burr left on 

 the stalks. Every solitary one had been caught in 

 the sheep's wool, much to the disgust of the youthful 

 owners, but I felt a certain amount of relief, because 

 there is now no danger that the neighbourhood of 

 that burdock will be seeded down for next year. It 

 appears that what the sheep do not eat in the way 

 of burrs they gather in their wool, and in that way 

 clean up the farm. I am not quite sure that the 

 scientists will approve of this method of weed con- 

 trol, but that is how the matter stands at the pres- 

 ent writing. After several attempts at driving the 



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