156 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 



the boy eating green apples in summer time. It is 

 a good practice even to salt the sheep in summer by 

 sprinkling brine over dry hay in the barn, thus en- 

 couraging them to eat as much of it as they will. 

 Of course there are locations where hay is hard to 

 get and pasture is in excess. There this would not 

 be good practice, but all through this region of the 

 cornbelt hay is abundant and often more economical 

 to produce on high-priced land than pasture. 



Corn also may be fed to the lambs in the barn 

 basement if the flock has access to it. There is but 

 one thing to fear; that the place may be allowed to 

 become foul so that fleeces will be soiled and feet en- 

 dangered, and it is attention to these little things 

 that assures success. 



Shade in fields may be had best by movable sheds. 

 These may be made on runners, simple roofs about 

 16 feet square and not high, open at the sides, made 

 of pine boards. They need not be rain-proof since 

 sun is what we are seeking to shelter against. A 

 shed of this size will shelter 40 sheep and as it may 

 be frequently moved there will be an enrichment of 

 a good many spots during the summer. The writer 

 has on the farm on which he lives a spot where his 

 father forty years before had a temporary sheep 

 shelter that still produces crops remarkable for their 

 distinguishing greenness and rankness. 



There are reasons why we should not permit the 

 sheep to stand where they will, along fences and be- 

 neath trees. First the manure is wasted there ; then 

 the shade is seldom really satisfactory. Sufficient in 



