CHAPTER XVII. 

 MANNER OF SOILING SHEEP. 



LAYING OUT THE WORK. 



WE will consider briefly the methods adopted for 

 feeding sheep by the soiling" system. If moved 

 about from field to field by the rotation of crops, 

 they may be supplied with any of the soiling crops 

 just mentioned, by fencing off a portion of the field 

 in which they are pastured, and devoting that por- 

 tion to the growth of soiling crops ; or a small por- 

 tion of an adjoining field may be used for that pur- 

 pose. In either case the several crops should be sown 

 or planted in rows parallel with the division fence, 

 the crop for the first feeding being nearest the 

 fence. A movable rack (see cut) in the pasture will 

 serve to hold the feed as it is cut. 



Each seeding is intended to supply food for one 

 month, beginning about the ist of July on the first 

 sowing, cutting with scythe or cradle, and throw- 

 ing the cutting over the fence into the rack. By 

 the time the first sowing is consumed, the second 

 should be ready for cutting, which may be done in 

 a direction opposite to that of the first cutting, fol- 

 lowing back with the rack. The first crop next to 

 the dividing fence may be oats and peas (one bushel 



