152 FARMING ON FACTORY LINES 



alone. The condition referred to is where it is desir- 

 able to form a winter pasture for sheep, young cattle, 

 or matured stock. 



Rye, sown alone, would, in damp weather, get very 

 much trampled by the stock, and, even in a compara- 

 tively dry winter if not grazed, would "lodge" and 

 rot at the bottom. The rape helps to support the rye, 

 and prevent "lodging." A mixture of rye and rape is 

 very suited for land sown, say, in late July or early 

 August, or even late August. 



In passing, it may be remarked, that a winter 

 pasture in mountainous districts, or in fields not easily 

 accessible, is one of the most valuable features of the 

 Continuous Cropping system. For a farmer to be able 

 to turn his sheep and young stock — and, if the weather 

 is any way dry, his older cattle — on to new pasture 

 during October and November and during February 

 and March, means lightening the labour of feeding 

 the stock, and increasing, to a considerable extent, 

 the stock-carrying capacity of his land. 



Especially is this the case with the sheep farmer. 

 On one of our farms, we have every year such pasture 

 ready by about mid-September. At this time of the 

 year, the ewes and rams are mating, and they are 

 turned on to the pasture during the mating season. 

 As a general rule, we allow from 100 to 120 ewes to 

 every ten acres of the winter pastureT'The sheep are 

 put in folds, not the small miserable folds that pre- 

 vail in some sheep-raising districts, and which become 

 quagmires after a couple of days grazing, but folds of 

 • M about fivejicres to every 200 she ep. 



One nve acre section wili Be grazed down in Sep- 

 tember, another in October, and another in November. 

 Then the sheep are turned on to other land, and the 

 different sections starting with the one first grazed, 

 will come in for use, respectively during March, April 



