HOW TO CULTIVATE WINTER GREENS 153 



and May. Because rye grows at a very low tempera- 

 ture, it is always included in these winter pastures. 



From the foregoing, it may be seen that, with the f 

 exception of December and January, our sheep are 

 always on green food throughout the winter. This 

 means that ten acres of land will feed 100 ewes and 

 their spring-born lambs through the winter, with the ! 

 exception of a little hay which they receive during | 

 the two months of December and January. 



This past winter has, in Ireland at least, been one 

 of the severest in the writer's memory. It has been 

 very wet. We have had in addition, three periods of 

 frost — one in early December, one in January (which 

 was so severe that the lake in front of the house had 

 six inches of ice on it), and another in late January. 

 Still, as this chapter is being dictated on the 9th 

 March, the ewes and lambs are being turned on to a 

 field of rye, sown on July 15th last season, and grazed 

 in sections from the 10th of September to the 21st of 

 November. Other flock-masters are lamenting a short- 

 age of keep. Yesterday in Armagh, within ten miles 

 of the farm in question, we were told about ewes and 

 lambs dying for want of food, whilst we have food in 

 plenty. 



Our first grazed plot of rye is over six inches high 

 and a remaining ten acres of this crop will be 

 available for consumption after the first plot has been 

 eaten off. 



RAPE PASTURES 



Another example of a mixed winter green crop is 

 one consisting of rape and a little kale with Italian rye 

 grass. The particular conditions under which this 

 mixture proves most valuable are in colder districts 



