METHODS OF PRODUCTION 93 



brought into the field to eat them as they grow), and that 

 is that often the sheep have not completed their work till 

 latish in the spring, and the ploughing of the field for 

 spring corn (oats or barley) cannot take place until they 

 are out of the field ; this results in late-sown corn and 

 often consequently a light crop. 



SHEEP 



The old-fasi\ioned idea still largely obtains that, on 

 certain classes of soil, manuring by the sheep droppings 

 and the consolidating of the land by the treading of the 

 sheep are the best — even the essential — preparation for 

 the barley crop. 



I have been told by old experienced farmers that I 

 could not farm certain land without sheep. But never- 

 theless I have so farmed it for years, and my barley 

 crops have been the best in the neighbourhood ! 



The fact is that manuring by sheep droppings is by 

 no means scientific ; it is hard to secure an even distribu- 

 tion, and an unequal sample of corn results. And the 

 harrow and the roll intelligently used arc better than the 

 treading of the soil by sheep. 



LEGUMINOUS CROPS 



In regard to the use of leguminous plants, of which 

 white and red clover are the most used in this country, 

 under the four-year rotation one-fourth of the arable 

 land of the farm should be under this crop. 



As already stated, the knowledge of the use and 

 functions of the leguminai constitutes a definite landmark 

 in agricultural development. 



This order of plant life possesses the valuable power, 



