96 BRITISH SHEEP AND SHEPHERDING. 



thrive well, and it produces a good flow of milk. It is a convenient 

 and most useful fodder in long-continued frosts, when roots get 

 frozen into the ground, and are difficult to obtain in sufficient 

 quantity. The comparative warmth of silage is also a matter 

 of great consideration. Frozen roots are indigestible, and sheep 

 thrive badly on them, as the goodness they contain is expended 

 in maintaining animal heat within the body, and little goes towards 

 improving the condition of the sheep. We have a high opinion 

 of the value of silage, and strongly recommend its more general 

 use. An expensive silo is not necessary, a field heap being 

 economical in all respects except outside waste. Clover and 

 other seeds make good silage, and if made in the field where grown, 

 the cost of carting to the silo is small. 



Sainfoin. Sainfoin, clover, lucerne, grass seeds, and similar 

 crops grown as short leys are the mainstay of the sheep -keeper on 

 arable land during summer, and in one way or another they may be 

 relied upon from May to November. They are also the chief source 

 of hay for winter feeding. 



Stubbles of corn crops afford sweet fresh food, and are specially 

 valuable when they contain strong, young seeds. 



Pasture affords keep at almost all seasons. 



Water Meadows have a special value as affording a bite of fresh 

 grass as early as the first of April. 



Catch Crops. Catch crops are of so much importance to the sheep 

 farmer that more than a mere notice of their value should be given. 

 They may be regarded as being specially valuable on two occasions 

 in time of drought, to augment the limited amount of sheep food 

 during the coming months ; and in ordinary seasons, for utilising 

 the land when it would otherwise be lying idle and losing its manurial 

 constituents. Crops which are suitable for sowing to produce 

 keep within the shortest time are mustard and stubble turnips. 

 In dry seasons the land earliest cleared of corn or other summer 

 crop should be brought into a good tilth, and be sown with one of 

 these to produce early autumn keep. It should never be forgotten 

 that every day is of value, and that no time should be wasted in 

 getting the land sown, whatever catch crop is taken. Hardier 

 varieties of turnip, kale, and rape, sown as catch crops, will produce 

 excellent feed in spring, and be particularly valuable for lambs. 

 The autumn-sown catch crops, suitable for feeding in late spring, 

 such as large winter barley, oats, vetches, and Trifolium incarnatum, 

 should be sown as early as possible. The cultivation for all but the 

 trifolium consists of nothing more than ploughing, sowing, and 

 harrowing, a very simple seed-bed being sufficient. Trifolium 

 thrives better when the land is not ploughed, but merely harrowed. 



