4 N. H. AGR. EXPERIMENT STATION. [Bulletin 152 



There are many advantages of sheep raising that should appeal 

 to the average farmer and make him a convert to the business. 

 First, the initial investment need not be great. In fact, a begin- 

 ner should always start with but a few sheep. As his flock 

 grows, so will his experience in methods of management, and he 

 will not be so liable to make costly mistakes. Nor has the sheep 

 breeder long to wait before he realizes a return from his invest- 

 ment. If he practises winter or "hot-house" lamb raising, he 

 sells his lambs at from ten to fourteen weeks of age, and, even 

 though he is simply raising lambs for the late summer or fall 

 trade, he will seldom have to keep them longer than eight months. 

 By selling his ram lambs and keeping his ewe lambs, he is obtain- 

 ing considerable profit and at the same time increasing his flock 

 rapidly without a further monetary expenditure. 



Sheep can be maintained very cheaply and still thrive and 

 return a profit. Besides, their feeds need never be of an expen- 

 sive nature. In the summer pasture alone is sufficient; in the 

 winter good clover hay, oats and a few roots or other succulent 

 food. Silage may be used in the place of roots, but very spar- 

 ingly, as silage, if sour or moldy and if fed in quantities much 

 over two pounds per day, is apt to cause severe digestive ail- 

 ments, scouring and consequent loss in weight. Always make 

 the sheep eat up cleanly what is placed before them, rather 

 slightly underfeed than overfeed. This is the great secret of 

 economical feeding, and, without the practice of strict economy 

 in this respect, even reasonable profits can never be attained. 



In restoring fertility to wornout pastures, sheep can be used 

 effectively as one of the first aids. Their manure is rich and, 

 besides, is evenly distributed over the entire field. Again, 

 sheep are weed destroyers. Where there are many sheep but 

 few weeds will thrive. They will eat and apparently enjoy 

 almost every class of weeds, even one of such a prickly nature 

 as the thistle. Sheep are the true pasture scavengers and at 

 the same time natural fertilizers, and these two features are by 

 no means unimportant in the New England scheme of farming. 



Expensive buildings are not necessary in order to gain success 

 with sheep raising. A barn wherein the sheep can be sheltered 

 from the wintry winds and snow and be fed conveniently, is 

 all that is needed. Sheep confined in a warm, poorly ventilated 

 barn, as is the condition with so many cattle stables, will never 

 thrive well and are very liable to disease and parasites. A 

 warm lambing pen must, however, be provided, yet, after the 

 first few weeks of their lives, even the lambs are capable of 

 standing considerable cold with little or no ill-effects. This 

 feature comprehends another most important advantage of 

 sheep raising, and permits the man with a small capital to enter 

 and pursue the business successfully. 



