SHEEP PASTURES. 279 



the results could doubtless be considerably exceeded. 

 No grain was fed during the experiment, save for a 

 few days at the first, when the change was being- 

 made from winter to summer food. The ten lambs 

 made an increase in live weight of 560^ pounds 

 while pasturing on the acre in 1895, and of 532 

 pounds while pasturing on the same in 1896. 



Conclusions. — The following are prominent 

 among the conclusions that may be drawn from 

 the experiment : 



1. That sheep may be carried safely through 

 the summer when confined chiefly to pastures other 

 than the common grasses. The uniformly good 

 health of the sheep during the three years of the 

 experiment was one of the most encouraging of its 

 features. When sheep can be confined to such pas- 

 tures in the early summer, the danger from parasitic 

 troubles will be materially decreased, and more 

 especially with the lambs. 



2. That in the United States and Canada a 

 great variety of plants may be grown to provide 

 such pastures. Those which are the most suitable 

 for each locality will vary with the conditions. 



3. That among the plants adapted to such a 

 use, winter rye, sorghum and rape are worthy of a 

 prominent place. Each in its season produces a 

 large amount of pasture. Each can be grown in 

 nearly all parts of the United States and Canada 

 possessed of an arable soil, and each is the comple- 

 ment of the other two. Winter rye furnishes pas- 

 ture in the spring and in the autumn, but chiefly 

 in the spring. Sorghum is at its best in the hot 

 weather of summer, and rape is emphatically the 

 autumn pasture plant. With these three and a 



y 



