PART II. 



GENERAL MANAGEMENT. 



SHEEP ON THE AVERAGE FARM. 



The sheep business, like every other business, has its ups and 

 downs. At present the world is short of both wool and mutton, 

 consequently prices are high, which is a good reason why all 

 farmers whose farms are at all adapted for sheep farming should 

 keep a few sheep. Prices of wool fluctuate and times have been 

 when sheep paid but little in this country, but such state of 

 affairs is not likely to occur again in a lifetime, since our appetite 

 for mutton and the demand for wool is growing much faster than 

 our flocks. The flock has always held premier position in the 

 animal husbandry of many countries. Especially is this true of 

 Great Britain, and the time will come 'when this will be true of 

 this country. 



. Sheep delight in upland pastures, where dry footing prevails, 

 no matter how poor the pasture. Nevertheless, there are but few 

 farms, fertile or unfertile, upon which one of the many breeds will 

 not thrive. It has been truthfully remarked that sheep will get 

 more sustenance from poor land and do the land more good at the 

 same time than any other class of livestock. And this is not all. 

 In these days of scarce and high priced labor, sheep-raising might 

 be looked upon as a factor in offsetting this serious condition. 

 For conserving fertility of the soil or renovating the worn out 

 farm, nothing equals sheep. 



It is a fallacy to suppose that sheep cannot be made profitable 

 on high-priced land, since, on some of the richest farms in Eng- 

 land, sheep are kept in large numbers, and it is a question if the 

 rent of some of them could be paid without the help of the flock. 

 Certainly there is no other kind of livestock on the average farm 

 that gives so prompt and sure returns, and with so little labor, as 

 sheep ; since they will live largely on the odd growths of the farm. 

 Although it is well to use sheep as a scavenger at certain seasons of 

 the year, it is not advisable to treat them as an everlasting scav- 

 enger. 



There are thousands of farms upon which sheep would sub- 

 sist with little more than the weeds and brush with which they 

 are overrun, and which they would convert into the best of fertil- 

 izer and distribute more evenly than any other animal on the 

 farm, and would give double returns in wool and lambs for the 

 privilege of doing the work. Sheep manure is worth as much, 

 pound for pound, as most of the high price artificial fertilizers. 



