PART VII. 



PASTURES AND FOEAGE CROPS. 



PASTURES. 



One of the great secrets of successful sheep farming is change 

 of rations and pastures. The exercise of moving from one farm 

 to another has its benefits. To turn sheep into a field and allow them 

 to remain there until the pasture is exhausted is wrong. From 

 clover to rape and from rape to permanent pasture is relished and 

 tends to growth and size. No matter if a sheep seems filled on one 

 pasture if changed it will commence eating with evident relish. 

 An English shepherd says a change of pasture is absolutely neces- 

 sary to successful sheep husbandry. It is not advisable to pasture 

 too closely. When drought comes along auxiliary rations should 

 be fed or the rape patch resorted to. Sheep should be kept out 

 of low wet pastures ; they are the forerunner of f ootrot and kindred 

 troubles. Sheep require about the same acreage, weight for 

 weight, as cattle ; sheep thrive on shorter herbage than cattle will. 

 Brush is good for sheep by way of variety, but purebreds that 

 will make history cannot be raised on such fare. The Norwegian 

 farmer collects supplies of young birch twigs for his sheep in 

 winter. 



In his "Essay on the Agriculture of West Cumberland," bear- 

 ing date of 1850, Dickinson says: "Some have approved of giv- 

 ing the fresh cut branches of the Scotch fir to sheep on turnips; 

 and it may reasonably be concluded that the powerful diuretic ef- 

 fect of resin contained in the leaves and small branches of any of 

 the fir tribe may act beneficially on the system of animals con- 

 fined to such watery diet as the turnip. The fondness of the sheep 

 for the branches of the fir, when on turnip, may be no criterion or 

 indication of its benefits; for they will gnaw every twig of any 

 kind within their reach to the very stump when so confined. Even 

 the coir and untarred cord of the netting used sometimes instead 

 of hurdles is not safe from them, so justly urgent are they for a 

 change of diet." 



DESIRABLE CROPS TO RAISE. 



Forage crops, such as turnips, rape, kale, vetches, etc., for 

 folding sheep might be grown to great advantage in this coun- 

 try and should be more universally cultivated than they are. 



Only in favored sections does our climate allow of our flocks 

 grazing in the open during the winter months, and on this ac- 

 count we should raise roots in abundance for their benefit. No 



