66 The Scope for Intensive Sheep Farming. 



close herd sheep for a lengthened period ; there must be 

 range for exercise for the breeding flock, unless with 

 buying and selling opportunities favourable, such is not 

 kept. Necessary care and attention must be devoted, 

 particularly to that of treating the cropped areas well, 

 and it must be seen that the land and the climate are 

 adapted. If in addition to the above fodder and root 

 areas, a further area of 200 ai res of fair grass land, or 

 400 acres of inferior, goes along with it, there is the 

 opportunity of successfully running 1,000 sheep on a 

 property of such dimensions, suitably fenced and grazed, 

 particularly if an extra paddock of lucerne is available 

 for green feeding and occasional grazing, or some other 

 cognate feed grown, for the range of fodders and roots 

 need not necessarily be confined tx; those named. 



That the sheep themselves could be availed of as an 

 excellent means of keeping the cultivated parts in a 

 high state of fertility, and indeed improving the whole 

 farm, if skill in grazing is used, there is no doubt, for 

 the animal exercises a powerful influence in the direc- 

 tion of fertility. If the special crops grown get a send- 

 off with a suitable artificial fertiliser, the sheep will 

 speed up the transition of an ordinary cropping paddock 

 into superior land. 



A certain amount of labour is involved in under- 

 taking such a method of sheep farming, but it is in- 

 significant in comparison to onerous dairying. Atten- 

 tion, more than labour, is the requisite. When the in- 

 tensive sheep farm is small and the soil good a system 

 of " flyin^stock " fanning may only be pursued. Mar- 

 ket must be close, which it invariably is in such a case, 

 and the soil must be light enough to withstand impac- 

 tion under constant heavy grazing, fences secure, and 

 each lot of ewes must go before health is affected by 

 prolonged close folding. Where a breeding flock is to 

 be kept, and this gives additional interest to any system 

 of sheep farming, it seems as if the more satisfactory 



