230 MANAGEMENT AND FEEDING OF SHEEP 



is less than with sheep fed in large lots, for reasons very 

 similar to those which explain the greater loss in breed- 

 ing flocks of large size as compared with those of small 

 size. These include: (i) The less favorable sanitary 

 conditions where large lots are kept, from the less pure 

 character of the air; (2) the less favorable opportunity for 

 each to get its rightful share of the food; and (3) the 

 greater opportunity furnished for communicating any 

 communicable form of ailments that may invade the flock. 

 These cases, however, are much less with the hardy 

 Merinos than with the mutton breeds, especially with 

 those of large size. 



On every farm there is a certain amount of roughage 

 that may be turned to good account where live stock is 

 kept or fed, which would not be so used but for the pres- 

 ence of the same. Such fodders include corn stalks, bean 

 and pea straw, and the straw of various cereals. These, 

 of course, may be utilized by other kinds of stock, as 

 horses or cattle, if present; but on many farms it may 

 not be desirable to keep these in numbers that will con- 

 sume all the rough fodders grown. Such is the case fre- 

 quently on what are termed grain farms. Where sheep 

 are fed in large lots, both the fodders and the grain fed 

 to them in fattening are taken from the farm, and the 

 resultant fertilizer seldom comes back again to the farm 

 from which it was taken. 



The waste of fertilizer when sheep are kept in large 

 lots is usually very great. At many feeding stations but 

 little use has been made of it in the past. In some in- 

 stances in the West it has been loaded on to flat cars at 

 the stockyards, drawn to some ravine or gully and then 

 thrown off the cars into it as the easiest way of disposing 

 of it. At feeding stations in the mountain states the 

 waste of manure is also frequently very great. More care, 

 however, is now being taken of this precious commodity 

 than in former years. When the sheep are fed on the 

 farm, all the fertilizer made may be readily applied and 



