76 



SHEEP 



William G. Wyman, says : "You ask for my " views, 

 experience and "observation " in Sheep Husbandry, in 

 reference to the effect upon pasture lands of keeping 

 sheep upon them, as compared with that of other 

 stock ; whether they " will keep down bushes, or in 

 any way improve the pasture in which they are kept ?" 



In reply permit me to say that while I do not think 

 all pastures would be improved by keeping sheep upon 

 them, or that pastures generally would be benefitted 

 by sheep to the exclusion of all other stock, my own 

 experience and observation lead me to believe that 

 most of the pastures in our county, and in the vicinity, 

 would be greatly enriched, their productiveness largely 

 increased, and their real value enhanced if sheep were 

 fed in them in very much larger numbers than they 

 now are, either in immediate connection with horned 

 cattle and horses, or by occupying the pastures alter- 

 nately with other cattle. 



The effect upon bushes is very quickly observed. 

 In my own pasture bushes which cows, oxen and horses 

 would not " keep down," have been entirely ^eradicated 

 by sheep ; when once cut down the sheep eagerly nip 

 the fresh leaves and tender shoots of almost all bushes, 

 shrubs and weeds, as fast as they appear, and thus pre- 

 vent their full development, so that they soon die from 

 sheer exhaustion, and give place to the finer grasses. 

 I find that my sheep relish many plants which other 

 stock will not eat, so that if kept with other stock a 

 pasture will afford sufficient nourishment for more ani- 

 mals, in number and weight, than it would of cows or 

 horses alone. In other words, two pastures will sup- 

 port more cows and sheep if they are permitted to feed 

 together, or in each pasture in alternate weeks or 



