l68 PROFITABLE STOCK RAISING 



which they can make use of freely. They are pur- 

 chased in the spring or early summer and shipped 

 to the farms while the grass in the pastures is plen- 

 tiful and tender, and then later in the summer 

 special pasture crops, principally rape, are made 

 use of. By keeping them constantly on soft suc- 

 culent food of this character, it is often possible to 

 market them direct from pasture in the fall, and in 

 excellent condition for slaughter. Feeders living 

 in the immediate vicinity of sugar factories fre- 

 quently make use of the wet beet pulp, which can 

 be secured cheaply and in large quantities for feed- 

 ing animals of this class. Various concentrated 

 feeds, such as cracked or ground grain, alfalfa meal 

 or molasses from the factories, can be mixed with 

 it and a well-balanced ration secured, all from feeds 

 in a condition to be used by these animals to good 

 advantage. If they are fed throughout the winter 

 in this way, a heavy wool clip may be secured the 

 following spring before the animals are marketed, 

 and in this way very satisfactory profits are 

 secured. 



ECONOMIC UTILITY OF SHEEP 



Not the least marked of the valuable qualities of 

 sheep under farm conditions is their capacity for 

 utilizing materials which would otherwise be 

 wasted. As removers of weeds in the fields and 

 meadows sheep have no equal, with the possible 

 exception of goats. They will graze in out-of-the- 

 way places along the roadside and along the fences 

 where large quantities of vegetation grow, but 

 which it is impossible to utilize in any other way. 

 Stubble fields always contain a lot of secondary 

 growth of grain and weeds, as well as large amounts 





