\-]G The Canadian Horticulturist. 



SHEEP IX THE ORCHARD. 



I" properly managed, the orchard may he pastured profital)ly by sheep 

 The only essential is not to pasture too closely and to have it sa 

 arranged as to turn in the sheep from the yards in the morning and 

 take them out when they get restless and rambling, as this is the stage 

 when they reach up for the limbs and hunt for a branch where the 

 bark is tender. In Benton county we kept down the weeds and grass 

 in a large orchard for ten years with sheep without spoiling a single tree by 

 disbarking. If the pasturage alone was the main consideration, it would not 

 pay to turn the sheep in and out. But experience has proven that the orchard 

 insects do not thrive 'where the sheep run. With' the sheep in the orchard our 

 apples had less worms, and the leaf-eating insects, thrips, etc., were not as 

 common and destructive as in orchards near by where grass and weeds grew 

 The common belief of nurserymen and fruit growers is that the sheep and goat 

 are the natural enemies and eradicators of trees and shrubs. It is true of the 

 goat, but sensibly managed " the animal with the golden hoof" is the friend of 

 the nurseryman and orchardist. Year after year I have turned them into the 

 nursery rows after we had quit cultivating. It was interestmg to watch their 

 quick and eager search for the tender weeds. Of course, when their appetite 

 was satisfied they were turned out for the day. In the corn-field they proved 

 an eejually satisfactory way of gathering up the weeds in early August. In many 

 other ways the sheep, and a boy, cleaned up the unsightly places. A\'here clean 

 work of a big weed patch or hazel corner was wanted we had hurdle fence 

 panels to throw around them, and the sheep 7vere kept there until the work was 

 done. In a hundred-acre pasture on the old homestead we had a corner of 

 about ten acres in hazel brush, with here and there a young, bushy-topped elm, 

 oak, wild cherry, etc. This was fenced in for the sheep when not on their 

 foraging expeditions during the growing season. When the sheep were salted 

 it was by brining the leaves of the taller hazel brush. In two years the brush 

 was killed, and in four years a rich matting of grass took its place among the 

 growing shade trees. I wish to make it emphatic that the sheep, properly 

 managed, is the helper and friend of the horticulturist. But in late fall, winter 

 and early spring, the place for the sheep is the feed lots and sheds. When tree 

 bark is the only obtainable green thing, the sheep will decide that it is made for 

 their use. Prof. I. E. Budd. 



An I-lxfUisii Wa\- oi- Kkeimng I-kuit. — Thoroughly dry a ([uantity of 

 sawdust. Roll up sound, perfect fruit — bunches of ri[)e grapes, tomatoes, etc. — 

 in paper, and pack it in boxes, filling spaces with the sawdust. Then wrap the 

 box in newspapers, and keep it in a dry, cool room. 



