﻿2 BULLETIN 20, 1 T . S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 



not be sufficient to discourage the flock master. Good management 

 and proper care will control, if not eliminate, these difficulties. The 

 flock that must rustle for itself is the one that suffers most from these 

 sources. Sheep are good scavengers, but should not be made to sub- 

 sist upon weeds alone, with little or no attention on the part of the 

 farmer. The sooner the owner realizes that his sheep can not return 

 satisfactory profits under such conditions, the better it will be for 

 him. Any extra care and feed given to the flock generally yields the 

 greatest returns. 



Sheep have ever been in the vanguard of civilization. This country 

 has been no exception in this respect. The magnetism of cheap lands 

 has constantly drawn the industry westward, creating a quite general 

 impression that sheep are unprofitable upon high-priced land. This 

 may have been true in the past, but the industry is undergoing an 

 evolution. The range is almost completely occupied, and is constantly 

 decreasing in extent. The cost of running sheep in the range country 

 has gradually increased, and to-day many western people are return- 

 ing to the east for the purpose of raising sheep. The period of exploi- 

 tation is passing and a new era of constructive live-stock farming is 

 at hand, which means that a more intensive system of sheep farming 

 upon high-priced land must follow. This is already in evidence in 

 certain localities and, with better care than is now generally given 

 the sheep, should prove more extensive. In England the question is 

 not whether you can afford to keep sheep on high-priced land, but 

 whether you can afford to keep high-priced land without sheep. 



THE VALUE OF SHEEP ON THE FARM. 



INCREASE IN SOIL FERTILITY. 



Sheep will increase the fertility of the soil if they are half died 

 properly. _ To do this they should not be permitted to crop off the 

 grass too closely, which they will do if the pasture is overstocked or 

 if they are kept too long in one field. Sheep manure, with one 

 exception, is the most valuable of all farm manures. It is thinly and 

 evenly scattered over the ground and does not produce a rank growth 

 in spots of the pasture as do other manures. The manure is also 

 worked into the soil by the sharp hoofs of the sheep, so that it is not 

 washed away but becomes available as plant food. This quality has 

 well earned for sheep the title of "Golden hoof." In England land 

 which during Queen Elizabeth's reign produced only 6 bushels of 

 wheat per acre has been made to yield 30 bushels at the present time, 

 by the use of sheep. Better cultural methods may be the cause of a 

 portion of this increase, but without doubt the sheep are responsible 

 for the greater part of it. 



