6 BULLETIN 573, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



camps. This grouping is to be explained largely by the fact that 

 the settlers have been quick to adopt the practices which have been 

 found successful by their immediate neighbors, who in these instances 

 are the men who have been in the sheep business longest and hence 

 have established rather elaborate sheep-producing enterprises. 

 Of the 289 farms where sheep were kept in 1916, 133 carried fewer 

 than 10 sheep each; 46 carried from 10 to 20 sheep; 49, from 20 to 

 50; 23, from 50 to 100; 28, from 100 to 200; and 10 carried more 

 than 200 each. The flocks containing fewer than 10 head are chiefly 

 those where a start is being made in the sheep industry. 



AGRICULTURAL DIVERSITY OF FARMS PRODUCING SHEEP. 



As a rule, the farms where sheep are kept are well improved and 

 have a wide diversity of crops and live stock. Of the 289 farms 

 keeping sheep in 1916, 263 also carried dairy cattle, the average 

 number of dairy stock on these farms being eight head. A total of 

 253 of the farms carrying sheep also carried hogs, the average num- 

 ber of hogs being 27 head. Of the 289 farms carrying sheep, 61 

 carried an average of 11 head of beef cattle. A total of 270 of the 

 sheep-producing farms produced alfalfa, 179 produced grain, 88 

 produced either beets or mangels, and 219 had irrigated pastures. 

 The average areas per farm in these crops were 10 acres of pasture, 

 27 acres of alfalfa, 17 acres of grain, and 9 acres of root crops. 



As the country is new, there are few definite or well-established 

 systems to follow, as is the case in older communities. There is 

 every reason to believe, however, that a diversity of industries on 

 the farm on these irrigation projects is greatly to be desired, and it 

 appears that the farmers producing sheep on the Minidoka project 

 are gradually approaching a system of desirable diversity. 



METHODS OF SHEEP MANAGEMENT. 



RELATIONSHIP OF SHEEP PRODUCTION TO OTHER INDUSTRIES ON THE FARM. 



The methods whereby sheep are produced on the Minidoka project 

 fall into two classes — those practiced on the majority of sheep farms 

 where the flocks are small and those practiced on a few farms which 

 are either specialized sheep farms or where the major portion of the 

 agricultural activity is directed toward the production of feed for 

 range sheep during the winter. It is to be expected that most of 

 the sheep growers on the project will continue to raise sheep in con- 

 nection with other agricultural industries rather than as a specialty. 

 Except in special cases, it is doubtful whether sheep should be made 

 the major industry of a farm. On the average farm, a flock of from 

 20 to 50 ewes can be kept with advantage to the farm and with a 

 profit to the owner. For those who wish to make more of a specialty 

 of sheep production, a flock of from 60 to 100 head is a popular and 



