THE SHEEP INDUSTRY ON THE MINIDOKA PROJECT. 



15 



Fig. 4.— A farm flock of sheep on an alfalfa field in winter, eating mangels fed whole. The feeding of roots 

 in this manner is a common practice on the Minidoka Reclamation Project. 



FEEDS AND FEEDING. 



The feeds for sheep on the Minidoka project may be divided into 

 three general classes: Pastures, waste products, and the feeds used 

 in late fall and winter. While there are some variations in the peri- 

 ods of utilizing the different feeds, in general the irrigated pastures 

 are the basis of summer feeding; the waste products are utilized in 

 late summer and early fall, and hay and grain are fed in the winter. 



Pasturing. — Irrigated pastures are becoming increasingly popular 

 among sheep growers on the project. Of the 289 farms carrying 

 sheep in 1916, 219 contained pasture, the average pasture area being 

 10 acres per farm. A part of a farm flock on irrigated pasture is 

 shown in figure 2. There is a variety of pasture mixtures in use. 

 Nearly every pasture, however, contains bluegrass and white clover. 

 Perhaps most of the pastures at present in use were originally seeded 

 to the mixture recommended by the Idaho Agricultural Experiment 

 Station, 1 containing the following, at the rates of seeding in pounds 

 per acre indicated: Kentucky bluegrass, 8 pounds; orchard grass, 

 5 pounds; smooth brome-grass, 5 pounds; meadow fescue, 4 pounds; 

 timothy, 4 pounds; and white clover, 2 pounds. The total quantity 

 of seed in this mixture is 28 pounds per acre. These special pasture 

 mixtures, which are in general use on the Minidoka project, provide 

 rich feed and are ready early in the season. On these pastures the 

 lambs make such rapid growth that they are ready for market early 

 in June. In 1916, the first shipment of spring lambs was made on 

 May 27, when two carloads left the town of Rupert. These lambs 

 were bought to weigh between 65. and 80 pounds. The best lot in 

 the shipment was a flock of 74, averaging 73 J pounds each at the 

 loading station. These lambs had been born during the latter part 



i Welch, J. S. Grass pastures for irrigated lands. Idaho Agr. Exp. Sta. Bull. 80, 15 p., illus. 1914. 



