FIELD EXPERIMENTS IN I915. 31 



was to be from wool and meat sold and from the manure 

 produced as a by-product. While care was to be exercised in 

 handling the sheep, no high priced labor was to be used. Nor 

 was a special "shepherd" to be employed. 



items OF COST. 



There will always be an expense for fitting up and maintain- 

 ing pastures, buildings, etc., for sheep that will vary on different 

 farms and with different farmers. The overhead charges, such 

 as interest, taxes, and the like will also vary with varying 

 conditions. In an experiment conducted by the Station, where 

 it is necessry to keep individual records, buttons for the ears 

 and time involved in note taking are expense items that the 

 ordinary farmer need not be at. The cost of fencing the pas- 

 tures, erecting shelters in the pastures, fitting up the barns for 

 winter quarters, expenses for piping water, water troughs, 

 sheep dipping tanks, shearing machine, root and feed cutters, 

 rent of land for pastures and crops for the sheep, while neces- 

 sary expenses that must be taken into account by the practical 

 farmer, are omitted from this account. The items included 

 are initial cost of sheep, cost of labor in care of sheep and 

 growing crops for the sheep, cost of purchased food and al- 

 lowance for hay and straw fed, the cost of dips and other 

 medicines, and the cost of the seed for crops fed. 



THE FLOCK. 



The sheep were purchased from what is probably the largest 

 sheep farm in New England. The proprietor is a great believer 

 in sheep. And although he does not keep an at all accurate 

 account of income and outgo on his sheep proposition believes 

 them to be profitable. His interest in the proposed project at 

 Highmoor Farm was one strong reason for its being under- 

 taken. He sold to us 75 ewes and their lambs to be delivered 

 in the early summer of 19 14. These were to be grade Hamp- 

 shire of two and three years of age. The lambs that were 10 

 come with them were to be sired by pure bred registered Hamp- 

 shire bucks. The lambs with the ewes were, therefore, at 

 least three-quarter Hampshire. It was stated that the ewes 

 would probably average rather more than a lamb each. The 

 whole selection of the stock was left bv us to the owner and 



