FIELD EXPERIMENTS IN I915. 35 



the sheep manure, and that it was worth more than is credited. 

 It is not the fault of the sheep if faulty handling of the manure 

 results in loss. The manure was left under the sheep during 

 the winter as is customary with all handlers of sheep the 

 writer has knowledge of in the East or the Middle West. It 

 is commonly supposed that the compacting of the manure and 

 the moistening from the liquid excretions will prevent losses. 

 From our experience this seems more than doubtful. The 

 present year (1915-6) it is proposed to know the exact value 

 of the manure. For this purpose a water tight, covered manure 

 receptacle has been built and the manure will be moved to 

 this monthly. Swine are being kept on the manure. A finan- 

 cial account is being kept with swine. The manure will be 

 sampled and analyzed when hauled to the fields. In this; way 

 it is hoped to give an exact credit value to the manure for 

 1915-6. 



The Inventory. The sheep are in excellent condition. The 

 increase in flock for 191 5 is very good — something more than 

 a lamb to a ewe. 



Summary. The cost of the operation for the year 1914-5 

 was $1,306.63. The sales and inventory aggregated $1,048.67. 

 The total loss without any consideration of overhead charges, 

 depreciation of plant, rent of land, interest on investment, ;,r 

 taxes that a farmer would pay, was $257.76, or about $3.45 tor 

 each of the old ewes. 



CRITICISM OF THE EXPERIMENT. 



The flock has been visited at times by experts who have 

 expressed themselves pleased with the sheep and the way they 

 are handled. Helpful suggestions have been constantly sought. 

 When it was found that the operation for 1914-5 had been 

 at a loss a statement was sent to leading sheep men for criti- 

 cism and suggestions. "Later practically the same statements 

 were given wide circulation through publicity letters. An at- 

 tempt by the help of the Station Directors and Commissions 

 of Agriculture of the New England States was made to learn 

 if there were any people in New England keeping' sheep on 

 at all large scale that knew they were making a success of the 

 business. A few were found who were supposed to be making 

 money from sheep husbandry but none of these had kept 



