GARE AVD MANAGEMENT. 883 



The grasses or other herbage upon which the sheep subsist 

 must be such as will supply the special needs of the animal, or they 

 must be supplemented by other food containing the constituent 

 properties which they lack. The best kind of grasses for pasturing 

 are Timothy, tall oat grass, Kentucky blue-grass, sheep's fescue, 

 red-top, false red-top, orchard grass, meadow fox-tail, white clover, 

 narrow-leaved rib-grass, with some others indigenous to peculiar 

 localities. The buffalo grass of the Western plains is an admirable 

 food for sheep. Bone-dust, salt, and sulphate of lime constitute an 

 excellent occasional dressing for pasture-land. / 



A pasture should be closely cropped, otherwise the herbage 

 becomes hard, unpalatable, and indigestible. The old adage familiar 

 to farmers will well apply here : " Twenty-four hours' grass is best 

 for , a sheep, and eight days' grass for an ox." Experienced shep- 

 herds often divide the flock, putting lambs and yearlings on the best 

 and tenderest pasture. 



Additional foods should be constantly and promptly supplied 

 whenever a shortage in the pasture-grass necessitates it ; and the 

 farmer should never fail to bear in mind that no domestic animal 

 suffers as much in this respect as the sheep, and none so essentially 

 requires the unremitting and watchful care of man. Where there is 

 ample pasturage, an occasional feed of corn, oats, bran, or oil-meal 

 may be added. It is to secure a fine quality of wool that es- 

 pecial vigilance in the supply of food for sheep is so imperatively 

 demanded. 



Besides the grasses mentioned, parsley, yarrow, and wormwood 

 — plants which possess an astringent character — may be profitably 

 introduced into pastures, for their medicinal effect upon the sheep. 

 Ox-eye and miigwort are also sown as tonics. < 



The supply of water in a pasture is of the utmost importance. 

 A spring of clear, flowing water is desirable by all means, and pools 

 are to be avoided. Pond or marsh water is injurious, as is also run- 

 ning water with aquatic plants in it. 



The exposure of the pasture is also important. Where possible, 

 it should be broken from the prevailing winds by hills. Where the 

 pasture has a poor quality of grass, it is well to supplement the lat- 

 ter by sowed green crops, to be fed on the ground or in racks ; such 

 crops are rye, clover, mustard, rape, tares, and oats and peas mixed. 

 The cultivation of turnips as a fodder for sheep, so very general in 

 England, and for a long time common in Virginia, Tennessee, and 

 some other Southern States, is gaining very extensive recognition 

 all over the country, as a cheap and nutritious source of food. 

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