CHAPTER I 

 SHEEP AS IMPROVERS OF SOIL FERTILITY 



In discussing the influence which sheep exert on soil 

 fertility, the following points will be considered : (i) Why 

 the sheep has a golden hoof; (2) What sheep remove 

 from the soil ; (3) Why the droppings of sheep are val- 

 uable; (4) Fertilizing poor land quickly at low cost; 

 (S) Sheep and fertility in paddocks; (6) Sheep and fer- 

 tilizer for gardeners; and (7) How sheep manure may 

 lose its fertility. 



Sheep and the golden hoof — There are good reasons 

 for believing that long ages ago the statement had con- 

 gealed into a proverb, that "the sheep has a golden hoof." 

 The originator of the saying and the date of its origin 

 can never be known now. These have been lost amid the 

 dimness of a distant past. There is not much doubt, how- 

 ever, as to why sheep came to be so characterized. Un- 

 questionably they were so designated primarily because 

 of the favorable influence which they exerted on the fer- 

 tility of soil on which they grazed. But it would be cor- 

 rect to speak of them also because of the service which 

 they render in destroying the many forms of weed life, 

 and because of the dual returns which they give of meat 

 and milk every season. 



That sheep do add materially to the enrichment of 

 the soils on which they graze cannot be questioned, since 

 it is a fact of general observation. Wherever sheep graze 

 on pastures they grow richer and more productive rather 

 than poorer and less productive, when grazed under 

 proper conditions. It is possible to graze pastures so 

 closely with sheep that the grasses may fail. This some- 

 times happens on the far western ranges where the 

 grasses have to fight for life because of the lack of mois- 



