SHEEP AS IMPROVERS OF SOIL FERTILITY 9 



the kinds of production just referred to. When soiling 

 food is grown for sheep, it is greatly important, as a 

 matter of economy in labor, that it shall be grown near 

 at hand to where it is to be fed. The feeding of such 

 foods to sheep is usually limited to the needs of those 

 that are being fitted for the shows, hence a limited area 

 such as a paddock furnishes will usually suffice for such a 

 use. Paddocks, because of the richness of the soil 

 through the droppings of the sheep, and because of their 

 proximity to the sheds, have pre-eminent adaptation for 

 the growing of such foods. 



In the winter or after the ground has become frozen, 

 certain fodders are sometimes fed in one or more of these 

 paddocks. They are simply strewn over the ground from 

 day to day, and the place of strewing is changed daily. 

 They are thus fed, in part, as a matter of convenience, 

 and also in some instances to encourage the sheep to 

 take exercise while picking them over. Corn and sor- 

 ghum fodders are frequently fed thus. When so fed, un- 

 less when they are present in excessive quantities, the 

 most convenient way to get rid of them is to bury them 

 with the plow. In this way the removing of a product 

 that is difficult to handle is obviated, and the soil becomes 

 filled with humus imbedded in the rich covering of fer- 

 tility that encircles it. When the seed of soiling crops is 

 sown on such land, the growth is usually of a most vig- 

 orous kind. 



The occasional plowing of paddocks has the further ad- 

 vantage that it renders them much less liable to harbor 

 disease in certain forms. It is thought, and with much 

 countenance of support, that the hazard to sheep from 

 grazing in paddocks is much reduced when the soil is 

 frequently turned over with the plow. It has been thought 

 that the germs of such ailments as tapeworm and stom- 

 ach worm are sometimes taken into the stomachs of 

 Iambs by grazing on the vegetation of paddocks that have 

 not recently been plowed. 



