SHEEP AS IMPROVERS OF SOIL FERTILITY II 



fed in a large way. Very much of what has been thus 

 made in the past has been wasted, owing to the cost of 

 carrying it to farms and gardens where it is needed. 

 Much of the precious substance, in the far West especially. 

 has been drawn out in trainloads and dumped into 

 ravines as the best way of disposing of it. The fertilizer 

 thus made is rich in the elements of fertility, as in making 

 it the sheep are fed chiefly on concentrated food. Much 

 of the grain thus fed is given as screenings, especially in 

 the West, and as these are fed in the unground form, the 

 manure contains many weed seeds, the vitality of which 

 has not been destroyed. These have not been consumed 

 by the sheep, but have been dropped by them while tak- 

 ing their food. Their presence makes it so far undesir- 

 able for gardeners. 



Fertilizer is sometimes obtained from the western 

 ranges where sheep have been corralled and wintered for 

 successive years. This product is sometimes known as 

 sheep guano. It contains much plant food, relatively, as 

 it has lost but little in manurial constituents through 

 leaching, and it is almost devoid of admixture of such sub- 

 stances as litter and earth. In some instances these ac- 

 cumulations have assumed large proportions, but they 

 have frequently become much deteriorated through age. 

 Notwithstanding they have been shipped more or less 

 freely to the East, where they have been used by garden- 

 ers, more especially by those engaged in growing products 

 of the greenhouse. The cost of transportation has 

 proved restrictive to the trade. 



How sheep manure takes harm — Sheep manure, like 

 that from other animals, may be injured by leaching, as in 

 yards where sheep are wintered it is usually spread over 

 much surface area relatively. In such instances the loss 

 from this source is serious where the rains are frequent, 

 hence the wisdom of applying it under such conditions 

 as soon as possible after it is made. 



Sheep manure is also frequently injured by molds. 



