20 MANAGEMENT AND FEEDING OP SHEEP 



fertility in the surface soil thus becomes more rapid than the 

 depletion of the same through the fertility removed in the 

 flesh and in the wool of the sheep sold that have been thus 

 grazed. If there is any loss of fertility, it is in the subsoil 

 rather than in the surface soil. 



Fourth, the soil is left in a condition which makes it 

 practicable to prepare it for a crop that is to follow at a 

 minimum expenditure of labor. The grazing last grown is 

 usually eaten down to the ground. The soil is in a great 

 measure free from all forms of weed growth. The richest 

 portion of the cultivable area is that which is near the sur- 

 face, because of the recent distribution of the droppings on 

 the same. It is important that they shall be kept near the 

 surface, hence in preparing such land for the succeeding 

 crop, the disk will usually answer the purpose better than 

 the plow, hence the labor called for is less than if the land 

 were plowed. 



Fifth, this method of grazing sheep tends to protect 

 them from some forms of parasitical disease. For instance, 

 it is about certain that it tends to shield lambs from attack 

 by tapeworms, and stomach worms. When the dams are 

 not allowed to graze on old pasture lands in the spring, it is 

 believed that lambs thus grazed with their dams will not usu- 

 ally be attacked with these ailments. If this belief should be 

 sustained in all instances, it will bring within the reach of 

 the flock master an easily practicable method of protecting 

 his flock from infestation. 



Sixth, grazing sheep thus tends to increase the revenue 

 from the land. This arises from the marked increase in 

 the production of wool and mutton as compared with pro- 

 duction from the same under the usual conditions that at- 

 tend the grazing of sheep. The expense of production where 

 the management is judicious, should be less relatively than 

 under ordinary methods of grazing, though much more in 

 the aggregate. Experiments conducted to show a compara- 

 tive profit from such a system of grazing as compared with 

 grazing on grass pastures only have not come to the knowl- 



