30 MANAGEMENT AND FEEDING OF SHEEP 



Usually the farm which sustains a small band of sheep 

 may at once be distinguished from farms around it with- 

 out sheep by the greater cleanliness which characterizes 

 it. If sheep were generally kept on farms, the disgrace 

 of weed pollution which rests upon so many of the farms 

 of this country would to a great extent be taken away. 

 But in addition to this service, they may be made to fur- 

 nish a large proportion of the meat required by the farmer 

 and his household. The quality of the meat so furnished 

 cannot be surpassed, since it is grown on a wide variety 

 of foods much of which is possessed of ample succulence, at 

 least during the season of grazing. Should the meat thus 

 furnished be not all wanted on the farm, the market for it 

 locally is usually good. 



The cost of keeping a small flock on the farm is small 

 indeed. Much of the food which they consume during 

 the grazing season would not be consumed but for the 

 presence of the sheep. The food to be charged against 

 them is what they consume in winter, and the season for 

 the winter feeding of sheep is shorter than with other 

 animals. When the service which they render in destroy- 

 ing weeds and in enriching the soil is considered, the 

 charges that may legitimately be made against them are 

 small indeed. 



It has been noticed that when sheep are thus kept in 

 small flocks, they keep in a better condition as to flesh 

 and thrift generally than if kept in large bands. The per- 

 centage of loss is also much less. The reasons are found 

 in the variety of the food furnished in the absence of over- 

 stocking in the pasture and over-crowding in the sheds, 

 and in the lessened liability to disease which the lowering 

 of vitality brings with it in the weaker animals in a large 

 flock. When the benefits from keeping a small band of 

 sheep on the farm are considered, it is, indeed, surpris- 

 ing that they are found on so few farms. The percentage 

 of the farms on which they are now kept is small, indeed, 

 compared with the same a few decades ago. The reasons 



