184 MANAGEMENT AND FEEDING OF SHEEP 



They also furnish a change that tends to reduce or en- 

 tirely prevent scouring, the frequent accompaniment of 

 grazing on supplementary pastures. When sheep graze 

 on such pastures that have made much growth while they 

 are wet with dew or rain, they soil the grazing with their 

 feet, break much of it down and may also impact some 

 kinds of soil. 



There may be instances when such pastures cannot 

 be furnished. There may be other instances when, in the 

 hope of more effectively combating stomach worms and 

 other forms of parasitic life, it is desirable to keep the 

 sheep away from old pasture grounds. In such instances 

 it would be necessary to use the sheds as a refuge for the 

 sheep when not on the supplementary pastures. At such 

 times it may be necessary to feed them in the sheds 

 throughout the continuance of storms, and more or less 

 at other times. Should this be necessary, no more con- 

 venient place could be secured for such feeding or for provid- 

 ing water, nor would it be possible to furnish sheds in 

 better form than through the medium of the sheds. 



Benefits from supplemental grazing — Prominent 

 among the benefits from supplemental grazing for sheep 

 are: (i) Aid in removing parasites; (2) increase in pro- 

 duction from a given area ; (3) rendering aid in destroy- 

 ing weeds ; and (4) the effect on fertilization. These will 

 be considered further, and also some of the objections to 

 the system. 



The all-important question of parasites in sheep is yet 

 but imperfectly understood, more especially with refer- 

 ence to the complete life history of some of these. Until 

 this is known it is probable that the very best methods of 

 combating some of these will not be understood. It has 

 been quite well established, however, that when ewes and 

 lambs are much sustained on freshly sown supplementary 

 pastures, especially in the spring, and when they are kept 

 away from old pasture grounds in the meantime, the 

 lambs suffer much less from such parasites and tape- 



