192 MANAGEMENT AND FEEDING OF SHEEP 



together and unherded when occasion calls for it. Graz- 

 irg on the adjoining unfenced farms is usually welcomed 

 because of the weeds consumed. If rape or turnips or 

 both have been sown amid the grain, the pasture is so 

 improved, but the aim should be to consume these before 

 hard freezing. The value of these foods in the stubbles, 

 which is quite material in southern Minnesota, grows less 

 with higher latitude. The stocks for such grazing may 

 usually be secured from the ranges west. 



In some seasons it happens that on low and ill-drained 

 prairie lands, the grain cannot be harvested in the usual 

 way. The saturated ground will not sufficiently sustain 

 the reaper that would harvest the crop. In a few days the 

 grain has so fallen down that it cannot be reaped when 

 the ground has again become firm. In such instances 

 sheep have been successfully used to harvest the crop. 



Finishing sheep on rape — No pasture plant that has 

 yet been introduced has been found equal to rape for fat- 

 tening sheep quickly and satisfactorily. The dwarf Essex 

 is the variety most commonly grown. The service which 

 this small plant has rendered to sheep husbandry in 

 America during recent years has been very great, and the 

 service that it may yet render it would not be easy to 

 overestimate. Those who may desire information with 

 reference to the growing of this plant are referred to the 

 book, "Cultivated Crops," by the author. 



The ideal conditions for fattening sheep on rape call 

 for the following: (i) That the rape shall be well on 

 toward maturity before it is reaped ; (2) that a grass pas- 

 ture shall be available to which the sheep may have free 

 access while they are feeding on the rape ; and (3) that the 

 climate is such that the winter does not close in suddenly. 



When the rape is possessed of much stalk in propor- 

 tion to the leaf growth, it is not so laxative as the more 

 tender early leaf growth, and it furnishes more food to 

 the acre. Moreover, the sheep will eat the stems down 

 close to the ground. But when rape is sown early, and 



