44^^ MANAGEMENT AND FEEDING OF SHEEP 



success on rugged lands than will attend the keeping of 



light breeds on level lands. 



Lands that are springy or that are saturated with 

 water near the surface for any considerable period dur- 

 ing the season of grazing are ill adapted to the keeping 

 of sheep. They produce grazing too watery to meet the 

 needs of sheep, and on such grazing parasites are much 

 more numerous, as a rule, than on other grazing. Wet 

 ground also favors the increase of foot rot. Sheep that 

 are maintained in any considerable degree on such pas- 

 ture will deteriorate rapidly. This does not mean, how- 

 ever, that they cannot be maintained successfully on low 

 lands, even on marsh lands that have been thoroughly 

 drained, a fact illustrated in the success that attends the 

 breeding of Romney Marsh sheep in Kent, England. 



Level lands are usually more productive than those 

 that are rolling. Hence the large breeds can get food on 

 these with less effort than on rolling lands where the 

 vegetation is less abundant. The middle breeds can 

 gather food with less effort on rolling lands than on 

 mountain pastures, where the grazing is less plentiful. It 

 follows, therefore, that the more abundant the grazing 

 and the less the distance traveled by the sheep when 

 satisfying their hunger, the larger may be the sheep so 

 grazed ; and the more sparse the pastures, and the greater 

 the distance to be traveled by the sheep when satisfying 

 their needs, the smaller may be the sheep so grazed. It 

 is of the utmost importance that the size of the sheep 

 kept shall be adapted to the character of the grazing. 

 Even on level lands where the production is sparse, the 

 heavy breeds should not be kept, as they are ill fitted to 

 stand the strain of the travel called for when seeking food. 



The character of the water supply is supremely im- 

 portant in the pastures and in the sheds, but especially 

 in the former, as shown in Chapter XV. One reason for 

 the greater freedom from disease with she'^.p grazed on 

 rolling pastures arises from their freedom, as a rule, from 



