12 Sheep-Farming 



to keep one strain of sheep on a farm many years. 

 While it is true that sheep should be changed from 

 one pasture to another frequently, there is no reason 

 why the same strain of sheep should not be kept 

 upon a farm continuously. The writer's family has 

 kept sheep continuously upon the same farm for fifty 

 years. A small flock of sheep may easily be kept 

 healthy on the same farm indefinitely. Still another 

 reason why sheep are in disfavor with many farmers 

 is that they still think of sheep solely as wool-pro- 

 ducing animals and handle them in a way that does 

 not make the mutton product a prominent factor. 



The sheep, except under range conditions, should 

 be thought of primarily as a meat-producing animal 

 and handled in such a way as to make mutton lambs 

 the chief source of income. When this is done, sheep 

 will be found profitable on all our general farming 

 lands. And upon all hilly lands where blue grass 

 or other good pasture can be made to grow, sheep 

 should be the dominant interest. There is no other 

 line of farming under which the land may be allowed 

 to go to grass so completely as with sheep-farming. 

 Any farm that is well enough drained, either nat- 

 urally or otherwise, for successful tillage is suitable 

 for sheep, though limestone clays and gravels are 

 most favorable. Sheep to thrive must have dry 

 footing, and they prefer the grass that grows upon 

 well-drained land. 



Shade is a great comfort in mid-summer but not 



