Position of Sheep in Profitable Farming 5 



place as it gives to the keeping of cattle. The 

 economic advantage of sheep as compared with 

 cattle lies in the fact that they produce more liber- 

 ally in proportion to what they consume. Though 

 smaller in size, they consume more feed in pro- 

 portion to their weight, and because of this a larger 

 proportion of what is eaten goes into increase. It 

 is a general principle among animals that the less 

 the size, the more rapid is the rate and the greater the 

 economy of maturing. It is only when conditions al- 

 low such liberal feeding as is necessary to rapid and 

 economical development that the possibilities of 

 sheep husbandry are realized. Whether or not this 

 advantage is offset by other conditions will depend 

 upon the cropping system. Although they are 

 ruminants, sheep are not as well fitted as cattle to 

 utilize large quantities of coarse roughage. This 

 fact probably puts sheep at some disadvantage in 

 comparison with cattle as the main stock on farms 

 in the corn belt, although other features still give 

 them an important place on such farms. 



In restoring or maintaining fertility, considerable 

 use must be made of green crops. The grazing off of 

 such crops by sheep involves little extra labor and 

 leaves the main part of the fertilizing elements where 

 needed. The form in which the sheep manure is 

 dropped and the way it is tramped into the soil 

 insure a smaller waste than is possible under any 

 other system. The compacting of the soil by the 



