SHEEP-FARMING 



CHAPTER I 



POSITION OF SHEEP IN PROFITABLE 

 FARMING 



The sheep occupies a unique place among domes- 

 tic animals. It appears to have been the first to 

 have been bred in captivity, and there is hardly a 

 part of the world where it has not been reared ex- 

 tensively. Although of such great age and so widely 

 known, its management is less understood by land- 

 owners in general than is the management of cattle, 

 horses, or swine. This is because it has not been 

 generally considered as adapted to the utilization of 

 rich arable lands in sections in which intensified 

 farming has to be practiced. English farmers fur- 

 nish an exception to this statement. There are 

 many matters of recent development that make it 

 appear that the possibilities of sheep-raising are to 

 be appraised more highly in the future by American 

 farmers. 



Natural conditions for sheep. — In the natural state, 

 sheep inhabit only the high altitudes, and the growth 

 of wool is necessary to protect them from the low 



