Summer Management of the Flock 207 



likely to be practical unless the flock is of suflBcient 

 size to justify its having the first call upon the time 

 of one man even during the summer. It is the 

 smaller flocks that stand as a side issue and are turned 

 into a regular pasture from spring until fall that be- 

 come unhealthy and unprofitable. 



To secure the greatest use of the grazing crop, the 

 English shepherd sets light hurdles to confine the 

 flock to a small area until it is closely eaten. These 

 are advanced as necessary, and narrow openings allow 

 the lambs to run through to the new ground ahead 

 of the ewes. They may be fed grain here, also, if it 

 is desired to finish them quickly. 



It is possible to carry a flock from spring until 

 winter upon sown crops. One piece of land sown to 

 rye will furnish fall and spring pasture and can be 

 reseeded to furnish oats and peas later or a fall crop 

 of rape. Early sown oats or oats and field peas can 

 be ready after the rye is gone, and a new clover field 

 may be used before the second crop is ready. Spring 

 and summer pasture is sometimes furnished by a 

 stand of clover seeded at the end of cultivation of a 

 corn crop. Rape sown with small grains furnishes 

 good fall pasture in some seasons. There is a dan- 

 ger of its making growth enough to be troublesome 

 in the grain harvest. The same crop can be sown 

 between the corn rows, or it can be grown separately 

 for earlier feeding. Early sown rape is ordinarily 

 ready for grazing two months after it comes up. 



