CHAPTER XV 
LUCK WITH SHEEP 
In every locality there are discouraged farmers who 
say, “I have never had any luck with sheep.” A careful 
investigation reveals that the matter of luck had nothing 
to do with the failure, but that ignorance and mismanage- 
ment drove him out of the business. Statements that 
sheep do not require as much work as other forms of farm- 
ing are quite true, but this does not mean that they require 
no care whatever. Turning sheep into a back forty and 
allowing them to manage themselves is poor business and 
no profit can be expected from such a system. Sheep 
should be given the necessary protection from dogs, wild. 
animals, and other peculiar dangers which beset them. 
All the profits of the flock may be lost in one night from 
dogs or wild animals. A very common danger to sheep is 
the “dead furrow.” Heavily wooled sheep falling on their 
backs in a dead furrow or ditch seldom are able to get 
up and consequently die in a few hours unless help arrives, 
Many persons think that sheep are difficult to care for, 
yet this is denied by the most successful sheep-men. The 
man who willingly gives his sheep the care actually re- 
quired does not find the task difficult, while the man who 
tries to shirk and leave something undone finds himself 
constantly in trouble. Ignorance of these facts or care- 
lessness in regard to them often costs large sums of money. 
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