2 BULLETIN 20, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
not be sufficient to discourage the flock master. Good management 
and proper care will control, if not eliminate, these difficulties. The 
flock that must rustle for itself is the one that suffers most from these 
sources. Sheep are good scavengers, but should not be made to sub- 
sist upon weeds alone, with little or no attention on the part of the 
farmer. The sooner the owner realizes that his sheep can not return 
satisfactory profits under such conditions, the better it will be for 
him. Any extra care and feed given to the flock generally yields the 
greatest returns. 
Sheep have ever been in the vanguard of civilization. This country 
has been no exception in this respect. The magnetism of cheap lands 
has constantly drawn the industry westward, creating a quite general 
impression that sheep are unprofitable upon high-priced land. This 
may have been true in the past, but the mdustry is undergoing an 
evolution. The range is almost completely occupied and is constantly 
decreasing in extent. The cost of running sheep in the range country 
has gradually increased, and to- day many western people are return- 
ing to the east for the purpose of raising sheep. The period of explot- 
tation is passing and a new era of constructive live-stock farming is 
at hand, which means that a more intensive system of sheep farming 
upon high-priced land must follow. This is already in evidence in 
certain localities and, with better care than is now generally given 
the sheep, should prove more extensive. In England the question is 
~not whether you can afford to keep sheep on high-priced land, but 
whether you can afford to keep high-priced land without sheep. 
THE VALUE OF SHEEP ON THE FARM. 
INCREASE IN SOIL FERTILITY. 
Sheep will increase the fertility of the soil if they are handled 
properly. To do this they should not-be permitted to crop off the 
grass too closely, which they will do if the pasture is overstocked or 
if they are kept too long in one field. Sheep manure, with one 
exception, is the most valuable of all farm manures. It is thinly and 
evenly scattered over the ground and does not produce a rank growth 
in spots of the pasture as do other manures. The manure is also 
worked into the soil by the sharp hoofs of the sheep, so that it is not 
washed away but becomes available as plant food. This quality has 
well earned for sheep the title of ‘‘Golden hoof.” In England land 
which during Queen Elizabeth’s reign produced only 6 bushels of 
wheat per acre has been made to yield 30 bushels at the present time 
by the use of sheep. Better cultural methods may be the cause of a 
portion of this increase, but without doubt the sheep are responsible 
for the greater part of it. 
