SHEEP AND HENS. 
PROPER FARM PARTNERS FOR WOMEN. 
Farming 1 on a Picturesque Spot. 
A gorge in the mountains plainly visible for miles to 
passengers on the Reading Railroad as they enter 
New England, is the famous Sage Ravine (see Fig. 
172). It is visited by hundreds who love the poetic in 
Nature, and has been immortalized by Henry Ward 
Beecher in his famous “Star Papers. ’ 
He delighted in its rugged grandeurs 
clothed in richest hemlocks, pines and 
spray-bespangled ferns, and was never 
tired of watching the sparkling splen¬ 
dor of its crystal torrent which pours 
ceaselessly over the granite heights. 
Here it is that the beautifully-rolling 
Sage Ravine Farm stretches away in 
the sunshine along the Under Moun¬ 
tain road in picturesque old Sheffield. 
If nutritious and abundant herbage, 
broad, smooth meadows and water in 
purest plenty are essential to the sheep, 
surely that animal must here find its 
elysium. The wooded steeps of Tagh- 
conic Mountain, whose jagged brow is 
often wreathed in clouds, keep oil the 
cold west wind and distil their drink¬ 
ing water. This model New England 
home has been a familiar inheritance 
for more than a century. Its present 
owner is Miss A. B. Sage, to whose 
discreet management the success of the 
place has been due since the death of 
her father some years ago. The Rural's 
representative recently rang the bell 
there, and was ushered by the lady in 
person into the spacious old house. To 
the statement that he had come to 
question her of the ways of women in 
farming, she modestly replied that she 
“ did not consider her accomplishment 
in this line worth publishing.” This 
point the reader will be allowed to 
decide. 
Sheep for the Main Crop. 
In reply to the query, 
“ What branch of farming would you 
especially recommend for women ? ” 
she said. 
“Sheep and hens. I have tried all 
kinds of stock, and none pays better or 
causes less work. Sheep not only make 
less work during the busy season, but 
require less time and attention than 
cows, which must be driven to and 
from pasture, etc.” 
“ Do you not keep any cows?” was 
asked. 
“Yes; three or four for home comfort.” 
“Is it not almost impossible to get 
men to wash and shear the sheep ? ’ 
“ I have not found it so ” 
“ Are as many sheep kept in this re¬ 
gion as formerly ? ” 
“ I think there are many more.” 
“Is it as easy to get good help as formerly, and at 
as reasonable wages ? ” 
“ No. Day help is high and month help more exact¬ 
ing as a rule.” 
“ Do you think large flocks do as well in proportion 
as small ones ?” 
“ No. They should be divided.” 
“ Is there any better market demand for black-faced 
than for white-faced lambs ? ” 
“ Not according to my experience. What butchers 
want is a fat lamb of whatever build or color.” 
“Do you get your best returns from lambs or 
wool ? ” 
“ The lambs pay well, although we have not until 
latterly raised very early ones. Now we are making 
it a rule to have them to sell in May, June and July, 
when they bring 85 to 87 or more per head. The wool 
returns a profit which is not to be disregarded how¬ 
ever.” 
It was learned later that the wool clip on this farm 
is considered the best of any in the region and invari¬ 
ably brings 20 cents more per pound. 
To Keep the Sheep In Health. 
“ Do you have trouble with any of the parasites and 
diseases which seem to infest flocks generally ? ” 
“Yes; ticks cause some trouble. The dip we use 
kills these, however. After the sheep have been 
sheared a few days the men dip the lambs and find 
this all that is needed. The parasites have all found 
their way on to the lambs whose wool is longer and 
warmer. By painstaking we have avoided serious 
loss from scab, grub-in-the-head, etc. The latter is 
caused by a fly which lays its eggs in the nostrils of 
the sheep. Its larvae spend the first stage of their ex¬ 
istence in the sheep’s head. The animals betray the 
presence of the fly by sullenly standing with their 
noses on the ground. Then they appreciate a few 
newly plowed furrows in the pasture, where they can 
put their noses in the loose earth. Dark sheds to which 
they could retreat at midday, would be 
humane.” 
“Do you raise any special fodder 
crops for the flock ? ” 
“ Sheep seem hardly able to live with¬ 
out roots of some kind in winter. Our 
crop of turnips amounted to 500 bushels 
last fall. We feed many apples besides, 
and find them very useful. Both fruit 
and roots save grain.” 
“ Do you employ chemicals on the 
farm ? ” asked The Rural’s man. 
“No; with the exception of some 
phosphate.” 
Afterwards it was learned, however, 
that quantities of concentrated foods 
are used for their manurial as well as 
food values. Wanting to learn what 
kind of rotation could be followed on 
such a farm, I inquired, and was told: 
“ No rotation is followed further than 
to plow up the poorest grass land 
continually, whether in orchard or 
meadow, and Beed it down as rich as 
possible. Sometimes almost the entire 
year’s composts are saved to be put on 
a single field. The results are as as¬ 
tonishing as lasting.” 
“Are lambs and wool the only sources 
of income from the farm ? ” 
“Poultry pays, and fruit returns 
quite a respectable profit.” 
“ But I suppose this cannot be de¬ 
pended on annually ?” 
“Last season was the ‘off’ year, 
but we had 300 barrels of apples to 
sell, and they brought good prices. 
Since we have begun fertilizing the 
apple trees, the crops of fruit are 
larger, better and more regular.” Plums 
and peaches also do well, a fact attrib¬ 
utable to the protecting influence of 
the mountain. 
Does Such Farming Pay ? 
Eager to know the financial side of 
farming conducted by one who has 
to hire everything done, I inquired 
whether the place had been made to 
pay. In reply the owner said : 
“ Yes ; it has paid well. Perhaps 
not always pecuniarily, but in the ways 
I prefer to have it pay.” 
“ May I ask what these are ? ” 
“ The returns in money have paid all 
the farm’s expenses, and left a small 
balance each year, besides supplying 
all the delights of a perfect home. I have kept strict 
book accounts, and while these do not show that I 
have made a great deal of money, it is entirely be¬ 
cause I am not willing to devote myself too closely 
to its acquisition. I could also reduce somewhat the 
expenses of living if necessary ; but I believe in enjoy¬ 
ing the good things of life, and life on the farm 
abounds with them. If a man, desirous of making 
money should assume the management, I doubt not he 
could show a handsome balance every year, and this 
while hiring all the help as I do now. The farm is a 
