NEW YORK AUGUST 4. 1894 
VOL. LI 11 . No. 
$1.00 PER YEAR 
mand for it. Heretofore I have been the only one 
raising it in this vicinity. It is an excellent forage 
crop, especially during the dry weather of August and 
for late fall feed, as it gives us a large quantity of 
succulent food on which the sheep thrive the best of 
anything we have ever tried ; but people must not 
expect that rape will do everything for the sheep 
business. This alone will not insure success, and 
while it is a satisfactory adjunct to the sheep busi¬ 
ness, do not lead people to expect too much from it. 
When our turnips are gathered, those that are in¬ 
tended for feed from the time we take olT the rape 
until about Christmas, are put into the cellar, and the 
others are buried to be used in the spring after the 
ensilage is gone, and until the sheep are turned on to 
the rye and grass. For this purpose, we have an Eng¬ 
lish make of root pulper, which cuts the turnips into 
chunks about one-quarter of an inch square and the 
size of the turnip in length. This is plenty fine for 
feeding, and there is no danger of choking. In gath¬ 
ering the turnips, the small, imperfect ones are left 
in the ground and the sheep turned on to them to 
clean them up, which they will do very thoroughly 
if put there before the ground is 
frozen hard. gko. e. hreck. 
^ Paw Paw, Mich. 
PORTABLE FENCES FOR SHEEP 
A Wire Fence Hurdle. 
There are several kinds of portable fence for hur¬ 
dling sheep, but the best that I have ever seen is 
what is called the Van Wagoner fence. I have used 
several pieces of it, made 20 rods long, with nine 
smooth No 11 wires, with wood slats every three feet, 
fastened to each wire. This fence is sold at .50 cents 
per rod, including ratchets for each end for tighten- 
HOW TO MARK TKMrORAKY KNCLOSURKS 
Feeding Sheep on Rape. 
The best portable fence that I know of is shown at 
Pig. 126. I believe that it was first brought to this 
continent by Prof. Brown, who used it very exten¬ 
sively on the farm of the Ontario Agricultural Col¬ 
lege. We have used it for some years on our farm 
here, for folding sheep on rape, and for making ram 
and hog paddocks. For the latter purpose, the end 
supports should be nailed to pegs that have been 
driven into the ground. The material used is pine 
or hemlock one inch thick. Heavier material than 
that makes heavy handling. The lower piece in the 
panel is six inches wide ; all others are four. The 
panels are 12 feet long and three feet two inches in 
height. The standing pieces into which the panels fit are 
four feet high and three feet four inches wide at the 
base, and the ends come together so as to form an 
equilateral triangle. The ends of the panels fit into 
notches in the end pieces. It is very easy to put the 
fencing up or take it down. The sides of the notches 
in the end pieces that receive the 
upper end of the panel are fre¬ 
quently broken by rough carriage ~ ~ 
from place to place, but that inter¬ 
feres but slightly with the stability 
126 shows the 
j How to Feed OIF Rape. 
Various kinds of portable fences 
are in use for hurdling sheep, but 
I we have never used anything better 
than that shown at Fig. 126. Some 
better kind may yet be made of 
wire, or of wire and strips combined; 
but if it has been made hitherto, I 
have not met with it. The fence 
shown is not costly, and is very dur¬ 
able. If carefully handled and 
carefully stored, when not in use, it 
will last for many years. More¬ 
over, it is easily made; any one 
with the material can make it for 
himself, and at a time of the year 
when other work is not pressing. 
It will be found useful in winter in 
making such temporary yards as 
may be required. It may be neces¬ 
sary in windy situations to drive a 
stake into the ground at the base of 
the head piece on one side. These 
stakes may be made of one-inch 
_boards, and need not be more than 15 
inches long, and two or three inches 
broad. They may be driven into 
the ground a few inches, following 
the slant of the head piece in driving it. A nail may 
then be driven through the stake into the head piece. 
It is only necessary to stake down some of the head 
pieces. 
As to the size of the fiocks, much depends on the 
kind of sheep. As a rule, the larger the animals of 
the breed, the fewer of them should be together. I 
would quite as soon risk 100 Merinos as 50 Cotswolds 
or Lincolns in one flock. It is probable that better 
results will be obtained from fiocks not exceeding the 
numbers mentioned than from those which are larger, 
but where the pasture range is large, the flock may 
also be large. What I mean is, that a flock with a 
wide range is likely to be more free from diseases than 
one of the same size with a small range, even though 
the latter should be supplied with a sufficiency of 
food. Where sheep are to be pastured on rape and 
sent to the shambles, several hundred will do well to¬ 
gether, providing the food is abundant. At the Ex¬ 
periment Station at Guelph, Ontario, we have had 600 
to 700 lambs in a pasture at one time. 
In feeding off rape, it is not necessary to use hur 
of the fence, 
fence as it appears when in use. 
1 have seen as many as 500 sheep 
on one field of rape, but I do not 
think it advisable to have so many 
together in a field. Aside from any 
other consideration, they are liable 
to get frightened at some time in 
the feeding, and some are likely to 
be killed in the stampede and crush 
of such a number. In making an 
estimate of the number to put on a 
given area, I think it is conservative 
to say that an acre of good rape 
will, with some additional food in 
the way of a small piece of pasture 
and some grain, fatten 10 lambs in 
two months. It is advisable to have 
a strip of pasture adjoioing the 
rape field so that the sheep may 
have access to it at all times. It 
will be noticed that they will feed 
on the rape for a half hour or so and 
then graze in the pasture for a time, MBBHWBI 
and so continue until cud chewing 
becomes imperative. The best grain 
mixture that I have tried for lambs 
when on rape, is corn and oats, equal parts by weight. 
On the field shown in the foreground. Fig. 127, 16 
lambs (eight shorn and the others unshorn), were fed 
for 25 days previous to November 7, 1893. They ate 
three-quarters of an acre in that time, together with 
141 pounds of oats and 85.5 pounds of corn. When 
put on the rape, they weighed a to’al of 1,260 pounds, 
and they cost us 33^ cents per pound. When they 
came off they weighed 1,409 pounds, and were sold 
shortly afterwards for four cents per pound. The 
eight that had been shorn gave us 30 pounds of wool 
(omitting the fraction) and that we sold for 15 cents 
per pound this summer. Charging the oats and corn 
to the lambs at our average market prices, we were 
paid for our rape at the rate of $20 per acre, and had 
the land in excellent condition for any crop. The 
distribution of the sheep manure, the cleaning of the 
land, and the firming of a light soil, are gains that 
cannot be overlooked. john a. cbaig. 
Wisconsin Experiment Station. 
R. N.-Y.—We regard it as singular that American 
sheep breeders do not make greater use of hurdling. 
Hukdlikg Siieei’ oNrA Rape Field. Fig. 127. 
