1901 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
SUMMER CARE OF SHEEP. 
Successful Soiling on Oafs and Peas. 
Ideas concerning the Summer management of sheep 
are changing in a great many respects. That the 
sheep will do well as compared with other stock on 
closer picking is generally admitted. There is an old 
saying in describing a poor farm which ends “so 
poor that it won’t grow white beans.” After several 
years of experience and observation, I have come to 
the conclusion that it requires about as good soil to 
grow beans as any other crop. It is pretty nearly as 
true with the flock. The farmer can scrimp and 
starve his sheep if he wants to, and they’ll respond 
to it with carcasses and products just as scrawny 
and starved as has been their attention. It is a rule 
that wiil hold through every State, and I believe in 
every clime, that the farmer with a choice paying 
flock treats them to the best his farm will grow. The 
best sheep farmers are growing a special crop for 
their sheep; and they are finding, too, that it pays. 
There is another very foolish idea that is happily fast 
passing away: that is, that the flock does not neces¬ 
sarily require water being supplied to them naturally 
or otherwise; that the flock can readily secure all 
the water they need from the moisture deposited on 
the grass at night. Possibly this might have been 
true to a limited extent 
with the old Merino fine- 
wool or grade back 30 
years ago, but if it was 
true, times and condi¬ 
tions have changed won¬ 
derfully during the past 
few years, and especially 
since the modern mut¬ 
ton-wool sheep has be¬ 
come so popular. We have 
found that our heavy 
Shropshire ewes are just 
as anxious to get water 
during all seasons of the 
year as any other stock 
we have. We are certain 
that our sheep suffer 
nearly if not fully as 
much without water as 
any of our stock. Conse¬ 
quently, during all sea¬ 
sons, and especially dur¬ 
ing the hot weather, if 
there are no natural 
means of securing water, 
we see that they are siip- 
plied artificially. 
Soiling for cattle is be¬ 
coming more or less pop¬ 
ular. With sheep many 
farmers, unless they have 
unlimited pasturage, sow 
a special crop. For this 
puriK>se there is nothing 
that compares with the 
rape plant. In this lati¬ 
tude the sheepman will 
rear the lambs on rape, 
and the ewes and lambs 
will summer on it, and 
in the Fall almost fatten 
on it; seemingly rape will 
do almost everything for 
the sheep but winter it. 
As a quick grower it is 
simply unsurpassed by 
anything. I have actually 
seen rape standing 18 measured inches six weeks 
from date of sowing. This is exceptional, but it 
shows what the rape can do. We sow more or less 
rape for sheep every year. Fig. 232 is a very good 
illustration of a few of our Shropshires feeding down 
a portion of a field of rape. It can be noted how close¬ 
ly the stems are trimmed, and how anxious the ewes 
and lambs are to get more. Rape should not be al¬ 
lowed to get too large before the sheep have access 
to it. I have noiticed that the sheep will invariably 
take the younger and more tender plants in prefer¬ 
ence to the older and larger ones. The flock will take 
to the patches that are small and gradually work into 
the larger. At first the rape plant must be fed with 
some moderation or the effect will be the same as 
with clover. Rape may be made the main portion 
of the sheep pasture, but it is best to allow the flock 
to have access to other pasture on account of the 
extreme succulence of the rape. 
We have been soiling a few sheep on fair pasture 
with sown oats and peas given once or twice a day 
this Summer. I am satisfled from results that sheep 
could be successfully soiled. We And that peas and 
oats are consumed almost greedily. There is only 
one trouble, and this is that on account of the ex¬ 
treme succulence green oats and peas are very loos¬ 
ening, and if fed too freely trouble will follow. We 
fed a little too liberally at first this season, and got 
some of the lambs to scouring rather badly; but from 
the fact that one yearling ram, which has been fed 
the mixture all the season, has had no trouble from 
excessive looseness, I conclude that with a little cau¬ 
tion in the beginning one would have no trouble at 
all in feeding a mixed crop like this to sheep. Rape 
is apt ito have the same effect until the flock has be¬ 
come used to it, then there is no difficulty. As is 
shown in Fig. 232, our ewes keep in good condition 
on good pasture without any grain whatever; but we 
do like to supply the lambs with about all they will 
consume. We fina it quite necessary to push the 
young stock for about all they are worth, and find 
grain is a very great help. At present we are feed¬ 
ing a mixture of oats and cornmeal, two parts oats 
to one of corn. A mixture of bran we have also 
found to be excellent. The handiest and neatest way 
of graining lambs while yet running with the ewes 
is to provide a "creep” into which the lambs can go 
through a suitable opening, but yet too small for the 
ewes to pass through. Barring a flesh and bone-form¬ 
ing feed for the lambs, I have found no mutton breerls 
that required grain during the 'Summer months save 
possibly in suckling lambs, and few even then. 
Shiawassee Co., Mich. c. p. Reynolds. 
ROSE AND WHITE PERENNIAL PEAS, LATHYRDS LATIFOLIUS. Fig. 233. See Page 534. 
GRASS SEEDED WITHOUT GRAIN. 
The “Clark” System of Grass Culture. 
Here is a note from a new subscriber: “What do 
you mean by the ‘Clark’ system of seeding to grass? 
Who is ‘Clark’? Where does he live? Does he know 
what he is talking about? What is his so-called 
‘system’ os compared with the usual plan of sowing 
grass seed with small grain?” 
For the past five years we have been writing about 
George M. Clark, of Higganum, Conn., and his field of 
grass. It seems necessary to tell the story anew each 
year. Instead of reprinting the old articles we try to 
get in the growth of the matter. It is quite evident 
that in a country as wide as America is any plan of 
farming must be modified and changed as it goes 
away from home. 
But thousands of farmers raise good grass—why do 
you speak of “Clark’s system”? Is he the inventor 
of it? 
No, yet we do not know of anyone who has carried 
out his definite plan as carefully as he has. 
Does he get more grass than anybody else? 
So far as we have been informed he does. 
What did he cut this year? 
He had seven acres in grass and cut from them 
79,490 pounds of well-dried hay. This is an average 
of 11,355 pounds per acre. Last year the crop on the 
same seven acres was 70,750 pounds. 
Do you believe any such story? 
Yes, I have been in this hayfield several times, and 
have reason to believe that each load of hay is ac¬ 
curately weighed as it comes from the field. 
How many years had this grass been seeded? 
Three and one-half acres were seeded last Novem¬ 
ber. This year they averaged 10,118 pounds per acre. 
Another field of IV 2 acre averaged 11,890 pounds, 
while another of seven-eighths of an acre 12 years old 
gave 12,210 pounds, and another of five-eighths of an 
acre gave 9,700 pounds, or at the rate of nearly eight 
tons per acre! There will also be another later crop. 
What sort of grass was it? 
Timothy and Red-top. Some of it contained a small 
amount of clover. 
What is Mr. Clark’s secret? 
He has none. He simply knows what grass needs, 
and has been able to supply the needed conditions. 
What are these conditions? 
First, natural grass land, well drained, smooth, 
and with a perfect grade. Grass likes a stone two 
feeit under ground, but not on the surface. There 
must be no dishes or knobs on the surface, which 
should be as level as the cement fioor of a stable, so 
that it will gently drain 
water. Second, the upper 
four inches of the soil 
must be as fine as an ash 
heap that has not been 
packed by rain. The 
weeds and foul grass 
must be killed out. Third, 
there must be an abund¬ 
ance of soluble plant 
food. Mr. Clark uses 
chemical fertilizers, and 
says they are much bet¬ 
ter than manure. Fourth, 
Mr. Clark seeds his grass 
without any grain crop, 
and uses about twice as 
much seed as Is usually 
sown. 
That sounds easy—can 
anybody do it? 
I have not been able to 
do it myself yet. 
What caused your own 
failure? 
My field was too rough. 
We did not get all the 
stones out, and the heavy 
floods of this wet season 
did too much washing. 1 
think also that we did 
not use enough fertilizer. 
Why do you advocate 
for others what you ad ¬ 
mit you have not done 
yourself? 
I do not advocate any¬ 
thing beyond the careful 
preparation, heavy fer¬ 
tilizing and fair seeding. 
No man can expect to 
take rough land, full of 
stones and not well 
drained, scratch it over 
and say that he knows 
Clark’s method is a fail¬ 
ure. I advocate as close 
an imitation of Clark’s 
plan of fitting the ground as ‘a farmer can give. I 
know that many farmers with only one team and a 
dozen jobs pressing at one time cannot do it all. 1 
am sure, however, that every extra working of the 
soil before seeding will pay. 
How does Mr. Clark fit the soil? Tell the whole 
story. 
It cannot all be told at once—being too long. I 
will describe the method next week. If you have a 
piece of clear land that you wish to seed down in this 
way 'begin at once to prepare it. Mr. Clark does not 
plow land, but uses various forms of the Cutaway 
harrow. Instead of turning the furrow over these 
tools lift and toss the soil, shaking it up to the sun 
and wind. The object is thoroughly to air the soil, 
and thus sweeten it and kill out all weeds and foul 
stuff. It must be said, however, that excellent work 
may be done with such a tool as the spring-tooth 
harrow. - __ h. w. c. 
PAN-AMERICAN.—In the Horticulture Building the 
cherry display is getting to be Interesting. Idaho is 
receiving shipments of this fruit every few days, and 
Oregon has begun showing her Immense cherries, for 
they are really so large that I have heard people ask if 
they were crab apples. Tlie most conspicuous variety 
has been the Bing, which is black, but Napoleon, which 
is a sort of rosy red mixed with yellow, Is more brilliant 
and attractive. Such cherries can scarcely be grown in 
any of the Eastern States. We have a promise from 
some of the New York growers that they will equal the 
western cherry exhibits, and we are waiting to see them 
do It. H. B. VAN DEMAN. 
