Vol. LV. No. 2417. NEW YORK, MAY 23, 1896. 
SUMMER FORAGE FOR SHEEP. 
A TON OF LAMB ON FOUR ACRKS. 
Great Value of Sorghum for Sheep Pasture. 
On one acre of land at the Minnesota Experiment 
Station, last season, we pastured six sheep and ten 
lambs for nearly 53 4 months. On three acres of the 
same, or a little less than that amount, we pastured 
65 sheep and lambs for about three months, and on 
poor land at that. But the season was favorable. 
From the one acre of land, more than 550 pounds of 
lamb were obtained, to say nothing of the gains made 
by the old sheep, their dams, between the opening 
and the close of the pasturing season. The mutton 
thus grown was good in quality, and while it was 
being grown, the land was improving on the surface, 
at lea&t, rather than deteriorating. 
All the plots referred to below, contained one- 
quarter of an acre. From the plot sown to Winter 
rye in the autumn, followed by corn and rape sown 
together, past¬ 
ure was ob¬ 
tained suffi¬ 
cient to last 
one sheep for 
409% days. 
That sown to 
peas and oats 
followed by 
rape, pastured 
one sheep for 
407% days. 
That sown to 
corn and rape 
furnished food 
for one sheep 
for 523% days. 
Another plot 
sown to Winter 
rye followed by 
corn and rape, 
furnished food 
for one sheep 
for 487% days. 
The plot sown 
to Winter rye 
in the autumn, 
followed by 
sorghum, fur¬ 
nished food for 
one sheep for 
641% days. A 
plot with rape 
only sown early 
in the season, 
brought food 
for one sheep 
for 376% days. Some of these results may seem in¬ 
credible. To me they would have appeared so one 
year ago. But one cannot doubt the correctness of 
what he has seen, and when it is borne in mind that 
the land which produced this pasture, was not half so 
fertile as much of the land of the western prairies, 
the vision of immense flocks of sheep rises up before 
us as we look on into the coming days of the near 
future. 
Of course the pasturing of the plots was by the 
system of alternation. The sheep were put upon one 
plot until it was eaten down, and they were then 
changed to another. When one plot was eaten down, 
it was then harrowed in nearly all instances, to free 
it from weeds, and to conserve the moisture in the 
soil, and in some instances, it was reseeded with an¬ 
other crop. On two or three occasions, it was disked 
before sowing another crop, and in the case of the rye, 
followed by the corn and sorghum, it was plowed 
before sowing the sorghum. 
The crops that gave the best returns relatively, were 
rye followed by corn and rape, and by sorghum ; but 
the plots which grew peas and oats in the one instance, 
followed by rape, and rape only in the other instance, 
gave excellent results. Corn and rape, also, furnished 
a large amount of food ; but the weak point about 
corn is that it does not grow up again when eaten 
off. Of all the plants grown, there is, perhaps, none 
that will produce so much summer pasture as sorghum. 
When eaten off, it will grow up again and again, and 
to say that the sheep are fond of it, is to put it mildly. 
The plots were photographed from time to time, 
and the sketches thus taken will appear in the bul¬ 
letin which is now almost ready. This bulletin will 
give all the particulars relating to the experiment. 
The photograph, Fig. Ill, represents sheep pasturing 
on sorghum of the second growth. It will be readily 
apparent that, where the pasture is abundant, as rep¬ 
resented in the sketch, the sheep are not likely to 
fare badly on a food of which they are very fond. It 
will be noticed that some of the sorghum is shooting 
into the head ; but it was all eaten by the sheep right 
down to the ground. 
Of all the plants tried, those possessed of most 
promise are Winter rye. rape, peas and oats followed 
by rape and sorghum. Corn is also good, but as stated 
before, it does not grow up a second time. In the 
West, and perhaps, indeed, everywhere, rape and 
sorghum will prove of inestimable service in provid¬ 
ing summer forage for sheep ; one of these is the 
complement of the other. I had not been long out 
West before I noticed that rape would not fulfill quite 
the same mission as it did in Ontario, and for the rea¬ 
son that turnips do not flourish with us as they do in 
Ontario, although in all parts of Minnesota they can 
be profitably grown. The hot and dry weather of 
midsummer is not so favorable to the growth of rape 
at that season as is the moister and somewhat cooler 
weather of Ontario. But sorghum is at its best just 
at that particular season. It revels in hot weather, 
and it stands drought well. These two, then, alone 
would carry the flocks through the whole season 
without the aid of other plants. 
It was with fear and trembling that I sowed a piece 
of sorghum for sheep pasture in the spring of 1895. 
Those who thought they knew, said that, if put in the 
grain drill, the weeds would choke it. And so they 
will when put in by those who don’t know how to 
prepare the land. And reports were rife in the agri¬ 
cultural papers as to the dangers attending the past¬ 
uring of second-growth sorghum with cattle. If it 
killed cattle sometimes, why not sheep also ? And so 
it may. I do not regard this point as conclusively 
settled. VVe have grown it only for pasture for a 
single season. This point once conclusively settled, 
I have no hesitation in saying that sorghum will yet 
prove the greatest gift that a kind Providence ever 
gave to the American flock master. 
The system of thus growing summer forage for 
sheep, is applicable to every section of this great 
country, from 
the Atlantic to 
the Pacific, and 
from the Gulf 
of Mexico to 
Canada, men 
can adopt it in 
one form or an- 
other. The 
plants that will 
be found the 
most suitable 
in one section, 
will not always 
prove the most 
suitable in an¬ 
other. But the 
principle which 
underlies the 
system will be 
the same. In 
every place, 
some plants 
will be found 
eminently 
adapted to the 
growth of sum¬ 
mer forage, and 
those engaged 
in sheep hus¬ 
bandry cannot 
find out at too 
early a date, 
which plants 
will best suit 
the purpose. 
Of course, it 
is not intended that these crops shall entirely super¬ 
sede pasture ; they should rather be made to supple¬ 
ment it. We ought to have grass pasture, and in 
nearly all instances it should be our mainstay, but 
we ought, also, to have other pastures, green, succu¬ 
lent and abundant, to supplement the grass pastures. 
Sheep may be carried over such seasons on the soil¬ 
ing system ; but think of ihe labor involved ! Why 
undertake so much labor when there is another and a 
better way ? Sheep waste very little of the food while 
they are on pasture, unless allowed on it when it is 
wet; and it is also better for them to go out and gather 
food for themselves than to have it brought to them. 
Every farmer who keeps sheep in any considerable 
numbers, should grow more or less of summer forage 
for them, and those who have large flocks, should 
grow it in ample supply. One, two or thi*pe kinds 
should suffice any season, and any surplus e,uld be 
utilized in improving the fertility of the land. 
Minnesota Exp. Station- [I’BOf J tuqmas huaw, 
SIIEEP PASTURING ON SECOND-GROWTII SORGHUM AT THE MINNESOTA EXPERIMENT STATION. Fxo. 111. 
