1008. 
PROSPECTS FOR SHEEP. 
Conditions Prevailing in a Dull Time. 
For the past half dozen years sheep have been 
booming. They have been eagerly sought after, not 
only by those who know the business, but by all 
sorts and conditions of men. In fact, good ewes have 
been so in demand that the price has been too high 
for much profit except with those that were excep¬ 
tionally fine and in the hands of men who thoroughly 
understood them. Many have gone into sheep who 
had no knowledge of the business, and too often such 
paid outside prices. They were bound to run up 
against difficulties, as is always the case in any untried 
enterprise, and now with wool 10 cents a pound lower 
than a year ago and few buyers, and mutton lambs 
lower, too, there are bound to be a lot of disgruntled 
people, who will be even more eager to get out of the 
business than they were to get in; those who have 
kept sheep just long enough to learn more of the 
drawbacks. Is this wise? 
Let us look over the situation as a whole. The 
Government report shows practically no more sheep 
than for a few years past. The great ranges in the 
West no longer can maintain the immense flocks of 
two decades ago. This is also true of beef cattle. 
One report makes the number of cattle to go to mar¬ 
ket this year as 25 per cent less than a year ago. In 
spite of the general depression beef has advanced. 
In view of the above it would seem clear that there 
is not likely to be an overproduction or abund¬ 
ance of meat products. Just now 
there are a great many idle who 
are restricting their buying along all 
lines, particularly in meats, which have 
been and are abnormally high. 
These conditions, to my mind, will 
compel farmers to take less for all 
crops this season than we have been 
getting for the past few years. With 
the scale of wages and other expenses 
about the same as last year we must 
expect a year of small profits, possibly 
none, and must curtail all outgoes, ex¬ 
cept such as are absolutely necessary, 
or in many cases the profit will be on 
the wrong side of the ledger. We 
have had cream; now we must take a 
little skim-milk. Sheep are thus no 
exception. With many woolen mills 
idle, and many others only running on 
half time last Winter, there is a good 
deal of the wool clip of 1907 yet on 
hand. With the uncertainty that al¬ 
ways attends the year of a Presiden¬ 
tial election, we can expect little 
change before the new year, but the 
country is sound, and in the not dis¬ 
tant future mills will run, good wages 
will be paid and values will be main¬ 
tained as heretofore. 
Therefore I would say to sheep keep¬ 
ers, large and small, don’t get panic- 
stricken and sacrifice the sheep, and 
then have to say, with Isaiah, “all we 
like sheep, have gone astray.” Old 
sheep that can no longer be kept at 4 
profit are bound to sell for a small 
sum. We might as well accept the 
fact and make the best of it. Neither will 
the price of wool be what it has been for at least 
a year, probably longer. Whether it will pay to hold 
is a problem that the writer has not yet quite solved. 
If we were to hold without loss from moth, mice 
or shrinkage there is no question but it would pay 
well to do so, “but there’s the rub.” I am almost in¬ 
clined "to bear the ills I have” (18-cent wool) “than 
fly to others that I know not of.” For those—and 
they are in the majority in the East—who are keeping 
mutton sheep, wool is only a secondary consideration 
anyhow. Keep the “firstlings” of the flock for breed¬ 
ers. \\ hen they become sheep they will pay. In any 
event, stay by the sheep. Now is the time to stock 
up, when good sheep can be obtained at buyer’s, not 
sellers prices. Too many went out of sheep during 
the last depression, and repented in sackcloth and 
ashes when it was too late. There is a town in this 
county which was formerly a sheep center. Most of 
the sheep have been replaced by cows. With high 
priced and scanty labor, and little knowledge of pres¬ 
ent day dairying, they have not been found what 
they had been "cracked up to be.” One man said: 
^e made a mistake; our farms are better adapted 
to sheep than cows; we understand them, but they 
are so high we cannot afford-to restock.” Doubtless 
1 us is a fair sample of many others. Now is the 
opportunity to return to their first love. Wool and 
mutton are both necessities, not luxuries that may be 
permanently retired from our scheme of living. 
EDWARD VAX ALSTYNE. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
ALFALFA IN SOUTHWEST OHIO. 
The Need of Lime. 
Many of the farmers in this county have had an 
attack of Alfalfa fever, but after one or two trials 
some are now convalescent. Willis O. Wing came 
down to an institute here and talked of Alfalfa, its 
value as feed and the care needed for its successful 
growth. Other speakers dilated upon the nitrogen¬ 
gathering property of this plant and, perhaps, made 
too prominent the fact that Alfalfa will thrive on 
nitrogen -poor soils. While this is true, no one should 
lose sight of the fact that there are certain conditions 
of the soil necessary for the success of Alfalfa. One 
of these conditions is that phosphorus, potassium 
and lime must be present in the soil in sufficient 
amounts; another, the soil must not be sour, and 
finally the nitrogen-gathering bacteria must be pres¬ 
ent, or, in other words, the soil must be inoculated 
with these bacteria. The Wing brothers know Alfalfa 
as perhaps no other Ohio farmers know it, and I 
will take their word at any time, so the failures with 
Alfalfa here, I believe, are due largely to a disregard 
of the salient points of their teachings. In consid¬ 
ering the causes for the failures here I find that in 
not a single instance was lime used, and while the 
bottom land is, perhaps, not sour, all the upland is to 
a considerable extent, and on such land lime would 
have proven very profitable and have insured success 
in place of partial failure. In the several fields I 
have examined I have been unable to find a single 
BLOOMS OF INTERMEDIATE IRISES. MUCH REDUCED. 
See Ruralisms, Page 602. 
nodule on the Alfalfa plants, and if this is true of 
all the Alfalfa here it explains some of the lack of 
success; without the bacteria Alfalfa possesses no 
advantage over any other high protein plant out¬ 
side the leguminous plants. In no case were any 
of the fields inoculated by any method, and if any 
bacteria are present they came in on the seed or 
from Sweet clover, which is very abundant along 
some of the roadsides here. 
1 he seed beds were well worked down and pul¬ 
verized and Spring and Summer seeding were both 
tried, with greater success from the Summer seeding. 
A near neighbor last Summer prepared 10 acres of 
oat stubble very carefully and sowed 20 pounds of 
Alfalfa seed and 100 pounds of acid phosphate per 
acre on August 24. The weather being favorable, 
the Alfalfa came up quickly and made good growth 
before Winter, which, however, proved to be rather 
mild, and the Alfalfa looked well in March, when 
Fig. 266 was taken. Some forest leaves and dead 
volunteer oat plants may be noticed among the dark 
green Alfalfa plants. There was last Fall quite a 
lot of volunteer oats, but instead of benefiting the 
Alfalfa as a Winter protection the oats did much 
damage by smothering the slower growing Alfalfa. 
A week later the plants shown in Fig. 267 were dug 
up and photographed. The roots were strong and 
thrifty, and the plants were making a good growth. 
No nodules were found. For four weeks previous 
to June 10 this Alfalfa was at a standstill. It was 
about six to eight inches high and many of the 
600 
leaves were a light yellow. The field was clipped 
June 10, and the owner 'is anxiously awaiting the 
outcome. In some parts of this field there are large 
patches of sorrel, which is a good indication of acid¬ 
ity, need of drainage and lime, and of a run-down 
condition of the soil. In this case I believe the lack 
of success is due to acidity of the soil and a lack 
of proper bacteria. Quite a number of farmers are 
disgusted with their lack of success with this crop, 
and rightfully enough, for their experience has cost 
a lot of labor and money, but it will be labor and 
money well spent if these failures spur them on to 
greater efforts and to final success. While Alfalfa 
may not suit the needs of every farmer, may not suit 
his crop rotation, or his soil, yet there is, in most 
parts of the United States, a long-felt want that will 
be filled some time or other, and very successfully by 
Alfalfa. The culture of Alfalfa will prove a bless¬ 
ing because its successful growth will require better 
and more intelligent farming, and these things mean 
financial success also. w. e. d. 
Hillsboro, O.- 
STARTING THE OLD STRAWBERRY BEDS. 
I usually count on getting my best crop of straw¬ 
berries from young plants, although Gandy and some 
other varieties often give the largest yield on old 
beds. Old plants have the fault of setting too much 
fruit, and as a result it runs small after the earlier 
pickings. Old plants also seem to be more subject 
to insect troubles. I have never tried fruiting old 
beds for more than three crops. The 
plan I am working this season for re¬ 
newing a patch grown by the matted 
row system is to clip over the beds 
with a mower as soon after fruiting 
as the ground can be found in good 
condition for cultivating. Rake up 
and remove all leaves and mulch that 
might interfere with cultivation. Cul¬ 
tivate with a double-shovel plow, nar¬ 
rowing the rows down, or leave them 
full width, as best suits the variety, 
the season or the ideas of the grower. 
Follow the plow with a spike harrow 
until the beds are fairly level. This 
will leave a covering of earth about an 
inch deep over the old plants—just 
what they will need in forming new 
crowns and new roots above the old 
ones. After a few days of good 
growing weather the new growth will 
begin to show through this covering, 
and also such weeds and grasses as 
have survived the ordeal of this re¬ 
newal process. Now comes the time 
for the “man with a hoe.” And the 
work of cutting out and keeping out 
the weeds and surplus plants will fur¬ 
nish at least bi-weekly employment for 
hoe and cultivator until the time when 
Fall mulching should begin. 
Any long range directions that can 
be given on strawberry growing are, 
at best, only suggestive. Each grower 
must work along lines that best suit 
himself and his conditions. The man 
who has reached the point where he 
almost holds communion with his 
plants can never visit them without hearing their cry 
for help. A full response to this cry, I am convinced, 
would give the grower work to do almost every day, 
when the weather will permit, from planting till pick¬ 
ing. There is cultivating, hoeing, layering, weeding, 
feeding, mulching and more mulching. And with all 
this care the chances are there will still be some bare 
spaces and some weak plants to shame the grower 
with the feeling that he hasn’t done his full duty. 
Indiana. _ F. moffitt. 
A MONTANA SOD ORCHARD.—I send you note on the 
winner of more cups in our Montana Horticultural Society 
for Winter apples than any other man. He is the original 
sod man in the State; never broke the bunch grass. 
“We congratulate M. II. Pierce, of Plains, on his good 
fortune, winning all the prizes offered on fruit displays 
at Billings last week. Mr. Pierce is one of Montana’s 
leading apple growers and his collection of apples shows 
up with the best. But the joke about Mr. Pierce’s win¬ 
nings is that his orchards are sodded with grasss and only 
five furrows to the row were ever plowed, the ground 
between being native sod.” 
Personally I believe if this system is carried out per¬ 
fectly as Pierce does, putting on manure if too little 
growth is noticed and not putting on any if growth is 
all right, irrigating just enough for his purpose of getting 
sound keepers, well colored, of good size, spraying only 
if necessary, etc., this system is correct for this country. 
I inspected his orchard in Spring after our test Winter, 
and though he had tender, some hardy, varieties, they 
were less injured by that Winter than hardy varieties in 
the orchards of his neighbors under extra fine cultiva¬ 
tion- H. C. B. COLVII.L. 
Montana. 
Fig. 268. 
