THE CULTIVATOR 
215 
appropriate for the grazing of sheep. The grass that 
springs up directly after the burning of the prairies, is 
prefered above all others by stock of all kinds, and even 
a young tender growth of timothy and herdsgrass would 
be rejected by all kinds of domestic animals, and the 
prairie grass would be eaten in preference. This is pre¬ 
cisely the case in the spring and early summer months, 
and so passionately fond are sheep and other stock of 
the coarse prairie herbage, that large plots of ground 
completely covered with herds grass have been known to 
remain untouched by stock, during the whole of the 
early part of summer, and the wild grasses immediately 
adjoining them have been closely grazed by the animals 
roaming at will over the prairies. It is proper, however, 
to add that by the months of July and August, the herds 
grass is preferred, and by the setting in of winter it be¬ 
comes closely eaten to the ground, unless fires had been 
allowed to pass over the prairies, in the early part of au¬ 
tumn, in which case the young prairie grass would be 
again prefered. 
Where sheep husbandry is engaged in on an extensive 
scale, there are many things deserving attention; and 
those who may attempt it, w r ould do well to give the 
whole matter a minute examination before making a heavy 
expenditure of this kind. So far as the pasturage of 
sheep is concerned their need be no misapprehensions on 
that score. The sheep will get uncommonly fat, so much 
so that whole flocks will be fit for market, by the month 
of November, and that too by grazing upon the open 
prairies. But when the business of wintering them is 
duly considered, a serious drawback upon the profits of 
the operation is presented. Prairie hay is at the best, a 
very doubtful description of provender to successfully 
carry a flock of sheep through an Illinois or Iowa winter. 
The article itself is too barren in saccharine and mucil- 
lagineous matter, to be an appropriate food for winter¬ 
ing sheep; and besides its natural coarse and harsh cha¬ 
racter adapts it better for the wintering of horses and 
horned cattle, than for the more delicately formed sheep. 
In short no one need attempt wintering sheep on prairie 
hay alone, and it would be decidedly preferable to re¬ 
ject it entirely, and provide a quality of winter proven¬ 
der suited to the wants and habits of those animals. 
Well cured timothy, red clover, and herdsgrass hay, 
are among the cheapest articles that can be provided for 
the wintering of sheep. Two tons per acre may to a cer¬ 
tainty be obtained of either of those grasses, in an ave¬ 
rage of seasons, and by good management, three tons per 
acre will more frequently be had than a less quantity. 
Mowing machines of the most perfect and reliable cha¬ 
racter may be had for $150, that will mow grass in as 
perfect a manner as can be done by the common scythe, 
and at one third the cost; which in connection with the 
use of a revolving horse rake, and also the cheapness of 
the land, will reduce the actual cost of the hay so low, 
that the expense of wintering the sheep, after all, will be 
nominal, compared with the cost in the New England 
states. Where clover culture is adopted to any consider¬ 
able extent, a very abundant supply of wholesome win¬ 
ter food for sheep may be had, by allowing the whole of 
the second crop to remain on the ground undisturbed by 
stock, commencing with the month of August and end¬ 
ing with October. During those three months a full 
average crop will cover the ground, and during the periods 
that the surface of the land is either frozen or dry, the 
flocks may roam at pleasure over the clover fields, and 
the additional food they will require will be merely nomi¬ 
nal, and the actual cost of such pasturage will be made 
good, by the superior condition the land will be in for 
the succeeding crop. Hay and winter pasturage com¬ 
bined, even under the most favorable circumstances, are 
not sufficient to carry sheep through a four month winter 
in as good condition, as they were in autumn; and noth¬ 
ing short of this result should satisfy a provident hus¬ 
bandman. The cultivation of oats and root crops, may 
be economically prosecuted in a prairie country, in con¬ 
nection with the rearing and feeding of sheep; and no 
one should attempt the business, unless he be well pre¬ 
pared to provide his flocks with a liberal supply of water, 
food and shelter, to protect them from the chilly blasts 
of winds, rain, and snow storms that frequently occur on 
an unprotected prairie country. 
A mere casual observer can form no conception of the 
capacity of the great western prairies, for the rearing 
and feeding of sheep, and all other domestic animals. It 
requires a personal inspection, and a free and liberal in¬ 
tercourse with the practical farmers, and a careful in¬ 
spection of their flocks, and their modes of managing 
them, to determine correctly of the applicability of the 
country for this or any other pursuit. The unimproved 
soil suited for the purpose is so abundant that it would 
be unwise to purchase it for summer ranges for sheep, 
but for wintering the flocks provision must be made from 
the uncultivated enclosed grounds. At the head of all 
the large streams, small spring streams, are abundant and 
the land invariably in those sections lies high and dry 
possessing a soil of some eighteen inches in depth, that 
cannot be surpassed for the production of rich herbage, 
either natural or artificial. W. G. Edmundson. Keo¬ 
kuk, Iowa. 
Errors in Practice. 
Messrs. Editors —In the last Cultitivator, is a letter 
from Prof. J. P. Norton, relating to the manner in 
which cattle are wintered in some of the towns in this 
valley, and I am not disposed to contradict a single 
word he has said; this unfarmer-like course has always 
been practiced by some who are called large farmers in 
this vicinity. A portion of the present farming popula¬ 
tion, and their ancestors before them, have forever acted 
upon the principle of the man wdio carried the stone to 
mill in one end of the bag, to balance the grist across his 
horse’s back, viz: “ it was right, for his father had always 
done so,” and this principle is remarkably prevalent 
throughout New-England; and nowdiere is it more visi¬ 
ble than at New-Haven, directly under the eye of Prof. 
N. himself, and still unnoticed by him. In the days of 
the revolutionary w r ar, it was probably good economy for 
the farmers along the sea-board to obtain salt hay for 
their cattle; but now, when salt itself, is bought at thirty 
to forty cents per bushel, the farmers still adhere to that 
old and expensive practice. They all admit that the hay 
without the salt is almost valueless. Will Professor N. 
please call the attention of his neighboring farmers to this 
matter. A Subscriber. Valley of the Housatonic 
River, April 12,1852. 
