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The  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
Live  Stock  Notes 
A  Sheep  Herder’s  Monument 
While  there  is  room  for  :i  few  sheep  on 
every  farm,  and  whole  farms  in  the  East 
could  profitably  he  devoted  to  them,  the 
Western  high  plains  are  exactly  suitable 
for  large  bands.  There  are  vast  expanses 
of  land  there  on  which  crops  cannot  be 
grown  under  any  circumstances,  and  mil¬ 
lions  and  millions  of  other  acres  where 
irrigation  would  help,  but  nature  has 
piled  up  a  lot  of  steep  and  rocky  surface 
that  is  trying  to  grow  a  little  vegetation. 
Sheep  thrive  on  all  of  it.  This  vegeta¬ 
tion  is  frequently  so  scant  that  one  sheep 
would  eat  all  that  grows  on  several  acres 
during  the  season,  but  when  the  bands 
have  range  enough  it  is  well  suited  for 
them.  The  high  altitude  and  good  air 
gives  them  vigor.  The  alkaline,  volcanic 
dust  keeps  their  feet  sound,  and  the  ex¬ 
ercise  makes  them  strong.  Their  life  is 
a  near  approach  to  nature,  to  the  health 
and  vitality  of  wild  sheep.  Some  of  the 
owners  have  many  thousands.  As  a  rule, 
they  have  a  home  ranch  with  more  or  less 
fertility,  with  water  privilege,  or  irriga¬ 
tion,  and  a  supply  of  forage  is  grown  for 
'Winter.  There  is  no  need  of  crushed 
limestone  or  any  other  mineral  there,  for 
volcanic  exercise  pulverized  plenty.  Wa¬ 
ter,  of  which  little  comes  from  the  clouds, 
is  all  that  is  needed.  Little  or  no  grain 
is  grown.  Some  can  fit  their  animals  on 
Alfalfa,  and  others  ship  in  corn  or  bar¬ 
ley  from  the  grain  sections. 
There  are  two  sources  of  revenue — 
wool  and  lambs.  When  Spring  comes, 
after  shearing,  sometimes  before  lambing, 
the  sheep  are  driven  off  many  miles, 
sometimes  hundreds,  to  the  government 
reservations,  or  to  land  owned  by  the 
sheep  men.  and  they  stay  there  until 
Winter.  They  yield  about  7."  per  cent  of 
lambs,  and  it  can  be  seen  how  they  thrive 
by  the  condition  of  these  lambs  that  be¬ 
gin  to  come  East  in  August,  after  a  long 
drive  to  a  shipping  station,  and  a  long 
ride  to  us.  It  is  an  ideal  way  to  grow 
sheep,  and  if  it  were  not  so  far  to  mar¬ 
ket,  or  if  an  occasional  storm  did  not 
decimate  them,  and  if  the  homesteaders 
and  fence  builders  were  not  limiting  the 
range  so  rapidly,  this  land  would  soon 
have  no  mutton  or  wool  deficit.  As  it  is, 
the  returns  for  the  investment  are  not 
too  large,  and  about  as  many  fail  as  in 
other  branches  of  business.  The  chances 
are  much  better  on  farms,  and  more  and 
more  must  come  to  them. 
■Most  of  these  sheep  know  nothing 
about  shelter,  unless  behind  a  steep  hill, 
or  natural  or  made  wind-break.  When 
brought  home  for  Winter  at  the  home 
ranch,  they  pasture  on  the  growth  there 
while  they  were  away,  pawing  away  the 
snow  to  it,  and  run  to  the  Alfalfa  ricks, 
or  to  mangers  where  the  hay  is  placed  for 
them.  They  know  how  to  “rustle  a  liv¬ 
ing.”  It  is  a  hard  life  for  man  and 
beast,  but  both  are  used  to  it  and  enjoy 
it.  It  is  the  hardest  for  the  sheep  herder, 
away  off  in  the  wilds  during  Summer,  but 
some  fellows  will  do  nothing  else.  He 
has  help  to  drive  off  a  thousand  or  two, 
that  graze  on  the  way,  and  he  stays 
away  from  civilization,  with  his  sheep, 
his  dog,  guns  and  wagon  for  company, 
lie  “beds  down"  the  band  at  night  and 
he  and  the  dog  have  watchful  ears  while 
they  sleep  on  the  ground  or  in  the  wagon, 
and  in  the  morning  the  sheep  are  grazed 
out  and  back  toward  it  for  n%ht.  Then 
he  makes  his  hot  biscuits,  and  cooks  his 
bacon  with  sagebrush,  and  has  the  stars 
for  his  roof  again. 
Every  so  often,  when  that  section  is 
peeled,  a  teamster  comes  with  supplies, 
perhaps  mail  and  magazines,  and  moves 
his  wagon  a  long  distance  to  fresh  graz¬ 
ing.  None  of  the  joys,  vicissitudes,  in¬ 
terests  and  associations  of  civilization 
ever  interfere  with  his  lonely  life.  It  is 
practically  eternal  solitude.  It  is  a  chance 
for  him  to  study  himself  and  nature,  and 
he  often  gets  robust  at  it.  Again  an  oc¬ 
casional  poor  fellow  mopes  into  sick¬ 
ness,  or  loses  his  mind,  and  when  the 
supply  man  comes  to  find  the  sheep  scat¬ 
tered,  without  a  shepherd,  he  hunts  the 
plains  for  him,  buries  him,  and  erects  a 
monument  of  rocks  at  what  is,  or  soon 
will  be,  an  unknown  grave. 
W.  W.  REYNOLDS. 
Curing  Green  Fodder 
What  is  the  best  way  to  cure  green 
corn  fodder  in  whole  stalk?  Will  it  have 
to  be  absolutely  dry  before  storing  in 
barn?  Is  there  any  simple  way  to  put  it 
in  green,  without  spoiling?  c.  a.  b. 
Massachusetts. 
'We  cut  the  fodder  corn  before  a  hard 
frost,  and  tie  it  in  small  bundles.  These 
bundles  are  “set  up”  in  shocks  like  or¬ 
dinary  corn,  with  the  top  of  the  shock 
firmly  tied.  The  corn  is  kept,  in  these 
shocks  for  about  a  mouth,  depending  on 
the  weather.  If  the  Fall  is  dry,  without 
much  rain,  the  fodder  will  be  well  dried 
out  and  can  be  hauled  to  the  barn.  It 
must  be  fully  dried  out  before  putting  in 
the  barn,  or  otherwise  it  will  mold  and 
spoil.  We  have  had  good  results  from 
stacking  the  corn  outside.  Posts  are  set 
up  in  some  sheltered  place,  with  rails  or 
bars  puts  between  them  about  .“!/•>  ft. 
from  the  ground.  The  bundles  of  fodder 
are  leaned  up  against  these  rails  on  both 
sides,  so  that  the  tops  of  the  bundles 
come  together.  This  leaves  a  space  be¬ 
low  for  the  air  to  circulate,  while  the  tops 
of  the  bundles,  jammed  close  together, 
will  shed  much  rain.  A  row  of  bundles 
packed  in  this  way  will  usually  keep  bet¬ 
ter  than  when  put  in  the  barn.  If  some 
sort  of  a  temporary  shed  can  be  built 
over  the  stalks  they  will  make  good  fod¬ 
der. 
Shingles  or  Roofing  for  Barn 
We  have  a  large  hip-roofed  barn  that 
must  have  new  roof.  The  roof  boards  are 
about  2  to  .">  in.  apart.  Which  would  be 
cheaper  and  better,  to  take  the  roof 
boards  off  and  put  them  together,  and  put 
on  good  roofing,  or  reshingle  with  good 
shingles?  Roofing  would  cost  about  $o 
per  roll ;  shingles  about  $6  per  100  sq.  ft., 
and  lumber  $45  per  1,000  ft.;  labor,  35 
to  40c  per  hour.  It.  n.  R. 
Mills,  I’a. 
A  good  grade  of  shingles  properly  ap¬ 
plied  makes  an  excellent  roof  where  the 
pitch  is  sufficiently  steep.  They  should 
not  be  used  where  the  pitch  is  fiat,  espe¬ 
cially  if  there  is  likely  to  be  a  little  heat 
under  them,  as  water  will  freeze  at  the 
lower  end.  forming  a  miniature  ice  dam 
and  back  up  under  them,  causing  a  leak. 
As  the  roof  boards  are  spaced  for  shing¬ 
ling,  I  would  advise  reshingling,  as  the 
labor  cost  of  repairing  roof  as  you  sug¬ 
gest,  together  with  unavoidable  waste, 
would  be  high.  The  heavy  grades  of 
paper  will  permit  application  directly 
over  the  old  shingles,  and  this  might  be 
done  in  your  case  if  desired.  R.  ir.  s. 
“Ton  Litter  Club" 
Out  in  Ohio  there  is  a  “Ton  Litter 
Club."  There  are  14!)  contestants,  each 
trying  to  produce  a  ton  of  pork  from  one 
single  litter  in  six  months.  One  man  has 
September  22,  15)23 
already  won  out.  The  agricultural  col¬ 
lege  tells  about  it. 
Ohio’s  “Ton  Litter  Club"  has  its  it  first 
member.  He  is  Charles  Schleicli,  a 
farmer  near  Williamsport.  Pickaway 
County.  He  raised  a  litter  of  11  Spotted 
Poland  Chinas  to  a  total  weight  of  2,200 
lbs.  six  months  after  birth. 
This  litter  was  farrowed  February  1. 
and  was  weighed  in  officially  July  31.  It 
is  the  first  official  ton  litter  in  Ohio. 
Mr.  Schleicli  will  be  presented  with  a 
medal  provided  by  the  State  federation 
of  swine  breeders  for  all  who  succeed  in 
this  contest  started  last  Winter. 
Along  with  word  of  the  first  official  ton 
litter,  university  stockmen  hear  of  an  unof¬ 
ficial  weighing  of  a  Highland  litter  at  five 
months  old,  a  litter  of  10  big  type  Po¬ 
land  Chinas  that  weighed  2,165  lbs.  at 
150  days  of  age.  G.  L.  Evans  is  the 
breeder  making  this  report.  The  litter 
is  of  five  boars  and  five  sows.  At  the 
present  rate  of  gain,  this  litter  should 
make  a  ton  and  a  half  of  pork  at  the 
end  of  the  six  months’  period,  provided 
that  none  of  the  hogs  die  or  go  off  their 
feed. 
By  heating  his  poultry  houses  and 
hatching  rooms  by  natural  gas.  which  is 
secured  from  a  shallow  gas  well  near 
by,  Arthur  Wyatt,  a  Diamond  Creek 
township  farmer,  is  finding  the  poultry 
business  a  most  successful  side  line,  ac¬ 
cording  to  the  Cottonwood  Falls  corres¬ 
pondent  of  the  Topeka  Capital.  By  heat¬ 
ing  his  poultry  houses  to  any  desired 
temperature  Wyatt  is  enabled  to  begin 
the  raising  of  his  chicks  much  earlier  in 
the  season  than  could  otherwise  be  done, 
as  the  chicks  are  not  dependent  upon 
weather  conditions  for  the  proper  tem¬ 
perature. 
1 1  h  yrw>  mmi  w  >  imnu 
'PVII'M' 
Invest  in  a  McCormick  *  Deering 
for  Fall  Plowing  and  Belt  Work 
The  remarkable  new  warranty  cover¬ 
ing  the  crankshaft  and  the  crankshaft  ball 
bearings  in  McCormick-Deering  Tractors 
has  shown  the  farmer  more  clearly  than 
ever  that  he  can  best  depend  on  these 
tractors  for  real  value  and  economy.  This 
is  a  guarantee  for  the  entire  life  of  the 
tractor  and  that  means  much. 
It  may  well  prove  the  deciding  factor  in 
your  own  investment.  The  ironclad  agree¬ 
ment,  printed  below,  provides  you  with  a 
lasting  security  covering  these  important 
parts  of  the  tractor.  It  is  evidence  of  qual¬ 
ity  in  the  entire  tractor.  It  is  an  indicator 
of  practical  design,  accurate  assembly, 
generous  size  of  parts,  and  long  life. 
The  fall  season  is  ahead — a  season  of 
many  power  jobs,  both  drawbar  and  belt. 
Do  your  plowing  speedily  and  well  with  a 
McCormick-Deering  and  fit  your  tractor 
to  fall  and  winter  work.  McCormick- 
Deering  Tractors  are  designed  to  handle 
belt  jobs  as  you  want  them  handled.  And 
McCormick-Deering  machines  are  made 
to  work  right  with  tractors.  The  combi¬ 
nation  can’t  be  beat. 
International  Harvester  Company 
*  ii  1 ' 
Stop  at  the  McCormick-Deering  dealer’s 
and  go  over  the  construction  and  the  fea¬ 
tures  of  these  tractors.  Study  the  value  of 
replaceable  wearing  parts,  the  unit  main 
frame,  ball  and  roller  bearings  at  28  points, 
etc.  And  remember  this  important  point: 
When  you  buy  a  McCormick-Deering 
Tractor  you  get  all  necessary  equipment 
— throttle  governor,  belt  pulley,  platform, 
fenders,  brake,  etc.  No  extras  to  pay  for. 
Make  your  power  investment  safe  from 
every  point  of  view  by  placing  an  order 
for  a  McCormick-Deering  15-30  or 
10-20  Tractor. 
SPECIAL  WARRANTY 
given  every  purchaser 
The  seller  agrees  to  replace  free 
the  Two-Bearing  Crankshaft  in  any 
10-20  or  15-30  McCormick-Deering 
tractor,  should  it  break  during  the 
life  of  the  tractor,  provided  the  brok¬ 
en  parts  are  promptly  returned  to  the 
factory  or  one  of  the  branch  houses. 
Further,  theseller  agrees  to  replace 
free  any  Crankshaft  Ball  Bearing  in 
the  10-20  or  15-30  McCormick- 
Deering  tractor,  which  may  break, 
wear  out,  or  burn  out  during  the 
life  of  the  tractor,  provided  that  the 
defective  ball  bearing  is  promptly 
returned  to  the  factory  or  one  of  the 
branch  houses. 
606  So.  Michigan  Ave. 
Chicago,  Ill. 
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