THE COMMON SHEEP-SCAB. 67 
cultural Experiment Station, published by the writer in 
April, 1891, and which is now out of print. 
“It is no longer a theory but a well established fact that 
large portions of our state are well adapted to sheep hus- 
bandry. A dry region, covered withsmall-leaved plants and 
grasses, is essential to success, and no good results can be 
expected upon low or swampy lands, nor in very dry and 
dusty regions, which are neither good for the animals nor 
for their wool. Sheep are the only domesticated animals 
which can fully utilize the vegetation of our wild prairies, as 
they graze down to the very roots of nearly all plants grow- 
ing there. With the exception of the seeds of some species of 
grasses (Stipa), that are injurious to them, in extreme cases 
even causing death, all other plants areeaten with impunity, 
even should they be poisonous to other stock. By means of 
sheep husbandry our farmers are enabled to fully uti- 
lize much of the cultivated land in the vicinity of their 
farms, as well as all the land lying fallow or in stubble. 
Many of the most noxious weeds introduced into the exten- 
sive cultivation of the soil can only be successfully kept in 
check by the use of sheep. Of course wherever the natural 
conditions are not in favor of this industry, or where but 
scant food can be obtained upon the natural meadows, 
farmers must either be satisfied with fewer sheep, or they 
must grow food for them. Frequently too many animals 
are kept by farmers, who can not take proper care of them, 
and naturally the result is a more or less complete failure. 
If proper attention is given to it sheep husbandry is one of 
the most important branches of farming, and one that pays 
well in more than one sense. 
For most of our farmers sheep husbandry is still a new 
enterprise, and numerous errors in the management of the 
animals are the consequence. Simply possessing suitable 
land for this business does by no means insure success. 
Among the errors usually made one stands out very promi- 
nently,z. e. the farmers are very apt to keep more sheep 
than they can properly take care of; or, in other words: the 
sheep are left on the prairies to take care of themselves. The 
consequences are failure, at least in many cases. No enter- 
