Lamoille newsdealer. [volume] (Hyde Park, Vt.) 1860-1877, 1873-02-12

lance that be should ascertain she best
Kind Of stock. for Going this. Having
myself commenced farming on lard
lc0rH oar iarm, that Would DOT yield enc
half ton 10 the acre, 20 oue bss siuiicd
this suhjrcI more closely than have; al.
though some may have succeeded better.
For twenty years have MIXED from
lwcnis 10 forty COWS For aboat liileen
yearsh have kept some sheep, fourteen yeas
past have kept from finy TO one hundred.
Knowing shat il was generally considered.
that sheep we're not equal TO cows. to
keep up the moving. determined to sat-
isly myself which was the best, Some
ten years since commence! feeding the
hay on u small farm exclusively to sheep.
This lot was in a fair condition, yielding
about one ton per acre. l let the sheep
have the stable. Spread the manure M
the grass going over onc-half of il each
year. The grass continued to increase un-
I'll it yielded not less than three tons to
the acre. The manure from this yield
gave il heavy dressing. For year or
two the grass has not peen as heavy; the
ground appears to be burnt with manure.
Last Spring plowed part Of it, TO
re.sced. aud sowel it with wheat. 1t grew
very lauk, hut ,hc weeds grew rake;
such weeds as grow on very rich ground;
This land had been dressed with clean
manure from the stable, aud the grass has
been free from weeds. There had been
no manure Put on previous TO blowing.
and none since. That such weeds should
grow on a swarl well turned, shows the
grounl to be very rich.
No part of this field had been rlowed
for eighteen years; and yet a part Of it
VII ich siather moist, continues TO bear
vsy heavy grass.
One would suppose by the way some
farmers manage their sheep, that it woulG
ruin their mowiugs, ifthey should cross
them.
So they are left in the yard in the
Spring, only until the ground is bare, aud
they can possibly live without feeding;
they are then turned into the pasiuIc 10
shirk for themselves, whether wet or
dry. This should not be so. A sudden
change from dry, 10 green feed is very
injurious As soon as the ground is bare
they should be let out u few hours every
pleasant day; so as to become generally
accustomed to green feed. TO try the cf.
feet Of sheep on my moving land, took
Il lot OF about twenty acres Of pretty dry
ground, that had not been plowed for
soue fifteen years, but had been occasion.
ally top-dressed
Turning them in as soon as the grass
started after getting the hay of, and feed
Ing it quite close In the Spring turning
them III pleasant days, until ihty could 90
to pasture. This | have done but few
years. The grass has improved both in
quality and quantity, every year since
thus managed. While cutting the grass
the past season, the hay-makers said they
should think there had been a heavy top
dressing Of ashes applied, the white clover
was 50 abundant. am now satisfied by
my own experiments, that these sheep are
as much before cows TO keep up the now
Ing, as they are the PASTURE. TO do this,
we must have sheep that will stay where
you put them and that can be easily han
died. | cali handle my sheep as can my
c,ws. can 90 myself alone, aud drive
any one of my full-bloodS to any part of
,he farm.
do not have to get up my sheep at
yeaning time but with small boy 90
into pasture Of seventY-fve acres. aud
seneratc the lambs from their mothers and
drive them half mile to the house.
| would not advise any farmer to have
any thing to do with these sheep. unless
he can, take proper care Of them; it he
let's them shri for themselves, from the
time they can find bare spot in the
Spring until they cannot fnd enc IN the
Fall or as long as they can live be had
better keep nothing but the poorest scrubs
as they will take TO the woods fer shelter
and take care of themselves which these
sheep will not do. In raising flock OF
Cotswoold sheep it Is as with many 9TH
er things; the neglect of seemingly small
things often cause serious consequences.
Ic show the Importance Of being careful,
| will just merton circumstance: Last
fall some Of my sheep were frightened So
that they run some fifty rods; one large
fat lamb dropped dead. They should
never be frightened or drove faster thai,
a walk. The first few years of my keep.
ing sheep, lost many by disease but
for the last five years | have not lost over
two per cent by disease | occasionally