St. Landry democrat., 1880-01-31
FARM TOPICS.
RAISE MORE SHEEP,

RAISE MORE SHEEP.
Some people claim that it is better
to keep sheep than cattle, and certainly
we must admit that the shepherd does
possess advantages over the herdsman,
as follows: In the first place stock of
sheep costs less than one of cattle. A
farm which will carry 20 COWS will carry
about eight times as many sheep, and
to stock a farm with 90 cows and neces-
sary fixtures will require an outlay of a
large sum of money. An equivalent
number of sheep-say 150-can be pur-
chased for about half the sum- Again,
flock of sheep demands much less
care than a herd of cows. The latter
must be MIXED daily, and the work of
the dairy in making butter and cheese
is constant and laborious, demanding
also skill of a high order to make it en-
inently successful. The sheep will
live and thrive where COWS would starve,
or at least make poor returns These
nimble animals will climb oyer rocks
and lodges where cows would not ven
ture, and almost every herb that grows,
even down to Canada thistles, suffices
them for food. Pastures are benefited
by being cropped by sheep. They not
only keep down the weeds, but have
more fertilzing material in their drop
pings than do cows, besides, the manure
of cows and also pigs, resist decompo-
sition for much longer time than that
of the sheep and horse-the latter being
dryer than the former and decOmposing
more readily in the soil. A flock of
sheep always multiplies much more
rapidly than herd of cows, and this is
especially true of the large mutton
breeds, which often produce twins.
Sheep also fatten more easily than cat
tie, and when slaughtered they furnish
not only meat, but wool as Wen.-Er-
change.
THE FARMERS SHOP.
A good workshop, containing such
tools as can be used to advantage by the
farmers, should be found on every farm.
A room with stove in it and large
enough to permit of the construction of
hay rigging, a gate or portable fence,
will furnish a place where many hours
may be healthfully and proftably spent
Here great deal of repairing may be
done that would otherwise find its way
to the professional mechanic. New
tools may be built that will be needed
on the farm, or harness may be oiled
and repaired and great many things
that will suggest themselves may be
done. In mild weather the thong htful
can find profitable outdoor work, such
as repairing out-buildings and cutting
up fallen branches from trees. lido not
mean to be understood thai every hour
in winter should be spent in labor. Ev-
cry farmer should spend portion of his
winter leisure in reading good books
and papers, and in conversation. Win
ter is the Only opportunity that farmers
have to improve their minds, and a few
hours each day should be spent in intel
lectual culture; but when the head be-
gins to ache from long continued read
ing by the tireside, it is hint that out
door exercise is needed. Whenever |
see an orchard with the trunks and
branches disfigured by lusty sprouts and
black, dead branches, or a. pair of bars
where ereshould be a gate, or farm
implementssout of repair at the begin
ming OF the busy season, Z am led to be-
lieve that the owner has not made geed
use Of his winter leisure. Cor. sRWras
New- Yorker.
FLOORS FOR HoRsE-sTABLEs.
AS long as we can remember, the
question as to the best floors for horse
stables has been discussed We have
tried clay and ordinary dirt, but5they
did not prove satisfactory. i Holes
would be dug almost daily BY the fore
feet, the urine would gather there, and,
unless greatcare was takensto fill them
up, and to smooth over the soil daily
and wash the horses, feet. scratches
would follow; and probably what is
commonly called quarter-crack result,
which is likely permanently to injure
the animals. Sand and even sawdust
have been recommended, but as they
were clearly not desirable, we never
tried either. We began with plank
flooring, were dissuaded from using it,
but have returned to it and found it
preferable to the others. We prefer
hemlock, a double two-inch plank, with
the front part kept well covered with
straw at all times, for the fore feet, and
at night to be well bedded with straight
rye-straw. We have found no disad-
vantages from the flooring; the feet
have not suffered, so far as we can dis
cover. Some object to the planks,
first, because they are hard,
and others that they become
slippery and the horse is liza
BILE to fall and strain himself in getting
up; but, if we remember rightly, the
plankroads were not objected to on ac-
count of their hardness or slipperyness;
and as to slipping, if the flooring is a
little inclined the water is carried back,
whence a slight gutter, also inclining
either removes it from the
stable to the. outside, or is allowed to
pass under the floor through small holes
in the gutter. But where these arrange
ments have not been made, cover of
sifted coal-ashes over the floor will pre-
vent the slipping. We have known
floors in stalls to be made of boards or
planks turned up on an edge, which is
about as hard as any thing can be; also,
Of flagstones, mortar, and even Of
all Of which we should sup
pose might prove injurious to the ami
NAL, but we have never heard that they
were. Hemlock planks, laid as we have
will prove, take all the cir
cumstances into consideration, about as
satisfactory as any thing that can be