The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1882-06-23
AGRICULTURAL.

sheen are said to be the animals with the
golden hoof:' they enrich where they go,
not only the master but the soil. Sheep are
the best manure-makers, the best weed de-
stroyers, the best grubbers, the most easily
cared for, and require the least cost for
fencing and barns of all stock kept on the
farm. To fence a sheep pasture, lay up
rail fence three feet high and it is done; or
make during the winter when time is not
very valuable, lengths Of portable fence six
teen feet long, of three A. inch boards, with
three upright strips of the same fastened
with wrought nails.
Go to the woods and cut stakes about five
feet long; sharpen at one end. In the
spring, after the frost is out, but before the
ground is settled, drive the stakes with
maui, one every sixteen feet, and fasten the
lengths of fence to them with wire, twisted
together with pair of forceps.
A worthless gravel-ridge is good place
for sheep pasture. Run a light fence
along the edges of it and turn in the sheep:
they delight in the short, fine grass. 1t is
wonderful how well they thrive on an ap-
parently barren hill. The ridge grows rich
er year by year, and part of the droppings
are washed down ON the pillow land below,
making it produce larger crops. 1t is the
limestone hills of Vermont which made
American Merinos so famous. Turn flock
of sheep upon a newly cleared piece of land,
and they will keep sprouts from growing,
kill out all the hazel brush, and eat every
thing except thistles and mulletins, The
thickest patches of hazel brush and stumps,
which are sure to sprout, should be sated,
when the sheep will finish them. The best
way to kill Canada thistle is to cut them
down, then salt the patch and let the
sheep run to it, They will keep the spot
bare as long as there is a taste of salt.
But the best effect is seen where sheep
are used in rotation, alternating with
crops An excellent rotation for an upland
farm is this: LIST year, small grain seeded
with clover; End year, sheep pasture, ma
nure drawn on, plowed shallow and soWn to
rye turned down deep and planted to corn,
the corn to be cut up for sheep fodder,
which is better than any kind of hay(clover
not excepted)fo keeping sheep in flourish
ing condition through the winter. The adj
vantages of this rotation are that the land
will be growing constantly richer; the corn
field will be in splendid condition with a
crop of clover roots and another of green
rye rotting beneath the surface, in addition
to the manure made from the straw stalk
and corn fodder. Then, too, the TWO plow-
ings in fall and spring will tend to make
the field like a garden, SO that when husk-
ing time comes the owner will be obliged to
enlarge his corn cribs. Furthermore, the
sheep by thus enriching the land and keep
ing it free from weeds will have fully
earned their keep, SO that the wool and in
crease will be clear gain.
Mr.. Geo. Geddes of .NewYork, who has
raised sheep for many years in connection
with wheat, says that with one sheep to the
acre of cultivated land, pasture and mead
ow, he raises more bushels of grain OH the
average than he did when he had no sheep
to. manufacture his coarse forage into ma
nure; that the land is constantly improving
and the crop increasing in quantity, and
that while producing crops on less acres
and at less cost than he did before he kept
sheep, he has in addition the wool and
mutton produced by the sheep. I have
read that the sheep-breeders of Vermont
have had to abandon farm after farm as
they became too rich for the successful keep
ing of sheep. In England, a large, welLfed
flock of sheep is considered to be essentially