The daily Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1878-1???, 1884-12-09
Hurdle Feeding.

We are asked by correspondent il
hurdle feeding is practi, al in Iowa in
sheep husband y In answer we
would say that it is pra tical anywhere,
where the hurdles can DO had, but in
most portions of the West, under our
present system OF agricult re, it is not
necessary. Hurdle feeding is in some
respects Ike solling in its effects. 1t
gives the grass of the portions OF the
field rom which the hurdles are re-
moved a chance 10 grow undisturbed.
No doubt it is economical as compared
to pasturing whole field at time.
In those sections where land is not so
plenty and cheap as it j in many parts
Of the West. it is a good thing. But
in the West we shall never get down to
su h economy as hurdle feeding en-
bod es until our farms are SIN ,ller in
81 e, and il is more t. ouble or us to
get along than it now is The system
does away with the necessity Of very
large amount of fenc NJ, and that in
itself would be very desirable accom-
plIshment. But there must be thorough
reform before fences can be dispensed
with. v lille part of the co munity
would as Don tina their stock
wo id lun in the highways
a. to have them decentIy taken car Of,
eyeryb, d else must be to the serious
expense OF fen ing aga INST such ock.
Hence. we must have fences, and, con-
Sc uently, one OF the great reasons for
adopting the hurdle system is inopera-
tive. II we were all ia ming closely.
that is, if we were STRIVING TO ma
every acre lnder our control produce
the most that it possibly could produce;
if we were determined 10 have nothing
about the farm that was not utili ed,
hundred rods of hurdle fencing would
prove 10 be yery valuable addition to
the farm With such fence it would
ma no diiie,e"ce where or what
p.ece OF pa,tu was, it could be util-
lied if we wished 10 utili G It. A piece
OF stubble or tergrowth could be very
readily inclosed, ami hurdles could be
removed, until as one advocate of the
system puts it, every pa of the field
has been pastured, anu the gras, urned
into meat and wool The hurdle is es
pecially convenient with sheep. They
are not dil cult to con ne, and they
may be con ned until not only the
e ASS Of certain spot is eaten, but
also until tDey nave led close enough
to destroy a the weeds
As TO the form of hur lie fence any.
thin will answer that an be set up.
and will cOnhne the sheep after ii is set
up. Many men could devise a fence
without much cost that would answer
the purpose. There are hurdles that
are placed upon oilers and are rolled
from place to place, as tue sheep need
a chan G Of pasture. Of course tn is
the most convenient, and IT is said that
the r additional ost is not very great.
Ut Of this we do not know of our own
knowled- e. Alderman Aechi, of on
don, made use OF an iron hurdle placed
upon wheels his was very durable.
a hurdle made Of iron was in use upon
Mr.. Aechi fam for thirty yeas or
more. ut 1t cost six do lars and thilty
cents per rod and that would rule it
out in this country. We can comedy @
no o rcumstances, however, at present,
under viii h we should think that
hurdle feed ne was necessary in Iowa.
But we wi say, whAe speaking upon
thi SUB ect, tHat it IS a method wei
worthy o adoption upon poor and worn
on, ia ms. If the hUrd has among its
Eastern readers any who are on such
farm, we invite the attention to the
va ne OF small flocks of sh,ep upon
su h farms, and would recon end the
h rd as being a good means OF max
ing the feeding OF sheep mo practical
on the average arm Of that chara ter.
v hen field has been long cultivated,
and has in conseq uence been reduced to
what we call WORKOUT condition, it is
frequent Y very d iii ult to get seeded
down, uLless the applicat.o on of manure
is very 9, nervous But poor farms do
not have much manure aud the owners
o. such farms are likely not to have
much money with which to buy ma
nure. But sheep will manufacture the
necessar, fertilizer directly on the spot
and pay for the p ivi of do NJ It, A
field could be sown to oats and then
pastured by the sheep, which, if they
had small IRA ration would make
good growth and fertlli the field at
the me time. some of our best known
Eastern tlockmasters have had great
success in bring ne up exhausted farms
in this way. The sheep may b. fed as
generously as we can ord to iced
them, and it has been demonst ated
that they will pay for all the grain and
labor, besides fertili2ing the land.
These exhausted farms are usually
small, varying from fifty to a hundred
a res. They would not support much
of flock and the hurdle would be q
necessity. But all the sheep that they
will support ough to be put on them.
There are hundreds of farms in the
East and South that can be bought for
little that could be brought into good
state of cultivation. 49, u eS err hurQi.