St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1886-04-10
SHEEP-HUSBANDRY.
System Which Would Work a Revolution
on Poor Farms.

System Which Would work revolution
on Poor Farms.
Farmers have not sufficiently studied
he Importance of maintaining the fer
ilitv OF their farms. Much land in the
New England States has been worked
% point where, under common cult
Ire, the production is below cost Of
'abor. Many such farms have been
abandoned. This has often occurred in
cotton districts of the South, and the
and has been suffered to return to q
state of nature.
Stock-farmins is the only system
properly adapted to the reclamation of
;hese lands, and the system adopted
must be the intelligent one that makes
| provision for the complete saving and
distribution of the droppings of the ami
mails. AS stock husbandry is still gen.
orally carried on, only the smaller pro-
portion of the fertilizing matter is saved
and applied.
Sheep are peculiarly adapted to keep
ing up the fertility of the soil they are
fed on. The dairy COW carries off in
uCh HIN d IiuCn lil StI pIOpOTIlOn OF
the fertilizing matter of her food than
the sheep in growing mutton and wool.
1t has been proved by careful expert
ment that the sheep may return to the
soil ninety-five per cent of the fertiliz-
ing matter of its food. This renders
the sheep one of the best agencies for
improving the soil
If we take an impoverished soil in
hand for improvement, we must ex-
pect to add something to it to improve
it. Something does not come from
nothing. If we simply feed any animal
upon what grows on the land, we do
not add any thing to the soil, but we
take something from it. How, then,
shall we improve the soil by feeding
sheep upon it without mourning large
expense? This is the question to be
answered, aud it is easily answered.
Ii the sheep will return ninety-five per
cent. of the fertilizing matter of it's food
to the soil, carrying off only five per
cent, then if we feed sheep one ton of
linseed-meal, ninety-tive per cent, of it's
nitrogen, potash, and phosphoric acid
will be left in the soil This would be
112 lbs. of nitrogen, 80 lbs. of potash,
and As lbs. of phosphoric acid which
estimated at the price of commercial
fertilizers, would be worth S26; but we
will deduct little over 20 per cent,
and call the fertiliziting matter of the
ton of linseed meal worth $50. This
meal should be purchased at S25 per ton
and when properly fed to sheep it will pay
all it costs in growing mutton and
wool, and the manure will be all profit
The manure from ton of decorticated
cotton-seed meal is worth S25; of wheat
bran, S14; of oats, SO; of corn, Sc. of
the best clover hay, 80; of timothy,
$3.50; of peas, $14. Wheat bran is
very rich in phosphoric acid, which
renders it one of the best foods to grow
he bones of the young animal. For
:eeding sheep in summer, linseed meal
and bran, and, when not too dear, oats
Ire most excellent. They are what may
De called cooling foods, and will pro-
luce the best result, and the manure
rom the first two is most valuable.
COR winter feeding, corn is an economi-
al food. 1t will be seen that on worm
'ut lands liberal feeding of sheep would
soon render them fertile.
The system should be to let the sheep
pasture on the grasses and weeds pro-
luced upon the land, and then concern
rate the feeding of rich foods upon a
mall space, using these MANFRED pieces
o raise fodder for the sheep in winter.
Zach year would fertilize few acres fit
o bear almost any crop. The surface
+ these pieces, fed most upon, should
e worked mellow, and the manure
mixed with the soil, to prevent waste of
olatile elements. If this system of
enovation were conducted in the best
hammer, the sheep should be confined
y hurdles; the 70 ling hurdles would Id
est, moving them along each day as
ast as the ground is MANFRED, giving
'esh earth to the sheep, and top-dress,
lg a definite amount of soil each dav!
his would be best accomplished if ths
iece of land to be fed over had a greer
rop upon it, having feeding troughs at
lie advancing hurdles in which should be
laced the linseed-meal and bran, the
leep eating the green crop as fast as
ley moved over it, and making upa
Ill ration from the troughs, We have
sed this plan, with great satisfaction,
n fertilizing land which would already
ear good crop of clover, millet or
1e.
Mutton sheep are better adapted to
lis system, as it is one of the most ex-
editious ways to fatten sheep in sum-
Ter, and involves abou: as little labor
, any other plan we have ever tried.
his plan works well in tattening ewes
ter bearing early lambs. We believe
lie poorest farms in New En- gland could
, very cheaply re-fertilized on this
stem. and made more valuable than