The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1888-05-18
SHEEP HuSBANDRY.
The Be st Stock for Restoring and Keep
ing the Fertility of Land.

The Be st Stock for Restoring and Keep
ing the Fertility Of Land.
1t is fact generally acknowledged
that sheep keep up the fertility of the
soil on which they are kept better than
any kind Of animals. Their droppings
are very rich, being according to the
estimate of several agricultural chem
lists, three times more valuable than a
mixture of horse, cow and hog manure.
Sheep dung ranks next to the drop
pings of fowls as fertilizer. 1t does
not need to be decomposed before it is
in condition to benefit all kinds OF
cultivated plants. 1t contains no seed
that are likely to germinate when bur
led in the soil, as sheep masticate and
digest food so we'll that the vitality of
even hard seeds is destroyed before
they pass through the intestines. The
seeds of weeds and grass make excel
lent manure. but they readily pass
through the digestive organs of cattle
without having their ability t produce
new plants destroyed. The dung of
cattle and horses certainly enriches the
soil with which it is mixed, but in maxi
ing it more prod lctire it is likely to
cause it to be foul Sheep manure is
the best common fertilizer for all .pur-
poses, and almost the only one that is
productive ofno evil effects.
Pastures are not improved by having
horses and cattle feed on them, even
if they are not put in yards at night.
They eat little but the tender grasses,
and do not touch the weeds and bushes.
Sheep, however, eat almost every kind
ofvegetation. They will devour Can
ada thistles with a. relish, and will
keep the leaves stripped SO closely
from various kinds of bushes that they
will die. They make sod firm, but
edo not break through it when it is
moist, as cattle do. Their love of a
variety of food causes them to eat
many plants that horses and cattle re-
ject. The droppings of cattle and
horses remain in one place and ordi-
narily kill the grass on which they fall.
They also cause the grass near them
to grow so rank that it will not be
eaten by animals. The droppings Of
sheep. however, roll apart and are dis
tributed to long distances. They are
scattered better than most kinds of
manure can be spread by any sort Of
an, implement. A pasture fully stocked
with cattle and horses will carry as
many sheep as there are other animals,
for the reason that sthey will de-
YOUR many plants which the latter will
leave. 4 ..,s " ~ i@li@ st@ f
A worn out farm or portion of one
can be rendered productive in a few
years bykeeping sheep upon it. A
part of it can be sown to red clover
each season and fed off by sheep, A
fair crop of clover can be raised on
even poor land if plaster is used as a
fertilizer. Raising clover and allow
ing sheep to eat it in a green or dry
state will put land in an excellent con-
dition to produce potatoes, corn OF any
of the small grains. 1t will be rich,
but it will contain no seeds that will
produce undesirable vegetation. The
late Eli .Stilson, of Oshkosh, Wis, was
for many.years in the habit of buying
land that had become impoverish by
raising successive crops of wheat, seed
ing it to clover, fertilizing it with land
plaster, and feeding the crop to sheep.
In four years time he would render
the soil as productive of wheat as it
ever had been. He practiced recuper-
alive farming on an extensive scale,
and the means he employed were
clover, land-plaster. and sheep. He
bought up worn-out land without the
expenditure of much money, as he was
extensively engaged in feeding fine
sheep and the raising of wool.
The farms in the country that have
for series of years best retained their
original fertility or increased their pro-
ductiveness are those OH which large
numbers of sheep have been kept The
farms in Vermont on which Merino
sheep have been kept from the time
| of their first Introduction into
the country are valuable and produc-
tive, notwithstanding the fact that the
soil was thin and the land stony. In
Pennsylvania, New York, Northern
Ohio, Southern Michigan and Wiscon-
sin, the farms on which sheep have
been kept continue to produce large
crops, and as rule are not mortgaged
or advertised forssale.g They have not
run down like the farms that have been
devoted to raising grain for the market.
The old farms in Canada that com.
mand the highest prices are those on
which sheep have been kept from the
time they were first occupied. The
pastures on them are comparatively
free from bushes and weeds, while the
soil is firm and productive of the best
sorts of grasses. A. farm on which a
large number of sheep have been kept
for many yea s is very desirable fol
dairy purposes y aae.a h4. ~
An observer states that the best blue
grass in Kentucky is found on farms on
which sheep. have been kept for many
years. A British authority declares
that the farms in England and Scot.
land that are the most productive are
those on which sheep have been the
leading kinds of animals kept, though
very small quantities of commercial
fertilizers have been applied to them.
The reason appears to be that sheep
cow ert coarse fodder into manure
much better than horses and cattle.
With the aid of a little concentrated
food, like oil-cake or cotton-seed meal,
they will make rapid gain on a diet
of grain, straw and turnips. The
profit Of keeping sheep is not to be esti.
mated entirely by comparing the price
Of the wool and meat they produce
with the cost of keeping them. The
improved condition Of the farm must
also be taken into con sideration. The
advantages Of keeping sheep may moi