St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1888-05-19
SHEEP HUSBANDRY.
The Best Stock for Restoring and Keep
ing the Fertility of Land.

- ~
that sheep keep up the fertility of tt
soil on which they are kept better tina
any kind of animals. Their dropping
are very rich, being according to tn
estimate of several agricultural chen
lists, three times more valuable than
mixture of horse, COW and hog manur,
Sheep dung ranks next to the drol
pings of fowls as fertilizer. 1t doe
not need to be decomposed before it
in condition to benefit all kinds G
cultivated plants. 1t contains no see
that are likely to terminate when bur
led in the soil, as sheep masticate an
digest food so we'll that the vitality o
even hard seeds is destroyed befor
they pass through the intestines. Tn
seeds of weeds and grass make excel
lent manure, but they readily pas!
through the digestive organs of cattl,
without having their ability t. produce
new plants destroyed. The dung O.
cattle and horses certainly enriches the
soil with which it is mixed, but in max.
ing it more productive it is likely t
cause it to be foul. Sheep manure is
the best common fertilizer for all pur-
poses, and almost the only one that is
productive of no 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
of vegetation. They will devour Cam
ada thistles with relish. and will
keep the leaves stripped so closely
from various kinds of bushes that they
will die. They make a sod firm, but
do not break through it when it is
moist, as cattle do. Their love of
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,
Tor the reason that they viii de-
YOUR many plants which the latter will |
Ieave.
A worm out farm or portion of one
ian be rendered productive in a few
years by keeping sheep upon it. A
BART of it can be sown to red clover
zach season and fed off by sheep. A
air crop Vi clover eaa be raised on
ven poor land if plaster is used as
ertilizer Raising clover and allow
ne sheep to eat it in green or dry
tate will put land in an excellent con-
ition to produce potatoes, corn or any
t the small grains 1t will be rich,
ut it will contain no seeds that will !
roducc undesirable vegetation. The
ate Eli Stilson. Of Oshkosh, Wis, was
u many years in the habit of buying !
md that had become impoverish by
using successive crops of wheat, seed
g it to clover, fertilizing it with land :
astcr, and feeding the crop to sheep. :
| four years time he would render :.
e soil as productive of wheat as it =
-er had been. He practiced recuper- y
i've farming on an extensive scale, :,
ID the means he employed were : :,
over, land-plaster and sheep. He ::
'ught up WORKOUT land without the =
penditure Of much money, as he was y
engaged in feeding fine ,.
eep and the raising of wool ~
The farms in the country that have .
series of years best retained their =,
sinal fertility OF increased their pro- :, -
etNeness are those on which large =
mbers Of sheep have been kept The -
ms IN Vermont on which Merino ~
sep have been kept from the time .
their first Introduction into p
country are valuable and produc- 81
e, Notwithstanding the fact that the =,
was thin and the land stony. In ~
New York. Northern :"
10, Southern Michigan and Wiscon- ~
the farms on which sheep have
N kept continue to produce large eal
ps, and as a rule are not mortsaged rs
advertised for sale They have not se.'
down like the farms that have been ~
oted toraising grain for the market. .''''
J old farms in Canada that com ie'
1d the highest prices are those on ~
eh sheep have been kept from the sn =.
they were first occupied. The -
lures on them are comparatively .no
from bushes and weeds, while the =
is firm and productive of the best W
5 OF grasses. "A farm on which
e number Of sheep have been kept
many yea is very desirable for
y purposes. r
observer states that the best blue hen
s III Kentucky is found on farms On 49,