Brookings weekly register. (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1898-1903, 1903-07-02

AT the recent meeting OF the State
Sheep Breeders and Wool Growers
association held in Huron. Hon Frank
Sherwin Of Brookings read paper
which the REGISTER takes pleasure in
publishing, believing that il should
be read by every farmer 10 BrOOkings
county The paper read as follows:
Mr.. President aud, members of the
Sheep Breeder and Wool Growers
Association Of the State of South
Dakota
1t has been great pleasure for me
TO meet with YOU at this time, and
while not member Of your associs-
tou | am with you heart and hand in
your grand work. II has been my
misfortune TO be located on a small
farm or rather located in BrOOkiugs
near a small farm on which ! cOns.d-
cred ii unpraCtiable TO raise and breed
sheep, therefore have gone into the
business just as far as my surround
ings would admit and for the past 10
yeals have been feeding sheep and
lambs on small scale, feeding from
300 TO 5000 head.
Having no trees or grove shelter,
at first concluded that good shelter
was necessary to attain the best aud
most satisfactory results, and began
TO construct sheds and hay barns " th
good shingle roofs, and If 1t has not
paid In money point Of view 1t GER
tainly has paid in satisfaction for /
can conceive Of no prettier a sight
than 70 see a thousand nice lambs
ranged up on their racks, eating hay
inside a well ventilated shelter while
outside the mercury is away below
zero and the wind and snow is blow
Ing at the rate Of 80 miles an hour.
Now this feeding question covers 50
much ground that one could write a
whole book and then only say a little
in comparison, So ! VIII try and make
clear few points only.
There was time when few keen
business men made fortunes fatting
lambs and sheep at ST. Paul, and 9TH
er places where screenings could be
had almost for the hauling, but now
the proposition is different, as screen
ings have a bad habit II soaring away
up in the clouds, selling in st. Pau at
5l7O0 TO 5000 per ton and hard to
get at that. 80 that OF late the COM
mercial feeder has been gam bier as
well as feeder and about as many for
tunes have been lost as have been
made by the big concerns. After
studying the proposition for year. /
have about come to the conclusion
that the farmer Of South and Nortn
Dakota can feed sheep aud especially
lambs and make good money al IL
while the big fellows will 20 10 the
wall
find that North and South Dakota
are emincnt,y adapted 70 the growth
of rape, especially in our grain fields.
In Wisconsin and Iowa aud the east,
their growing seasons are So vet that
rape where ~own with the grain crop
grows 50 rank that il often ruins the
grain crop but here the seasons being
drier, the rape only gets stubble high
at harvest time, and as soon as the
grain is harvested the rape makes a
wonderful growth. | remember one
fall | turned 1900 lambs into - acre
field Of rape, and the rape was 50 high
that one could not see lamb after
they had gone a few rods aWay into
the rape We harvested 20 bushels Of
wheat per acre otI the ten acres, but
The rape which grew up after harvest
brought w. more dollars than the
wheat crop
am sure that acy feCre: whc :GHs
100 acres OF laud can find It more
profitable than any other branch Il
his business to feed J to cars ot
lambs every fall | would not advise
growing rape for fall feeding lambs
for a sure thing without the aid Of
manure for | find that one acre Of
well manured land on my farm pro-
duces "a much rape as 10 acres not
manured This was very plainly eY.
emplited on my farm last year, there
being 10 my barley field a strip of
about acres on which no manure
had ever been hauled, while the bal
ance OF the field had recently been
covered with about 30 loads Of sheep
manure per acre. ! sowed bushels
Of rape per acre on this field, mixed
in with the barley seed and sowed with
a Havana Press Drill, the value Of the
manure was plainly seen ia both crops
for one could stand with one foot on
land where the barley yielded 30 bu.
per acre and with the other foot on
land where the barley would not yield
over Is bushels per acre, and the diff
ference was even more plainly visible
in the rape crop, for while on the land
not manured the rape scarcely ap.
peared above the stubble aud that on