The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1907-04-05
DRgFIzED F and
aA.GARDEN
&zz1s}s ss>aa
SHEEP ON THE FARM,

YIN 7 kAIAAs
A. w. Smith has an interesting ar
ticle in the American Cultivator,"
on the value of sheep on the farm.
The Importance of this industry in
connection with general farming is
sufficient reason for it's reproduction
here:-
One of the greatest advantages OF
a flock of sheep on the farm is the
economic way in which they can be
carried. 1t has been established that
1t costs about a cent a poand less to
produce mutton or lamb than 1t does
to produce either beef or pork, and
you can easily see that there is
great advantage there to any man who
has the inclination to start breeding
a flock of sheep, and that is largely
brought about in the reduction of the
labor.
1t is not necessary to have an ex-
pensive outfit in order to start in The
sheep business; very inferior protec-
ton from the weather is all that is
required. In fact, except for a very
short period of the year, I believe
sheep will do better for the owner If
they are not protected from the wealth
er at all.
be had in sheep raising if they are
left almost entirely out in the air,
and I have proven this to my own
satisfaction, even in the fitting of
sheep for show purposes. / never
bring my sheep in from the time there
is grass enough for them to go out
in the fields in the spring until they
are brought in to take to the exhibit
tons. They are never housed night
or day, and find l can succeed bet
ter in that way than I can by bring
ing them in and housing them. l
know that a great many exhibitors
still think it is necessary to house
them; but I also know that I can
feed them more economically and to
better advantage, and have more
healthy ard vigorous sheep than when
I house them, and one of the advant-
ages of sheep raising is the small ex-
penditure that is necessary to provide
the building to take caro- Of the sheep.
Then the different kinds of forage that
a sheep will devour and thrive on is
another advantage; and it is very
considerable one. I have heard
great many farmers say that one OF
their objections to sheep was that
they are very hard on pasture.
My experience is that you can carry
more sheep, more pounds Of sheep to
the acre, by twenty-five to thirty per
Gent, than you can of any other class
Of stock; that is, when they are liv-
ing on the pasture alone. Lots OF
farmers will have all the cattle and
horses on the pasture that the pas.
ture is able to carry, and then they
VIII put on a flock of twenty-five or
thirty ewes and lambs, and, of course,
these sheep are going to eat close.
Sheep naturally do bite close, and
the cattle will have the pasture in
such a condition that the sheep are
compelled to bite close, and then, of
course, you will have short pasture
But If you will take twenty acres,
and put cattle on ten acres of it,
and stock the other ten acres with
sheep, and stock both fields up to
their full limit, you will find that
you can carry from twenty-five to
thirty per cent. more live weight Of
sheep on the ten acres than you will
cattle. 1 have proven that several
times, and I think any sheep man
who has tried it will bear me out.
Another advantage is that they will
eat down the weeds that are nuis-
ance to this country; although they
do not destroy the weeds entirely they
prevent them from going to seed. You
can never see any burdocks growing
in a field where there is flock of
sheep, and other weeds are destroyed,
and that is a considerable advantage
in favor of the sheep.
Then the sheep are valuable in
manuring the field, which will not he
done so thoroughly by any other class
of stock. Then the sheep raiser has
an advantage; that any person who
has an inclination to go on the farm
and raise his family on the farm,
1lu w 1O QOCS AOJ waltz " w UNA 0SAOu
with the more laborious part of the
farm work, can take a flock of sheep
and can handle them without mourning
a very large amount of labor, and yet
they can produce a pound of nation
for a cent pound less than it would
cost to produce beef or pork, and it
can be done without the labor that is
so necessary in the production of
beef and pork.
Then we get two crops from the
sheep during the year; one of wool,
and one of mutton, and that is some
thing that we do not get from any
other variety of stock. And when
we take into consideration the price
of wool at the present time, although
it is not very high, yet it is double
the amount it was a short time ago,
and it is possible to keep flock Of
L a. I. l..