The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1910-01-20

All the observations That har,
been able to make as 10 the handIir
the range bred eve on the farm. nav
been In the valley and the valIev ,
the levelest portion OF our state. n
the higher portions OF the state. ~
conditions should be even more idea
with the possible exception that va
may not be able to raise as large crop
OF forage, In some of the drier parts.
The first time that I ever had tn
opportunity OF caring for and observ
Ing the sheep was about twelve vaar
ago. when | received pair OF eve,
/ from farmer living near us as ,
Christmas gift. AS nearly as "a,
remember they were the first liv,
stock that ! ever owned and l tool
a great deal Of interest In them. They
ootn presented me with a pair Of
lambs in the spring and IL was no,
long until mad a few TO dispose of
They were very profitable, but only
having a few and having no place To
Keep them, they were disposed of and
| no sheep were kept on the farm for
| several years. In 1905 my father
shipped In several hundred whethers
from Montana in company with two
other farmers and fattened them for
| market. Since that time we have
handled sheep on the farm continu-
ously and have found them to be the
source of the greatest profit on the
farm.
Fencing OFF Pastures.
When we began breeding on the
farm, we fenced a half section and
cross fenced 1t once with woven wire
fencing so that we could handle the
sheep conveniently and derive the
greatest profits from them. Many
farmers object to fencing with the
woven wire. claiming that 1t is too
expensive and say that 1t will eat up
all of the profits. Let us stop for a
moment and reason. Fencing a half
section and cross fencing it once re-
quires three and one-haif miles Of
fence. We stretched tine 39-inch
heavy American steel wire on the best
cedar posts, (none less than five inch
tops). with a single barb wire on ton
six inches above the woven wire net
ting. This made a fence forty-five
inches high and one that is strong
durable, and one that will keep hogs.
sheep, cattle and horses inside with
out that danger to life and limb that
the old time barb wire fence was, and
is still capable of. You ask what was
tine cost7 About rs cents per rod or
$40, including the labor of putting It
up and all other expenses included.
The good horses that that old barb
wire fence has robbed you Of would
have more than paid for the fence
and you still nave your fence and one
that mn int
the pigs out into your garden or into
the flower bed that your good wife has
spent hours of hard work to |
arrange and beautify your farm yard. !
ut is only with such a fence that
you can derive the greatest possible /
benefits from your sheep. All of the l
and you have into farm crops can |
De utilized by the sheep for several
weeks In the fall. 1t will hive your 4
summer pastures time in which to II
cooperate to go into the winter witt,
! good covering to withstand the Sc
'ere weather, and 1t viii then be- in
hape to come on at once in the
pring, at the critical moment, that
t. when the spring lambs will need
Surprising you have never
handled any on your farm and
intend to start flock Of range bred
yves. What would be the first thing
o do in order to prepare for them 2 T.
think That / made clear to YOU that
woven wire fence is very essential.
me problem Of shelter is comparative
Y simple. The main essentials are to
rovide place that is dry an free
rom drafts Don't make the mistake
making 1t too warm. If you do. Won
lay have trouble. With, the proper
heller provided and with plenty OF
asturage and feed In view, our next I
bought will be the ewes themselves.
We have bought all of our ewes in {
he state Of Montana as that state is | I
he closest, with the quality and the '
rices as good as any OF the other c
ange states. The number a man will S
ny viii depend upon the, amount of t
pom that he has to accommodate {
lem. Over crowding is a foolish d
ractice. t
Our last purchase consisted of 45O I
earling ewes costing about SIS per
cad laid down at HiHsboro. These U
YES were practically pastured on a
alf g. section throughout the sum-
OA' Inc suHlIHST D6IOre last, the =
lsturage was somewhat scarce, ow- 4
g to the fact that it was such a dry Z
EAR. but this year we cut about fifty s.
ms of hay off of the same half sec Il
on besides running eighteen colts on Il
all summer and allowing thirty-two a.
Fad of work horses the run of IL at Ell
Id times when they were not at g
ork. 1t was simply a timothy pas a.
re OF fair quality. Much better re- oil
Its might be obtained If it had been is
clover or bronze grass pasture. AL m
lfa would eclipse them all. k
These Montana ewes were crossed 81
It'll pure bred shropshire rams The W
suit is very satisfactory indeed. fir
oducing a lamb with better NUT ST
n form, good constitution and 81
arser fleece. the lambs make good to
eders bringing the top Of the mar
t as rule II fed properly. This til
II we are crossing some of the ewes It'll
tn Hampshire ram and are await &c
z the result with much interest. 81
Winter Ewes on Rough Feed. in
We carry our ewes through the win tn
: on ration of roughage consisting te
corn fodder and clover hay when we
we II. Timothy can be used, but is
poor food for sheep. The sheen IN
EN- to prefer bronze grass better than n
y other hay with the exception Of ar
, lagumes and blue grass The corn IN
1der is scattered out over the ground ur
the bundle, The hay should be fed nc
racks II possible but may be scat nr
ed in the ca mo ,rva ,ay.@w44.53..- At4l