Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-12-06

TION LAWN MOWERS AND TURF HA
luncheon in one of Washington's clubs
with two friends who were chemically ad-
dicted to the playing of polo.
The conversation ran something like
this
DO You know. inquired the friend.
that the best workers you can get for
lawn preservation are Sheep"
The other friend looked skeptical.
Il had heard somewhere that they crop
ped the grass too close" he said.
Probably from some one interested in
CATTLE, said the friend. He continued ::
Now, as matter of fact, the sheep can
give lawn better appearance than the
than that is the fact that their feet
harden the turf. There are numerous rea-
sons
Col. Harris started out a hunt for
sheep. He found man who was long on
sheep and short on fodder.
Col. Harris had talk with this man.
He told him that he wanted to borrow the
animals for time. The government was
willing to accept them as it's ward. 1t
would feed them literally and see that
they did not stray in the streets and get
into alterations with automobiles or other
sheep-destroying devices The man was
impressed. The notion of having ones
sheep dining regularly on that particular
plot OF ground dedicated to the Father of
his Country appealed to his sense of
pride.
So an arrangement was made then
and there which was to continue in
definitely. The owner was to remove
such animals were needed for
slaughter, but the bulk of the herd
was to be at the governments service
He departed happily, leaving a num-
Der of high officials in the bureau of
n In hull RI
wrinkle their brows as they wrestled
with information appertainirg to the
likes. dlslikes and general n oral char
acter of the animals. IL
One of the first results c. the re-
search work was the development of
the fact that a sheep, wearing a non
removable wooden overcoat the year
round. finds the summer sun trying
A private owner would probably have
urged that If a sheep disliked the sun
1t could go find tree and lie down
under 1t. The government, however,
is nothing if not thorough.
Col Harris built a commodious pen
near the site of the Lincoln memorial.
There, during the midday warmth, the
sheep repaired for rest and GOODNESS.
During the remaining hours of the
waking day they ate. And it was as
tonishing how they did eat, They had
the whole of Potomac Park as table
and they started in religiously to fin
ish up everything.
Determined men, serving as shep-
herds, prevented their attempting to
vary their diet or to loll among the
flower beds. These men knew their
sheep. One of them declared that a
sheep was the only creature in creation
that combined the determination of a
mule with the intelligence of an oyster
Whether inn I'm
as much as the turf improved the sheep
is a matter for argument. Unques-
tionably the turf has improved since
the present plan was begun. Col. Harris,
discussing the present plan, said re-
Gently:
1T has proved an inexpensive and
valuable innovation. We cannot say
that 1t will be a permanent arrange
continuing it for the present. The sheep
have lived up to their reputation"
So much for the turf. If the sheep
could talk they would undoubtedly as
in the matter of Improvement. They
are the latest looking sheep that have
been in or around Washington for a
long time. Thus far their activities
stretches of Potomac Park and the
Monument lot. They may be brought
up to the White House ellipse some
time soon, and when they are it is a
most of the juvenile population resid-
ing in the vicinity of the Department
of Agriculture. Indeed. they are at
present the source of amending enter
tainment to the youngsters.
1t would be Interesting to find out
just how many children land in school
from ten to fifteen minutes late because
of the superior allurements of the
sheep. The other day half a dozen
children were gazing at the flock and
the rather picturesque shepherd. Their
comments added to the interest of the
situation.
One boy watched an old ram for a
while The sheep. evidently of a mo-
rose nature, was amusing himself by
butting any other sheep that might
come near him. The lad watched the
performance in open-eyed admiration.
He spoke his conclusions:
Amt he the buttin'est sheep you
ever saw" he inquired.
Others agreed with him. The sheep
was one of the most accomplished but
tiers that one could find. He would
an alley goat.
Another feature of the sheep comedy
is the intelligent urban comment that
is constantly recurring. Remarks are
made by fashionably dressed people
that would incite a fair minded sheep
to homicide. A few days ago auto
mobile paused in its course through the
Monument grounds in order that two
middle aged and highly fashionable
women might inspect the herd. The
older of the two evidently had heard
that the government had gone in for
shepherding. She examined the beasts
critically. Then she shifted.
They aren't white she complained.
Undoubtedly they were not. They
were neutral brown color highly sug-
gestive of mud.
The younger woman clucked sympa-
thetically.
Something should be done about
this, continued the older woman. II
have seen pictures of sheep and know