OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER.

Otago Witness, Issue 2320, 18 August 1898, Page 6

OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER.

(From Our Special Correspondent.) Bradford, June 17. SHEEP FARMING INCREASING FER

TILITY

There is an old Swedish proverb which, literally interpreted, lias thus been rendered— ''Sheep have golden feet, and wherever tho print of them appears the «oil is turned into gold." Surely those who profess themselves unable to understand how the Earl of Leicester obtained four paying crops without manure, after a lengthy period in which the land had been in grass and fed continuously by sheep, must have forgotton it, or have beon practically inexperienced as to the extent fertility is induced and heightened year by year by pastoral farming and no abstraction of produce beyond what the animals pp propriate to their own frames. No doubt this increase of forlility is always more or less according to the system of sheep management carried on. If, for instance, a large breeding flock be kept without, any auxiliary food being given to the sheep or lambs either before or after weaning, they having to get their living 6ololy from sheop walks and the natural Di-odu.ee of the soil.

1 their droppings would be nothing like so lioh ' as when largo quantities of cake, corn or inea! 1 bo given to both, that tho lambs may attain [ J early development. There are, of course, a great many systems of sheop management. 1 ! Tho sheop breeders of England who havo pedi1 I grco flecks adopt high feeding, and so do • , those farmers who fatten lambs. Moreover, . '• tho system has lately becorno very popular ' ! to feed non-pecbgrco Hocks much better than ' j formerly. Two flocks aro divided out aftor j lambing, according to tho sexes of the pro1 geny. In one aro all tho wether lambs with ! J thoir clams; in the other tho ewes and she- ! lambs. Tho motive for tho separation is that \ j tlicro may bo high feoding of tho wether 1 lambs. They havo troughs with artificial food ' j in them placed outside the hurdle branch, and , probably their dams may bo allowed small i '• quantities, of cxlr.i food likewise, that they ■' may give richer milk. After weaning tho ! wether lambs are not only removed to the 1 boit piece of grass or green crop, but are fed 1 with cako or meal to make good weighty carcase; a? soon as possible. j Very liltlo consideration will be requisite ' to prove that when liberal feeding with auxi1 liary food prevails there must naturally be , far greater enhancement of fertility ihan 1 when tho fiock has never beon allowed any i extra sustonanco whatever except what is ', derived from grass, should purely pastoral ' farming bo followed, and the- wether lambs and draft ewes bo sold off every autumn lean. Thero havo been thoso who have declared that 1 when such a system of low farming is pur- ' sued tho bono, muscle, sinews, etc., sold cil from the farm every year in its crop of he- , laiabs and draught ewca would impoverish its ! pastures and sheep walks of mineral proi pertiod almost to tho same extent as pastures ' are deteriorated by dairy cows when all tho ] milic produced goes off without there being any return by cake or corn being put into I tho mouths of tho animals, or otherwise 1 y 1 direct manuring. In either case there must le , largo abstractions of phosphates in the bones , of lean sheep sold from the farmer to almost , an equal extent to that from the poor dairy ! pasture, in which caso the phosphates go off in ! tho milk. j Tho Karl of Leicester stated that he did . not find his arable pastures fall off in actual produce even after from 12 to 16 years of ( laying, down, and that his only motive for , breaking them up again was that sheep always do beUer on new ground than old. More likely, therefore, tho earl's system of manage- : ment if not possibly high, was generally good, ( so that minerals wero imparted continually to the soil through the mouths of tho anim-ils ] and tho droppings they loft behind. (if I course, giass lands can be manured i]'«ito as i well through tho mouths of stock, oven to ; the imparting of mineral fertility as by r'ireet j manuring Tho late Mr Charles claudall 111 1 d 1 some poor meadows winch ho manured tvery j winter by folding sheoo over them, which 'were entirely fed by food from ("rtraieo.is I so-arcos. His system was that of cutting up ; straw into chaff, and, after damping it, incorporating with the heap a hot soup consisting of cereal meals and linseed infused into boil1 ing water. After fermenting 24- hours it wa? fed to the sheep in troughs, and they did far j better than others did on turnips, while the , poor meadows produced a heavy crop of I grass the ensuing summer. WOOL A TRIFLE BETTER. Thero is eiidonco of a hotter feeling in tho local wool market than for some timo. UuiiI ness as yet continues dull but nevertheless surI faco indications appear to be far more favour- ' able. T':ere has been far more inquiry from ] consumer* than for weeks. This fact natur- ' ally encourages holders, as it goes to show j that manufacturers and spi'incrs l>a\o an ; awakened interest in the situation, and may hf> expected lo buy more freely before- long. ; Somo topmakcrs already have had pracli-.al ! proof of this, and during the past week scmo heavy weights have been turned over. In other ea^ot. offer-; have been made and declined, simply on account of I'nvness of price, j but it is distinctly encouraging to hear of 1 the*>o offers, even if they do not immedia.oly '. result in any business. Tho market 3>as 1 beon in a nominal portion for some time past, l and an offer of 0 certain figure by a consumer i is taken into serious consideration, and if to- • day a man can see cost prices offering tho i bargain is closed at once. It is worthy of ; noto that mohair again has been exercising an invigorating influence on tho market, this i j timo taking fine wool as its companion. This 1 ; is quite a new dcpartuie. and forms a record. : ! In tho past, when mohair has been to tho front, i , lustre crossbred wool has always been its ! intimalo associate, but this time merino wool j j has felt its magnetic touch. Late prices aro i maintained throughout, while a plight harden- ; ing tendency is observable. Some topmakers I are striving hard for a farthing advance from the bottom price of a fortnight ago, but ?o far it is to no purpose. Fino crossbreds aro I still selling, but low qualities drag heavily. • In English sorts buyers are still refusing to j purchase, demand being reduced to a mmiii mum, and men waiting to see how the country j sales go. Lincoln hoggs are now worth no j more than Bid. The animated state of UlO ; mohair branch is still a feature of the market, ' and a fractional increase on last week is reI ported, 19d being to-day's price. Quietness ' rules in the yarn market. Spinners aro firm in j respect of genappes and lus-tre yarns, for which there aro some inquiries, but they are not so well situated in other connections. In tho piece department there is practically no ; chaiige.