sheep. 95 



SHEEP. 

 By L. B. Harris, Lyndonville, Vt. 



You cannot go into the sheep business without some capital, 

 but you can go into it with less money than is required in any 

 other branch of live stock industry. Let us assume that you 

 have borrowed the money and must pay it back with six per 

 cent interest. We will also assume that you are able bodied 

 and that your wife can do the work indoors. In your condition 

 every cent must be saved. 



Your first move is to buy a team. You should buy two brood 

 mares, which should cost you $300. You will have a farm, 

 $1,000; sheep, $300; team, $300; and other things to the amount 

 of $400, making $2,000 as your investment. Your ewes have 

 not been bred, and two good strong rams are needed, and here 

 comes an important point at the outset. A mistake in the ram 

 is an expensive error. So far as the breeding problem is con- 

 cerned, the ram is half the flock. We cannot afford expensive 

 rams, and we need not have them. The true shepherd can find 

 what he wants in the ranks of the common sheep. A good con- 

 stitution is the first and most important requisite. The general 

 appearance of a sheep is a good test of constitution ; he should 

 have a distinctly masculine style. As good an indication of 

 strength in the ram as any is to place the hand on the back of 

 his head and give a sudden push downward. If the sheep gives 

 under the sudden pressure, don't use him. If, on the other hand, 

 he resists your push, the chances are that he will be a good sire. 

 His feet should be wide apart, to give plenty of room for the 

 heart and lungs. A good sized stomach is of the greatest 

 importance; in fact, I should reject as a sire any ram that did 

 not have an ample place to store his dinner. For our purposes 

 breed matters little, except that perhaps we had better not try 

 a coarse wool, nor yet a fine. We must go slow in the matter 

 of shelter and the sheep cannot be got up at every rain or snow, 

 so we must keep within the middle wools. All breeds of sheep 

 are good for their purposes, but some of the middle wools are 



