ESSENTIALS IN FUTURE SHEEP BREEDING. 47 



for. I am very glad this afternoon that we have a gentleman 

 here who is well posted, as I understand, in rearing and caring 

 for sheep, and it gives me pleasure to introduce to you this 

 afternoon this gentleman, Dr. C. D. Smead, of Logan, New 

 York. 



"THE ESSENTIALS OF SUCCESS IN FUTURE 

 SHEEP BREEDING." 



By Dr. C. D. Smead, Logan, N. Y. 



Mr. President and friends : It affords me a great deal of 

 pleasure to meet with you in your mid-winter meeting at this 

 time, because I expect to learn something of you, a great deal 

 more of you than you will learn of me. Therefore, it affords 

 me pleasure to be with you. I have always in my life en- 

 deavored to learn something and have not made a very good 

 success of it, but such as I have learned I shall endeavor to 

 impart unto you. 



The President has stated in his opening remarks that in his 

 boyhood days he tended sheep, large numbers of sheep, and 

 became disgusted with sheep and quit the business, as I sup- 

 pose, resolved at any rate that he would have nothing to do 

 with it. Now I am very sorry indeed that he did that, and 

 I am more than sorry that others hav^ done the same thing. 

 Why ? Because, as a matter of fact, the sheep industry of the 

 world today is in a deplorable condition. There is no deny- 

 ing that. You who have given the matter thought and study, 

 looked up the statistics, realize as well as I that there are 

 less sheep in the world today than there have been at any time 

 in fifty years ; and the worst of it is they are growing less 

 and less rapidly, and your clothes and mine are wearing out 

 proportionately, and it is certain, Mr. President, that unless 

 a change takes place, which I have faith to believe there will, 

 it will not be long before you and I will not be finding fault 

 with our wool but, as a matter of fact, we will be pretty glad 

 to get it to wear. Our agricultural department at Washing- 

 ton has taken a great deal of pains in conjunction with other 

 countries of the world where sheep are kept in looking this 

 matter up and have now reported that at the beginning of this 



