66 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Jan., 



struggle to raise and keep them. I gave up the business many 

 years ago. When our factory villages grew up, and factories 

 paid pretty good wages to their help, and thereby attracted 

 a class of help which kept more dogs than poultry, and my 

 farm bemg located about two miles from two of these manu- 

 facturing villages I found the question altogether too hard for 

 me. After a series of years our State laws were changed, 

 giving us more and more protection, until at the present day 

 I do not know that a sheep raiser can ask for any better laws, 

 so far as compensation goes, than those in force in Connecticut. 

 That, however, does not solve the difificulty. Dogs will come 

 in the night and destrov half vour flock. Twice I have 

 struggled to get up a flock of a hundred breeding ewes, and 

 upon two occasions I have had over one-half my flock killed 

 in one night. The town paid me a reasonable compensation. 

 But that is not the point. I have no fault to find with the 

 compensation paid.. The trouble is there is no inducement to 

 try to raise a flock of sheep when that danger threatens us 

 as it constantly does. I gave the business up in disgust some 

 time ago. 



Now where is the remedy ? I do not know. I have never 

 known a dog to kill sheep that was brought up with them. I 

 have sometimes thought that if there was a tax of five dollars 

 or more laid on each dog, that tax to be remitted to every 

 one who would keep two or more sheep to bring up with the 

 dogs, that it might be a remedy. I do not think it would be 

 a hardship, for any man who can afford to keep a dog can 

 afford to keep sheep. If I have been informed aright, in some 

 European countries there are la\YS which allow every dog to 

 be shot at sight which is trespassing. I think that might be 

 one remedy. Another remedy may be the use of wire fences 

 of sufficient height to keep the dogs out, but that I should ' 

 throw aside as unavailable for I do not think that it is prac- 

 ticable. In raising sheep it is necessary to shift them some- 

 times from one field to another, and it would be necessary to 



