SHEEP HUSBANDRY. 389 



> 



bound, run out grass field we pasture it a couple of years with 

 sheep, and its entire complexion is changed, and a heavy crop of 

 grass is the result. Of what other kind of stock can we say as 

 much ? 



It may be said that the returns from sheep raising are small in 

 amount and slow of realization. Granted ; but they are sure and 

 regular. We get it every year in the form of wool as interest, and 

 lambs which are the increase, leaving the principal untouched. It 

 is a semi-annual dividend, and no income tax or internal revenue 

 bills to pay. It is not the rushing, noisy, turbulent stream, swol- 

 len in spring time and dry during the drouth, that produces the 

 best effects. It fills the pond and overruns the dam for the time, 

 but is not to be depended upon to drive the machinery of the mills 

 steadily. Rather, it is the deep, quiet stream fed by tiny rills from 

 never-failing springs, which is to be relied upon. The pond at its 

 outlet is always full, and the whirr of machinery driven by its 

 power is never silent through drouth or freshet. So with branches 

 of farming. It is not that branch which may pay large returns 

 that is the safe ©ne for the farmer, it is the one which is sure, 

 though the income is small and gradual. Hence I say sheep hus- 

 bandry must not be abandoned. It is a sure, safe, and reliable 

 occupation. 



Secretary Goodale. If we have the time at our command, it 

 seems to me we might well devote a portion of it to a discussion 

 of this subject. As the writer of the paper well says, in substance, 

 " there is a tide in the affairs of men," and it is certainly true that 

 at this time it is dead low water in the matter of sheep husbandry, 

 but 1 think with him we should not for this reason allow ourselves 

 to abandon tliis branch of farming. There are various considera- 

 tions connected with it which do not attach to any other branch ; 

 and while I cannot assent to all the propositions laid down in his 

 paper, there are others which I deem of great importance. 



Perhaps it ought to be known, that the gentleman who wrote 

 that paper lives in a section of the State where sheep do not, in 

 all cases, require so long attention during the winter as they do 

 here. I doubt if a majority of the farmers in the State of Maine 

 could say with truth that they have to attend to their sheep only 

 a quarter part of the year. I understand the statement of the 

 paper to be that sheep require fodder only three months out of the 

 twelve. It is true, that along the seaboard there are places where 



