248 ROAIJD OF AOlMcrLTUUK. 



lliiii;; iiii;;lil ln' linmiilil iiliout l>y wliidi iiicu iiiij;lil lir .-illowcd to pay 

 taxes on sluu'i) with this oh.jcct in view, and liicu the county ought to 

 1)1' made to ])My for tlic aniinais tlial arc liiilcd. first out of the dog fund 

 and tlicn out of sonic otlicr fund: or ihcy ouniit to he made to say at the 

 Iji'ginnin^' of cacii session tiial tlicy must liave so mm-li money for the 

 sheep kilh'il. Just as soon as you do tliat you will encourage breeders 

 throughout the State to huihl up tlicir flocks again. My observation 

 is that most of tlie men wlio liave had a htrge nund)er of sheep killed 

 and only got a fourth of what they were worth from the county coni- 

 nussioners have gone out of the business. It would beeonie a very im- 

 portant matter to tlie county connnissioners to see that the dog laws 

 were enforced if tliey had to pay the full price of the sheej). 



Then, 1 thiidc we ought to have a central wool insi)ection department, 

 where the wools nnght be gi*aded. As it is now, we Inive only a few 

 wool buyers in the State, located generally in the center of four or five 

 wool growing counties. The wool is usually bought at so much a pound 

 without much regard to its quality. There again men are not encouragetl 

 to breed better sheep and get a better quality of wool. All is wool that 

 comes, and all comes at about nineteen cents a pound. When that wool 

 goes to Boston, however, it is sorted into thirty-two different grades and 

 it brings thirty-two different prices. 



A man that breeds a fine flocli of sheep should be entitled for his 

 extra labor and expense to the money he has invested in Ins l)usiness; 

 he shoidd receive from five to seven cents a pound more for Iiis wool than 

 does the man who has not taken care of his sheep. I believe in that 

 way we would encourage men to have better tlocks and to take better care 

 of them. There is no doubt aJ)out it, the better flocks men have the 

 more interest they will take in the l)usiness and the better profit they 

 Avill get fi'om the business. The great trouble has been with the people 

 who have gone into the business and gene out of it. Every now and again 

 somebody will say, "I want to buy some sheep." Then they will ask the 

 opinion of some one of us as to wliat we think of the proposition. My 

 answer to this (piestion usually is, "How are you going to look after 

 themV" The usual reply to this is, "Oh, well, Ave are just going to put 

 them on the farm." Then I will advise them to keep out of the business 

 if they are just going to put them on the farm and let the farm hands 

 take care of them. If you are going into it in an intelligent way and 

 are going to have a man who knows how to take care of them as they 

 should be cared for. it will be a profitable and pleasant business. 



Our dog laws that have been passed in the last few years have been 

 a step forward in the advancement of the interests of sheep growers, 

 but I believe they can be made stronger. It occurs to me now that these 

 two things might encourage the breeding of better sheep aiid more sheep 

 in Indiana. 



