same arrangement is made in all the other tables where figures are given 

 by counties. • 



With a view to collecting and afterwards making public as much 

 detailed information as possible regarding the sheep industry, the De- 

 partment of Agriculture prepared a circular for distribution among the 

 farmers of the Province. This circular drew attention to the decrease 

 in the numbers of sheep and contained the parts of the Act for the Pro- 

 tection of Sheep and to Impose a Tax on Dogs, which directly affected 

 the sheep breeder or dog owner. The circular also contained a list of 

 pertinent questions which those receiving the circular were asked to 

 answer as fully as it was in their power to do, and forward the answers 

 to the Department. The questions to which replies were asked were as 

 follows : 



i. What proportion of farmers in your locality keep sheep? 



2. What is the average size of the breeding flock? 



3. Taking one year with another, how do the profits from sheep 

 compare with profits from other classes of live stock, (a) horses, (b) 

 cattle, (c) swine? 



4. Give any special reasons why the numbers of sheep have been 

 decreasing each year as shown by the tables on page 1. 



5. Have you experienced any trouble from dogs? 



6. Is a tax imposed on dogs in your township, town or village? 



7. If not, has a petition been presented to your Council in accord- 

 ance with Section 2 of the Act, asking that a tax be not collected? 



8. In the interests of the breeders of sheep, should any change be 

 made in the "Act for the Protection of Sheep and to Impose a Tax on 

 Dogs"? 



About eight hundred sets of replies were sent in. They came from 

 practically every part of the Province in which farming is carried on to 

 any considerable extent. The replies do not indicate that conditions vary 

 greatly in the different districts of the Province, so it is not considered 

 (necessary to deal with each county individually. The views of corres- 

 pondents as expressed in reply to the questions asked have furnished, 

 unless otherwise stated, the information contained in the following pages. 



For convenience and in order to economize space, the summary of 

 replies to questions 1 and 2 have been tabulated with the information 

 gathered from the answers to question 3. 



