604 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



THE PROFITABLE SHEEP. 



By MR. J. C. DUNCAN, Lewiston, N. Y. 



The title of this subject embraces a wide latitude of question* 

 Every breeder interested in any of the improved mutton or fine 

 wool breeds will advocate the breed he is directly interested in as 

 being the most profitable sheep. And this must be conceded to a 

 certain extent, as certainly no breeder of the present day would 

 engage in and continue in breeding a sheep that was unprofitable 

 to him as a business. So we will not take up the point of which is 

 the most profitable breed, but for a moment discuss the profitable 

 sheep. In my experience in" feeding both cattle and sheep, I have 

 always found I could produce mutton much cheaper than I could 

 produce beef, for the amount of food consumed. Notwithstanding 

 this fact, high-class lamb aod mutton usually sells at a higher market 

 value than beef of the same grade. But allowing them to sell for 

 the same price pound for pound, we have still a handsome balance in 

 favor of the profitable sheep, from the revenue from the fleece of 

 wool, which usuall}^ amounts to from |2.00 to |3.00 per head, in the 

 average mutton breeds kept on the farm principally for butchers' 

 lambs, and considering the very limited amount of care they require, 

 these are some of the facts we must credit to the profitable sheep. 



TWO INCOMES. 



It is an all-important fact in every branch of industry to consider 

 the source of income, and as related above, sheep usually afford two 

 annual incomes, namely, lambs and wool. But to keep in touch with 

 our subject, the profitable sheep, we might first consider it in a pure- 

 bred standard flock, the progeny of which is usually sold to small 

 breeders and farmers who make a business of producing butchers' 

 sheep. We must start on sound fundamental principles, that of 

 breeding an animal that will produce the largest amount of valuable 

 meat for a given quantity of food, with the smallest amount of waste 

 to the consumer. These should be the governing facts in the breeding 

 of all animals for the production of high-class meat, which must end 

 with the final test on the block, where the profit is calculated in dol- 

 lars and cents. Now, to breed a profitable pure-bred sheep, if our 

 aim be to breed the highest class of sires of any of the approved 

 breeds for use on the standard flocks of the country, we must have 

 an ideal equal to what we expect to attain. And in forming this 

 ideal: First, it is absolutely necessary to have a healthy, vigorouc? 

 animal showing a strong constitution, as we must always bear in 

 mind that the constitution of any animal is the foundation of all im- 

 provement. If we have an animal with all the fancy and fantastic 

 points of our ideals with a poor constitution, what profit can we 

 expect from the progeny of such animals? In the case of a sire it 



