1905.] SHEEP. 43 



get back to our young man. First of all, he must have some 

 natural adaptability and love of sheep husbandry, and he must 

 have some definite plan as to the way in which he proposes to 

 carry on the sheep industry. There are many ways in wdiich 

 it can be done, but there is usually but one right way. It may 

 be by selling his mutton and lambs, or the yearlings or two 

 year olds, or by the wool alone. Now, the first and most impor- 

 tant thing is for him to start right. He must choose his flock. 

 Let him choose anything he likes, in the way of variety, but 

 make sure to get good stock, and to get good stock he must 

 know sheep. Of course, he must have a farm to put them on. 

 Your Secretary tells me that there is lots of land in Connecticut, 

 eight or nine miles away from the railroads, which can be 

 bought very reasonably. Now, in starting a flock I should buy, 

 perhaps, one hundred ewes. There, as I intimated to you a 

 minute ago, is one of the most difficult things in sheep hus- 

 bandry. It is no easy matter, -I can tell you, to pick up one- 

 hundred ewes and not get some with some disease, or some- 

 thing bad about them, to be carried into your flock from the 

 purchasers. When you go out to pick them up be very careful 

 of whom you buy your sheep. Be sure that the wool looks 

 thrifty, and does not look dead. Most any disease that a sheep 

 is apt to have shows itself in the wool, to a man who knows. 

 You can see it in the wool quicker than any place else. Be 

 sure the wool looks lively and bright, and make sure that the 

 eyes have a good appearance, because if you happen to get a few 

 sheep with some eye disease you may ruin the rest of your 

 flock. I did worse than that once. I bought some sheep with 

 tuberculosis and ruined my whole flock, and I am pretty cute, I 

 think, in buying sheep, too. It is a serious thing to buy sheep 

 and put them on your farm. A mistake at that time may mean 

 a heavy loss, so be very careful of whom you buy. Buy of some 

 man that is responsible, and on whose representations you can 

 rely. So let us suppose that our young man starts out to buy 

 one hundred ewes. He ought to get them for three tvv^enty-five, 

 that are good enough to start with. Then he ought to have 

 two good bucks, that might cost three hundred dollars. He 

 ought to get good enough at that price. Then he ought to have 

 about four hundred dollars to invest in tools and matters of that 

 kind. Altogether it would run up to, say, about two thousand 

 dollars as the total necessary investment. Then on top of that 



