404 



Missouri Agriculturul Report. 



Champion Shropshire ram, Missouri State Fair, 1912. Bred and exhibited by 



University of Missouri. 



The west will always be a big sheep country, but with the in- 

 crease in population and the breaking up of the range country into 

 farms, the sheep-herding industry will decrease. The flocks have 

 been cut down and better care taken of them. The high prices of 

 1910 caused many sheep men to "cash in," many of them selling 

 out entirely. The markets were full of wethers, and ewes of all 

 kinds were plentiful. The common talk on the markets was that 

 the west was "cleaning up" and the run would soon be ovei. But 

 it held on all through 1911. "The bottom dropped out" and mut- 

 ton was lower than it has been for the last twelve years. But the 

 west still poured the sheep into the market hopper. Record re- 

 ceipts were made and the run continued into 1912. The west has 

 been cleaning up, it is true, but not going out of the business. The 

 general tone of the market seems to he that most of the surplus 

 stock has been marketed. The better young breeding ewes have 

 been kept back. The smaller flock insures better grazing and the 

 big sheep companies are feeding hay through the winter, and more 

 care is being taken to save a greater percentage of the lamb crop. 



