SIXTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK — PART VIII. 591 



While, however. I might say to those who might wish to embarli in the 

 sheep industry, your sucess on the low lands will depend to some extent 

 upon the breed of sheep you handle. If you have a bottom farm and wish 

 to start in this business I would advise you to select for your flock some 

 •of the finer wool breed. The Rambouillet or Delaine would be the best, 

 and you could handle more of them in a flock than you can of the longer 

 wool, or mutton breed, and at the same time the wool will sell on the 

 market. A few years ago there was a little difference made, but now 

 they sell almost identically alike. 



In my opinion a man on a small farm, from 80 to 160 acres, can 

 not afford to do without a small flock of sheep, for several reasons. The 

 sheep, as you are aware, is a browser, and the sheep will utili'ze a great 

 deal of roughness on the farm that would otherwise be lost, after your 

 horses and cattle have eaten the hay. and wasted considerable of it. 

 Speaking of clover hay, as Mr. Downey said, timothy hay is almost worth- 

 less. I would say that a flock of fifty ewes kept on a 160-acre farm, where 

 the fences are all tight, could be transferred from one field 

 to another and used as a scavanger, if you may so call it. and will 

 pick up the waste food, or what might be left at the harvest time. They 

 will clean your oat field, your hay field, and after your corn is gathered 

 your sheep will still thrive if the snow is not on after you think you have 

 gathered it. 



We will take for illustration a flock of fifty sheep. Now, supposing 

 you are on rolling land; I would prefer a small flock if I had the long 

 wool breed. My choice is the long wool breed. But in my opinion the 

 most profitable breed than can be kept on our farms in a small way is 

 the Shropshire. The Shropshire has the fine form and medium length 

 wool, and the lamb will fatten at any age. We will take a flock of fifty 

 ewes on the small farm. I am speaking of what I would do if I was on 

 a farm big enough to handle them. I would mate these ewes so the 

 lambs would begin coming, I would say, the last of February or the 

 lirst of March; the lambs should all be good-sized before shearing time, 

 and while I am not fixed to keep sheep at home, I have a lot out on 

 another man's land, and these flocks I own are making an increase of 

 about ninety per cent each year. Now, the best illustration, and to take 

 the shortest time, would be to tell you what they have done. I have in 

 my mind at present a flock of sheep I put out on shares for one year. 

 The best time to put them out is in the fall. I put forty head of Shrop- 

 shire ewes and a male out on the last day of August. This man kept 

 them one year, and by the way, I put them out for one-half of the wool 

 and half the increase. I took my part of the increase at the close of 

 the year. I take my part of the profits of the wool whenever it is easily 

 sold. This flock of forty ewes produced fifty lambs. I am just telling 

 you, to give you an idea whether it is profitable. At that time I was 

 paying four cents a pound for the lambs to ship, as we usually figure 

 en a cent to ship them. The wool from this flock was at that time 

 eighteen cents. I believe we only got about $55.00 for the wool, but it 

 you will flfeure it up you will see there was quite a profit right there^ 



