592 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Now. if I were handling slieep on a large farm, as Mr. Downey and 

 some of the more favored brothers, I would say that they could be handled 

 with greater success on a large farm, provided you have your farm 

 divided off in fields and change them from one field to another. Now, 

 at the present time these sheep were making on an average of about 

 ninety per cent, to the flock, where they were well kept. I could cite you 

 to flocks that are making an average of about ninety per cent, increase, 

 and I know what tliese men are getting for their lambs and wool, for 1 

 have followed that for a number of years. The last two years I hav© 

 been buying wool. These .lambs, as I have said, come the latter part 

 of March until the middle of April, or before shearing, which depends on 

 the spring. These lambs I have been handling mostly I buy and ship 

 right off the grass. This fall I think I bought about 1,400 head of lambs 

 and they gave me on an average about five and a quarter. The average 

 weight of these lambs is about seventy-five pounds. Well, we will say 

 they cost about $4.00 a head. The wool off of these ewes paid twenty-fivo 

 cents a pound; the average weight of the average shipment of fleece is 

 •eight pounds; that is $4.00 for the fleece and $4.00 for the lamb; this 

 will give you ninety per cent. Take ninety per cent, of that and you have 

 about $4.40 per head on the original flock, providing you sell your wool 

 and sell your lamb. However, I will say that I believe I would be suf- 

 ficiently correct to say that the Shropshire ewes in this and adjoining 

 counties at the present time are making $5.50 per head for the money 

 invested. The next thing would be to the beginner-in-chief, as I have 

 said what breed you take would depend upon the location of your farm. 

 If you are thinking of embarking in the sheep business in a small way, 

 I would say that in small flocks the Shropshire sheep, in my opinion, 

 is the best. I would be willing to start in a small way. A great many 

 will say, if a little is good, more is better. But it will not do in the 

 sheep business. While you may start with fifty ewes and make 90 to 100 

 per cent, each year, you cannot do that with 100 ewes and keep them all 

 in one flock. The larger your flock the smaller will be your per cent, of 

 profit. If they are kept the same, the small flocks will produce a larger 

 profit. They will save a greater per cent, of their lambs and the Iambs 

 will be marketable at an earlier age. I would say a few words to the 

 young man who is thinking — as I have been asked the question a number 

 of times in the last six months, as a great many are just beginning to 

 find out the sheep are paying. 



I have been asked the question: will it pay to go into the sheep busi- 

 ness at the present time? I would say I certainly think it will, even at 

 the high prices; I would say begin in a small way, with a small flock of 

 twenty-five or more. But if you have never handled sheep, don't buy 

 over fifty to commence with. Be willing to start in a small way, and as 

 your knowledge increases your flock will increase, and in this way you 

 will make the most profitable profit that can be made. I would say this 

 in answer to the question I have been asked, will it pay to buy sheep at 

 the present time, considering the high prices? There is nothing in sight 

 that has a tendency to lower the price of either wool or mutton. Eleven 

 years ago last August I believe I made my first shipment to the Chicago 



