NINTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART XII 691 
The Avool clip will invariably fully pay for the yearly upkeep of the 
flock, and no other domestic animal has a "side product" that will pay 
its yearly board bill. The lamb crop comes in as clear profit and it is 
a good large return according to the investment. More mutton is being 
consumed per capita and the great increase in population has made a 
noticeable advancement in the demand for mutton. The price of lamb on 
the leading markets during recent years has averaged higher than cattle 
or hogs. Even though prices were equal, lambs would be by far the most 
profitable owing to the cost of production. It has been demonstrated that 
from a given amount of feed, lambs will make the largest gain, and they 
are also much easier cared for than other stock. Many farmers have 
been born where cattle, hogs, and corn were about all they saw, and truly 
good returns have come from that sort of farming but it cannot always 
be continued. Experienced men say that the profits are not nearly so 
great now as in the past, and if it were continued without variation the 
farms would not be as valuable as they might have been and the world 
would sometime be glutted with beef and pork. Evidence of this comes 
from a large number of flocks having been founded during recent years 
on just such farms. The necessity of a change is realized and nothing 
else fills the place like a flock of sheep. Years ago the prevalent idea 
was that sheep vrere only good for rough brushy land which could not be 
plowed. They did give the largest obtainable returns from such land, 
but now farmers also know that they in their place give the largest re- 
turns from high priced land. Those who realize that no land can raise 
corn for an indefinite period are in a majority of cases putting in a flock 
of sheep. For the change, they give returns which no other live stock 
does. In past years many who knew the value of a flock did not get one 
owing to insufficient farm fencing. That difllculty is being gradually 
overcome because all farms are getting better fences. However, a five wire 
fence is quite good enough for sheep and that does not require much of 
an addition to the average fence. The principal cause of less flocks 
seems to have been because most farmers did not grow up where sheep 
were kept, so they have never given any attention to the true value of a 
flock. As deeper study is given to sheep, the fewer will be the number 
of farms without them. English farmers have long ago learned that in 
order to derive the greatest possible profit from a farm a flock of sheep 
must be kept upon it. As American land approaches the value of theirs, 
and the absolute necessity of soil fertility comes into prominence, and 
farmers figure for the last dollar that their farms will produce either 
directly or indirectly, then sheep will come into their proper place and 
there will be the right relation between the farm and the flock. 
THE PERCHERON AND OTHERS. 
The Wisconsin Agriculturist. 
A recent issue of Collier's Weekly contained the following article re- 
garding Percheron and other horses, written by Joseph Medill Patterson. 
In tLls article Mr. Patterson, who is a former student of the Wisconsin 
Agricultural College, and an Illinois horseman and stockman, discusses 
