454 AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



cultural Society, one of the best authorities on agricultural matters in the United 

 States, estimated the entire loss iu the State at 50,000 sheep, worth at least 

 $175,000. 



Hou. J. B. Griunell, of Iowa, informs the writer that lie has frequently lost 

 SlOO worth by dogs iu a single night, and as this paragraph is penned the fol- 

 lowing item appears in an Iowa paper: 



"We will refer to the case of John Scott, of Storj' county, who, a few weeks since, had 

 116 head of sheep killed by a gang of six or eight dogs in one night. We are informed by a 

 gentleman who saw the sheep the morning atter they were killed, that they were worth $3 

 per head, a loss of §928. Since this loss Mr. Scott has met with another, though not so great.'» 



A dog in New Jersey — a mad dog — bit and caused the death of $1,600 worth 

 of cattle, exclusive of sheep. 



An editor of an agricultural paper, limping from dog bites in early youth, 

 after losing twenty-seven sheep of his first flock, shot a dog found feeding on 

 the carcases of twelve lambs, and Avas fined therefor the price of six sheep. 



Instances innumerable are offering th-emselves for quotation. They are not 

 needed. If more than 200,000 sheep have been killed in Ohio in five years, 

 more than 2,000,000 have been destroyed in the country, depriving our manu- 

 facturing industry of 6,000,000 pounds of wool by actual loss, and of untold 

 quantities by discouraging production. Thus are farmers discouraged, manu- 

 facturers thrown into foreign markets, the country drained of gold, worthless 

 dogs multiplied, and ihe national industry crippled. 



But there springs up a necessity for more wool, and immediately the pre- 

 liminary necessity for fewer dogs calls loudly for dog laws. But the wool-grower, 

 impatient of the "law's delay" in coming, seizes his trusty gun, waits and 

 watches the advent of the sneaking cur across the borders of his own domain, 

 and executes justice speedily, diminishes the evil, and increases thenceforth the 

 number of sheep. So it has proved. Dogs are yet numerous, but with the re- 

 vival of sheep husbandry the decline of dogs inevitably commences. Let the 

 good work go on. All hail to the municipal dog-killer ! 



No fact in our agriculture is clearer, or more readily acknowledged, than the 

 serious effect of dog depredations upon the flocks of the country. It has al- 

 most driven sheep from the east; it has diminished their numbers in the central 

 regions, and the same cry is echoed from the prairies. Even the herding of 

 sheep upon those distant plains, under the care of shepherds, is affected by it, 

 and the word comes thence, " Dogs are the greatest drawback to the full-range 

 system." 



WHY THEY SHOULD BE TAXED. 



In these days of taxes it may seem absurd to attempt to tell why. It ought to be 

 unnecessary. Horses are taxed, cattle, sheep ; carriages are taxed, and the ladies' 

 pianos, plate, watches, &c. ; bank checks, mortgages, foreign passage tickets, 

 receipts, and policies of life insurance — every imaginable species of property, 

 and almost every occupation or privilege of trade. Yet the owner of this prop- 

 erty in domesticated animals, imitating the habit of his proteges, absolutely whines 

 over a tax upon his dog, wags a vituperative tongue at the makers and execu- 

 tors of the law, and growls on the compulsion of its payment. 



Dogs are property, and therefore taxable. The doubt of this fact, which some 

 dog owners entertain, is only proof of the general useless'ness of most of them. 

 If a dog proves to be of the least utility, his owner finds no difiiculty, in case of 

 his maltreatment or canicide, in getting damages for his property in the animal. 



A bear or a wolf may be kept, and also becomes property, and the owner or 

 showman who keeps them is taxed ; and if allowed to trespass upon the grounds 

 or property of others, the proprietor is liable for damages. 



While the dog is property, the utility of such property is limited, and its ex- 

 cessive distribution gives scope to the wild or predatory element of the race» 



