394 INDIANA HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS 



I left home last year the last of August, with one man 

 and a boy 12 years old ; I was absent 37 days, and brought 

 in about 800 head of "good common" sheep, that is, an 

 average of about half-blood Merinos. I bought in Cham- 

 paign and Clark counties, on the waters of Mad River. 

 The prices varied from 50 to 87 1/2 cents, and averaged 

 upon the 500 which I bought myself, 66% cents. The 

 other part of the drove were bought by the man who 

 drove in company with me, and I have not the cost. I 

 sold a part of the wool from this purchase when last in 

 Chicago at 3514 cents, and according to that, the aver- 

 age price would have been about 31 cents upon the whole 

 clip. The average weight of the fleeces is 5% lbs. Drove 

 sheep never yield as much wool the first year as after, 

 especially when poorly wintered. The average cost of my 

 sheep at home was 81 V2 cents each, which includes all 

 the expense of three hands and three horses, going, buy- 

 ing, and extra help at times, and the expense of one addi- 

 tional horse on the return, except about a quarter of the 

 total expense out, which was borne by the man in com- 

 pany with me as his proportion. This average also in- 

 cludes all lost sheep, but does not include my own time. 

 We will therefore add 37 days time of one man and boy, 

 and three horses and wagon, including wear and tear of 

 all the "fixings" at $1.25 a day, $46.25— less than 10 cents 

 a head, while the actual cash expense was a fraction over 

 10 cents, but including losses, 14%, ; so that it may safely 

 be said that one can go from Chicago to Ohio and bring 

 in from 500 to 800 head of sheep, at 25 cents a head, and 

 that a good lot will cost less than 70 cents a head. 



Now as two very important questions will be asked 

 by every reader who has any notion of buying sheep, I 

 mean to ask them and answer them myself. 



First, What is the need of all these horses and wagon ? 

 and next, With them and hands, how do you contrive to 

 travel at an expense of less than $1.50 a day? 



First, then, When starting for a drove from here, I 

 would have a good light two horse wagon, a feed trough 



