Sec. 7.] 



SHEEP HUSBANDRY. 



87 



tlieiii ill otlier yards, where tliey are fed on grain and good hay, and I sel- 

 dom lose a laml). I graze my lloclc upon less than ciglitcun acres ot" good 

 pasture, whicli has been made to produce sweet grass by the application of 

 green sand marl, by which I have renovated a worn-out farm. By the end 

 of July I have my lambs, whicli are large and fat, and well marked with the 

 Southdown characteristics, all off to the butcher — this year at $i 75 each, 

 selling the whole lot to one man. I could have sold them in small lots so as 

 to average $5 a head. The ewes, after the lambs are taken off, become fat 

 upon grass alone, so as to bring tlie best market price of that class of sheup 

 in September. I have just sold all off, and find that the 100 head Avhicli 1 

 purchased at $3 50 one year ago, have yielded mo in wool, lambs, and old 

 sheep $7 50 a head over the cost of the stock. Last year I realized §7 a 

 head profit, or rather, I got that for keeping 100 head of sheep one year, and 

 I ill ink that sum may be safely calculated iipon every year. And besides 

 this ]ii()lit, I find my shecj) are enriching my land and are more ad van 

 tagcous in every way than any other kind of stock. Every farmer keeping 

 sheep should have a lot of movable fence, and inclose small jjlots — say half 

 an acre at a time — of the poorest parts of the farm, such as gravelly knolls, 

 upon which to yard the flock nights. The only drawback to keeping sheep 

 upon hundreds of farms near New York is the worthless cur dogs. In Now 

 Jersey we have a goo<l law which gives out of the general tax $5 a head for 

 all sheep killed by dogs. That insures every common sheep, but does not 

 warrant me in keeping full-blood Southdown or other valuable breeds. The 

 State of New York needs a stringent law against dogs to protect the interest 

 of farmers who keep sheep, particularly in the counties near the city." 



The above statement of Mr. Bell is a very encouraging one, and would 

 doubtless encourage many of the farmers convenient to the city market to 

 adopt the same course if the State Legislature would protect them against 

 dogs. The question resolves itself into this simple form : Is it of more gen- 

 eral advantage to the State to grow wool and mutton than it is to grow dogs 

 — dogs, too, of the most worthless sorts ? It is ono of tho rarest things in the 

 world that a shej)herd dog or a good ho\ise watch-dog ever kills sheep. It 

 is only tho meanest, prowling, thieving, worthless curs, of no value to tlieir 

 owners, that destroy sheep. Let ns have a law to annihilate tlieni, aiid then 

 every man can keep sheep with tho same results as Mr. Bell. 



Mr. Carpenter, of Elmira, said : " A neighbor of mine makes just about 

 the same average upon his flock of grade Soutlidowns. IIo shears six pounds 

 of wool per head, and he sells his lambs at §i." 



Samuel Tliornc, of Dutchess County, N. Y., pursues tho same course, 

 with the same results, as "Mr. Bell. 



Mr. "Wade", of Canada "West, says: '-That ho prefers the long-wool sorts, 

 because tiiey are more hardy. The mutton sella readily, and tho wool, 

 though not Avorth so much a pound as the fine-wool sorts, weighs so 

 much more that the value of tho fleece is equal. "We don't grow much 

 corn, but we feed a great many roots, and feed well. It is foolish to try to 



