SHEEP. 207 



that, in this county, mutton or lamb is the primary object, 

 and wool the secondary object. 



Sheep husbandry, to be successful here, must be managed 

 somewhat in the same way that our market-gardeners manage 

 their business. The first inquiry with them is, What can we 

 grow that cannot be transported from a distance, — for where 

 land is high, it will not pay to raise those articles that will 

 keep, — or that enter largely into the commerce of the world ? 

 It matters not to them how cheap potatoes can be grown on the 

 Penobscot, while we have a demand for them here in August, 

 before they can be brought from Maine. So we, if we think of 

 raising sheep, must inquire, not what will keep long, not what 

 can be transported well, but for what is there a demand, in 

 which the farmers of Maine and Vermont cannot compete with 

 us. We answer, early lambs. Every farmer that has ever kept 

 sheep knows that there is nothing that grows upon his farm 

 that he can sell so readily at his own door as his early lambs. 

 We are told in the report that five cents per pound is the price 

 usually paid by the butcher for mutton. We have kept sheep 

 for four years, and the butchers have been willing to pay five 

 dollars apiece for lambs that will weigh thirty pounds in June. 



We have been permitted, within a few days, to look over the 

 books of one of the largest dealers in mutton in this county, 

 and we find that the average wholesale price for lamb in June 

 and July was fifteen cents per pound. Perhaps I shall not in 

 future be able to get so much more for my lambs than I shall 

 for my wool, as I have for a few years past. To illustrate my 

 meaning, I will give you the actual sale from one of my sheep 

 for the last three years : — 



1861. Two lambs, dropped the 5th of March, sold the loth 

 of June to the butcher for $10, ..... 

 Six pounds of unwashed wool sold at 25 cents per pound, 



1862. Two lambs at $4.20 apiece ..... 

 Six pounds of unwashed wool, at 40 cents per pound, 



one-third shrink, ....... 



1863. Two lambs, at $3.60 apiece, 



Six pounds of unwashed wool, at 55 cents per pound, 



Lambs for three years, . . . . 



Wool for three years, . . . $6 40 



