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man the feeling of pleasure and satisfaction arising from the knowledge 

 that in the midst of a wintry storm, while he himself is enjoying the 

 comforts of a blazing fire, his sheep likewise are comfortable in their 

 quarters. Their house should be well covered and protected from 

 the winds. Attached should be an open yard, to which they have free 

 access. Their house should be kept well littered. Upon one side should 

 be troughs for feeding and salting. Many, perhaps most, will consider all 

 this as unnecessary and useless trouble. But we say that which we do 

 know, when we say it pays. Sheep thus sheltered will keep fat on the 

 food that will barely sustain life in those which are exposed. Their 

 fleeces are kept clean, lambs are seldom lost from exposure ; they become 

 gentle, can readily be caught and handled, and the state and condition of 

 the flock are known every day. Uncared for sheep will yield some wool 

 and mutton but no profit. Generous profits are the offspring of generous 

 treatment. Physical comfort and mental quietude are as essential to the 

 well-being of our domestic animals as to our own. 

 Among the numerous 



BREEDS 



of sheep the public favor seems to be divided principally between the 

 Merino and the Cotswold. The former yields a short, fine fleece weighing 

 from four to six pounds ; the latter yields a long, rather coarse, fleece 

 weighing from eight to ten pounds. The former has a small carcass, 

 weighing from seventy-five to one hundred pounds; the carcass of the 

 latter will run from 125 pounds to 175 pounds. Formerly the Merinos 

 were the most popular ; but of late years the increasing consumption of 

 mutton and the demand for long wool for combing purposes seems to have 

 turned the tide of popularity towards the Cotswold. For the mountain- 

 ous regions of East Tennessee, remote from markets and lines of transpor- 

 tation, and where the production of wool is the chief object of the sheep 

 raiser, the Merino may be the most desirable. But in most portions that 

 breed will be found most profitable which yields the greatest returns 

 both of wool and mutton. These combined qualities the Cotswold seems 

 to possess above any other breed 



But throwing the wool entirely out of consideration, it is generally 

 maintained by sheep-growers, that, as meat-producing animals, they are 

 more profitable than either hogs or cattle, except perhaps on rich bottom 

 lands. Randall, an extensive sheep-farmer of New York, says it can be 

 demonstrated that a pound of 



MUTTON 



can be produced cheaper than a pound of pork or beef. And several 

 farmers of this State largely engaged in all three varieties of stock-rais- 

 ing, have expressed to the writer the same opinion. The consumption of 

 mutton is fast increasing throughout the United States. In our large 



