424 



SHEEP INDUSTRY OF THE UNITED STATES 



The ISTew York statistical agent for the Department of Agriculture \ 

 reported in 1888 that "When land is as high as the average farm in j 

 New York there must be a broader foundation for sheep husbandry j 

 than the fleece. The body of the sheep as a food product must make i 

 the foundation of this important industry ; n and again, in 1890: 



There is an increase in the number and value of sheep. Many sheep have been \ 

 purchased from Ohio, Michigan, and Canada, and have been distributed about the j 

 State in small flocks. The high price of lambs for mutton and a growing apprecia- : 

 tion of mutton as a meat food has helped to bring this about. The need of more 

 animals on the farms to make manure has also been a potent influence in making 

 quite a boom in sheep. But for dogs many more sheep would be kept in small 

 flocks. It seems to be a common characteristic of farmers to sell out when things 

 are going down, forgetting that their o\vn acts send them lower, and to buy in when \ 

 the price is possibly rising. Last year there was a scramble to sell sheep, and this 

 year to buy; whereas sheep should really be an established and permanent factor 

 on every farm. It is a gratifying fact that they are once more becoming appre- ] 

 ciated, both for mutton and wool the first being the more important consideration 

 to the New York farmer. 



Fortunately for the New York sheep industry, both for mutton and 

 wool, the supply of thoroughbred flocks of all the breeds is ample; in 

 no other State is it excelled in pure stock. The sheep of the State are \ 

 remarkably healthy. Breeders insist on a high standard and emu- 

 lation keeps it up. The raising of sheep is now, more than ever before, 

 one of the factors of farm life ; not the only one it has become part of 

 a system of diversified agriculture. 



Sheep and wool of New York, 1840 to 1890. 



The figures as given by the Statistician of the Department of Agri- 

 culture show a falling off in number of 154,843 sheep from January 1 ? 

 1890, to January 1, 1891, although the State agent reported that the 

 keeping of sheep was demanding general attention, and but for the 

 ravages of dogs they would be doubled could the stock be obtained. 

 There was a slight increase in the number during 1891, and the average 

 value was somewhat higher. More were being kept than formerly, as 

 lamb and mutton were in demand at all times at paying prices. More 

 full-blood rams were used and there was a strong tendency to improve 

 the sheep for mutton. 



