430 SHEEP INDUSTKY OF THE UNITED STATES 



In 1876 and in succeeding years large numbers of the English breeds 

 were imported into New Jersey, and the State had in possession nearly 

 all the breeds profitable to keep. There were Southdowns, Oxford 

 Downs, Hampshire Downs, Shropshire, and Cotswolds, and some 

 Merinos. At the State fair in 1884, and in subsequent years, all these 

 breeds have been represented, and the flocks are maintained to supply 

 breeding rams for other flocks and to cross on grade sheep for early 

 lambs. 



The system, so succesfully inaugurated by Mr. Taylor, of raising cross- 

 bred lambs for the early market and fattening the ewes for fall, still 

 prevails in some parts of the State, and is profitable even on lands 

 costing $100 and more per acre. But few sheep are grown to maturity 

 in the State. The flocks consist principally of ewes purchased from the 

 surplus flocks of Pennsylvania, western New York, and Ohio, sometimes 

 Michigan, at $2.50 to $5 per head, in July or August. These are pas- 

 tured as long as weather permits, served with an Oxford, a Hampshire, 

 a Shropshire, or a Southdown rani; fed well on hay, cornstalks, and 

 sometimes roots, during the winter; sheared, early in the spring, of 5 to 

 6 pounds of wool; their lambs sold in May and June, sometimes as early 

 as April, at $5 to $10 each, and if in March, at $12, and the mother 

 ewes meanwhile are fattened and follow the lambs early in the summer; 

 some few are kept until early autumn. This system disposes of the whole 

 flock within a year, at a cash profit of $5 to $12 on each ewe pur- 

 chased, besides the manure, which adds to the fertility of the farm. 



A veteran in this line of industry thus writes in the report of the 

 New Jersey State Board of Agriculture for 1886 : 



Good, strong, medium wool common ewes should be procured in July, if possible, 

 and a young and vigorous thoroughbred Southdown buck should be turned with them 

 immediately after harvest, allowing not more than 25 ewes to 1 buck, if a lamb, and 

 not over 50 to' a yearling. By this practice the lambs will be dropped between the 

 15th of December and the 15th of January. If the ewes are well fed' through the win- 

 ter, and if the lambs have a free and separate access to cornmeal, whole oats, wheat 

 bran, and linseed meal as soon as they are old enough to eat they will, when 6 weeks 

 old, up to 3 months old, weigh from 30 to 60 pounds per head. I have known some 

 farmers to sell lambs for St. Patrick's day as high as $12. These prices do not last 

 long, and are obtained by but few. I know of farmers who have disposed of their 

 lambs from 40 ewes by the middle of April, bringing from $6.50 to $10 per head, 

 averaging a little over $8 per head. After the lambs are sold the ewes will fatten 

 and will bring a larger price than at any other time of the year, from $1 to $10 more 

 than cost. NOW T , estimating the gain in price, thp value of the fleece and manure, to 

 balance the cost and trouble of feeding, the lamb can be reckoned as clear profit. 

 If, however, the lambs are dropped later and sold for less prices, say $5 or $6 each, 

 the profit will be proportionally less, but there will be still a profit equal to the price 

 obtained for the lamb on every ewe that raises one, and it is not unusual for a flock 

 of ewes to average one lamb apiece. 



It is no uncommon thing for the New Jersey farmer to purchase 20 

 ewes at $5 each, making $100 for the lot, and before the expiration of 

 the year sell the wool and lambs at $100 or more a profit of 100 per 



