EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. 



481 



sold was 33J cents, or 27J cents net. The average yield of unwashed 

 wool to the sheep was 3.44 pounds, which, at 27J cents net, gave a 

 clear income in wool from such sheep of 94 cents. The average price 

 of lambs sold to the butcher" in Georgia was $1.87. The average price 

 of stock sheep was $2.68 per head, of mutton sheep $2.75 per head. 

 This estimate is considered too favorable, but, allowing considerable 

 reduction, it shows that sheep raising will pay in Georgia for wool 

 alone, and, where near a market, the profit can be enhanced by the sale 

 of mutton. The commissioner's report further states that of those who 

 tried crosses, 98 per cent found the cross of the Merino and the native 

 the most profitable. The principal, and in fact the only, drawback was 

 the dog. It is estimated that 20 per cent of the sheep of the State are 

 annually killed by the dogs, and nearly 5 per cent by their thriftless 

 owners. This is a grievous tax, and well calculated to discourage the 

 sheep industry. 



The State agent for the United States Department of Agriculture 

 reported in 1887 that the sheep industry was on the wane, as it had 

 been for several years past. The absence of any adequate protection 

 from dogs and " old sows" was sufficient to deter any new ventures in 

 sheep husbandry in middle Georgia, and the business then, as it always 

 had been, was conducted in the most slipshod manner conceivable. No 

 business paid better than growing wool, and the farmers asked no pro- 

 tection except such protection as they might demand and had a right 

 to expect through their own State legislature. A decline from 1887 to 

 1888 was attributed to the same cause, and again in 1889 a continued 

 decrease was charged to dogs, hogs, and eagles. In 1890 the interest in 

 sheep and wool- growing was still on the wane, the number of sheep 

 was slowly decreasing, and it was stated as a remarkable fact that a 

 larger percentage of losses by dogs occurred in those counties and sec- 

 tions where but a few sheep were kept. In the largest sheep-growing 

 counties public sentiment, based upon a common interest, was death to 

 sheep-killing dogs. 



Sheep and wool in Georgia, 1840 to 1890. 



