WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. 761 



"V 



a portion of the flock do not at present permit the number to exceed 

 from 10 to 30 per cent. Some of the larger owners or speculators ship 

 car lots to Chicago, St. Paul, Omaha, or Sioux City, which have so far 

 realized the shipper from $3 to $5 per head, depending somewhat on the 

 class of sheep. Stackers- brought last season from $3.25 to $4 and 

 muttons $3.50 to $4.50. F. M. Hopkins, of Eoscoe, sold 200 four- 

 months lambs at ranch for $2 per head. The weight of sheep sold for 

 mutton varies from 80 to 150 pounds, the average being about 100 to 

 1 10 pounds when shipped. Lambs when sold early usually weigh about 

 55 pounds, or if held until fall about 75 pounds. 



Besides feed the principal item of expense in sheep-raising is wages 

 for herders, shearing, and day labor for haying. The usual wages for 

 men by the year, board included, is from $16 to $20 per month; for boys 

 as herders, $8 to $10. Day laborers during haying receive from $1 to 

 $1.50 per day. For shearing about an average of 6 cents per head or 

 $2.50 per day is paid. The average cost per sheep a year, all expenses, 

 is variously computed, the lowest estimate being 35 cents and the 

 highest $1.50. Experienced men place the cost at 50 cents to $1, de- 

 pending on the size of the flock. Probably for a flock of 1,000 or up- 

 ward, with good management, the annual cost could be safely placed 

 at from 50 to 75 cents, the amount, as sheep husbandry is now con- 

 ducted, being about $1 or a little less. The smaller sheep-owners do 

 most of their own work, and the herding is done by boys. The items 

 of expense to be considered are shelter, feed, wages, and interest on the 

 investment. The "promoters" estimate of annual cost per head as 

 shown in the North Dakota report is not much out of the way, espec- 

 ially with skillful and prudent management. 



In regard to the local advantages for sheep husbandry in South Da- 

 kota, sheep-owners in every part of the State express themselves well 

 satisfied that they are unexcelled anywhere in the United States. On 

 this point both the older as well as the later flock-masters are quite 

 agreed in all parts of the State. Among the special advantages claimed 

 in behalf of sheep husbandry, the sheep-owners mention the following: 

 Abundance of nutritious grasses for grazing during most of the year; 

 plenty of prairie hay for the cutting to sustain the flocks when the range 

 is covered with snow; cheap range, with elevated lands, having a dry, 

 cool, and pure atmosphere; freedom from disease, also the absence of 

 undue moisture; natural adaptability of climate, soil, and pasture for 

 sheep; dry winters, with but little snow, and consequent short feeding 

 season; few wild animals. A Spink County flockmaster says that the 

 farmers "would go broke without sheep." Another resident of a dozen 

 years' experience says: "It is the best and about the only sure thing 

 we can do to keep a mortgage oif or from finally taking the farm." The 

 abundance as well as superior and nutritious quality of the native 

 grasses and hay are considered a leading advantage, also the constant 

 supply of good water from the streams or wells. 



