762 SHEEP INDUSTRY OF THK UNITED STATES 



While it is true that the sheep-owners have no real cause for discour- 

 agement because of any serious drawbacks or disadvantages encoun- 

 tered, there are evidently certain obstacles which should be enumerated 

 in a truthful review of the industry. The chief obstacles encountered 

 so far are careless farming, inexperience in handling sheep, liability to 

 ravages of wolves, and, in older settled portions of the States, from 

 dogs; an occasional severe winter or unusual drought; a prairie fire 

 or a blizzard; high winds, which carry dust or other foreign matter into 

 the fleece, especially in those localities where there is considerable 

 plowed land; scarcity of timber and its beneficent shade; wire-fenced 

 pastures, and the ordinary disadvantages to the Northwest as to long 

 distance from market. 



Disease among sheep in Dakota is practically unknown. Sometimes 

 sheep brought in from the South and West are affected with scab, but 

 it is soon eradicated. Occasionally a case of sniffles or grub in the head 

 occurs, but as a rule sheep are quite healthy and vigorous. Last 

 spring many flocks were affected with ticks, but by properly dipping 

 they were easily eradicated. 



From the expressions of sheepmen the outlook is very bright for the 

 industry, and no other agricultural pursuit will compare with it. It 

 promises more profit for the capital and labor invested than any other 

 branch of agriculture. The demand for sheep is only limited by the 

 ability of formers to purchase. No doubt many inexperienced men are 

 paying exorbitant prices for their stock, and many such will meet with 

 failure. This, of course, will have a tendency to check the present 

 un pr ec ed en t ed dem an d . 



Unless some unforeseen conditions should arise, it is the opinion of 

 sheepmen who have had some years experience that South Dakota will 

 eventually rank high, if it does not lead the Northwest, for successful 

 and profitable sheep husbandry. One successful and experienced wool- 

 grower believes that within five years there will be 100 sheep where 

 now there is one. Had it been possible to secure the sheep at fair 

 prices fully a half million head would have been brought into the State 

 during 1801. Every farmer who is able to purchase and care for sheep 

 is eager to get a start, because the experience so far has demonstrated 

 that the business is both safe and profitable. The growth of the 

 industry during the past year is illustrated by the progress made in 

 Beadle County. In 1890 it had 7,500 sheep, and in 1801 the number of 

 mature sheep had increased to fully 20,000, to say nothing of the increase 

 of lambs. Beadle County is simply an average of most of the counties 

 east of the Missouri, and as soon as the territory west of the Missouri 

 River is opened the surplus will be readily provided for in that way. 

 But it will require several million sheep to utilize the grasses now 

 annually going to waste. 



The best methods for profitably conducting sheep husbandry in South 

 Dakota is a matter of grave importance, and only a few general rules 



