WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. 849 



Commencing in April and up to June the feeder makes his purchases 

 on the western range for his next year's feeding, and when his pur- 

 chases are completed he starts his flocks eastward, grazing on the 

 prairie grass, at the rate of five to twenty miles per day until the 

 frontier settlements are reached in western Nebraska, eastern Colorado 

 or Wyoming, timing themselves in reaching this section to September, 

 October, or November. Except in a few cases, where there are western 

 feeding stations that can be reached by driving the sheep through, 

 they are shipped direct to their feed yards. 



The outlook for this business to grow until three-quarters of a mil- 

 lion or a million of sheep are annually fed in Nebraska is very good. 

 Some think that the advanced price of range sheep, owing partly to a 

 growing demand for sheep on the Pacific, will cause a less number to 

 be fed here, but Nebraska will always be the best feeding grounds for 

 range sheep on account of her central location between the range and 

 the great mutton markets, her great abundance of cheap grain and 

 hay, which is necessary to put the finishing touch on the range sheep 

 to fit them for market. Then her climate is all that could be desired 

 by the feeder, yet it is quite evident that to obtain the very best results 

 from the business more care must be given to shelter and proper pro- 

 tection of the sheep while feeding. It will not be necessary to build 

 extensive and costly barns, but such sheds in and around the feed 

 yards that will protect from rain and snow storms will be found profit- 

 able. 



THE EXPERIENCE, OBSERVATION, AND TESTIMONY OF NEBRASKA SHEEP-OWNERS. 



Herewith are presented the experience, observation, and testimony 

 ot a number of representative Nebraska sheep-owners, who give in 

 their own way unsolicited expressions regarding sheep husbandry in 

 the State. They are competent to speak advisedly, because they have 

 had actual experience and have wrestled with the sheep industry 

 problem and demonstrated what can be done in various portions of the 

 State. 



J. A. G. Strickland, Eagle, Cass County : 



There have been no real experiments made more than to keep a few .sheep to sup- 

 ply the local mutton demand. I shall try root feeding, such as beets and turnips, 

 believing it will be a profitable feed for both wool and mutton. 



D. & J. Munchio, Hooper, Dodge County: 



We have been ranging sheep for a number of years in Wyoming, and unles^we 

 can buy corn at 15 cents per bushel to feed we prefer to sell our muttons oii'the 

 range at $3. We rent our feed yards, and buy our corn at about 25 cents per bushel. 



George Kichardson, Benedict, York County: 



I am engaged in breeding pure-bred Leicesters, and the average per cent of lambs 

 raised by my ewes is 136; the average weight of fleeces for ten years is 11 pounds. 

 Nebraska is a good sheep State throughout, but ouly a few of our farmers have 

 found it out. 



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