858 SHEEP INDUSTRY OF THE UNITED STATES 



about 500 to one or more thousands. The size of the flock depends 

 largely on the amount of land owned, as the only sure thing in the way 

 of pasture is to own land. Therefore the Missouri sheep-owner is a 

 landowner. 



The basis of most of the flocks of Missouri are Merinos or the na- 

 tive sheep, although there are now owned in the State pure-bred flocks 

 of all the leading breeds. The greater portion of the sheep of the State, 

 however, consist of crosses or grades. While the number of flocks 

 show but little increase within the last few years, the number of sheep 

 in the State, according to the tax rolls, have increased from 737,878 in 

 1890 to 831,104 in 1891, notwithstanding the large mutton sales mean- 

 time. What is more encouraging is the manifest improvement in the 

 quality of sheep as well as in the care of the flocks. Formerly many 

 of the farmers carried on the business in a sort of haphazard way, with- 

 out any definite ideas beyond the production of wool. But the business 

 is now being reduced to a system, grades are rapidly breeding up, and 

 oth^r pure breeds are becoming more numerous. The most notable 

 change made by the breeders of Merinos during recent years has been 

 to the mutton standard, and the improvement of the fleece as to length 

 and fineness of staple. The modern Merino is a much more robust 

 animal, larger and smoother bodied, and fully 25 per cent heavier than 

 formerly. 



One reason why the industry has declined in some sections of the 

 State is because dogs are too numerous, and another is that land is too 

 valuable to risk with any precarious business. These, together with 

 the low prices of wool and the expense of wire fencing for pasture, are 

 the discouraging drawbacks which serve to explain the decline in some 

 localities and the more rapid development in others. But, notwith- 

 standing the adverse conditions noted, sheep-raising as compared with 

 other branchesof live-stock husbandry leads them ail, especially where 

 sheep are well handled. The almost unanimous declaration of the 

 flockmasters throughout the State is that sheep when guarded against 

 destruction by dogs, and otherwise properly handled, are more profit- 

 able, taking one year with another, than any other class of stock. 



There are very few sheep imported except breeding animals for im- 

 proving the stock, or Western sheep to be finished for the market. Such 

 sheep show neither serious impairment in anyway, nor special improve- 

 ment in consequence of the change of location. 



The common mistake made by farmers in the past was breeding for 

 wool and grease, leaving the carcass to decrease in size and the consti- 

 tution of the animal to become impaired. The tendency at present with 

 many farmers is to make a similar mistake in the opposite direction in 

 breeding too much for size and disregarding wool qualities, instead of 

 giving equal attention to both wool and mutton. 



In the selection of breeding animals the Merinos are not used nearly 

 so exclusively, and not at all unless they are of large size, well wooled, 



