WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. 873 



2,000 and under 4,000 are Dickinson, Doniphan, Ellsworth, Finney, 

 Gove. (iraham. Harvey, Johnson, Kinginan, Meade, Phillips, Sunnier, 

 and Washington; those having under 2,000 are Allen, Anderson, Atchi- 

 sou, Barber, Barton, Bourbon, Brown, Chase, Chautauqua, Cherokee, 

 Cheyenne, Clark, Clay, Cloud, Coinanche, Crawford, Decatur, Douglas, 

 Elk, Ellis, Ford, Franklin, Geary, Grant, Gray, Greeley, Hamilton, 

 Harper, Haskell, Jackson, Jefferson, Jewell, Kearney, Kiowa, Labette, 

 Lane, Leavenworth, Lincoln, Linn, Logan, Marshall, McPherson, 

 Miami, Montgomery, Morris, ^femaha, Neosho, Ness, Norton, Osage, 

 Pawnee, Pottawatomie, Pratt, Eawlins, Eepublic, Eice, Eiley, Eooks, 

 Eush, Saline, Seward, Shawnee, Sherman, Smith, Stafford, Stevens, 

 Thomas, Wabaunsee, Wichita, Wilson, and Wyandotte. The total 

 number given is 260,558. The United States Government statistics 

 for the same year give the number at 469,433. 



To ascertain the actual number of sheep I selected several counties 

 where the numbex of flocks and those in each flock were known, and 

 ascertained that it was necessary to add almost exactly 75 per cent of 

 sheep assessed for taxation to get at the number of sheep on hand 

 April 15, 1892, which would give 455,778 head left after shipping 

 feeders. The lamb crop for 1892 will exceed 200,000, which will make 

 the number of sheep and lambs at the present writing (June, 1892) 

 655,778 in the hands of the farmers and sheep-owners. 



The wool clip for 1892 will amount to at least 3,000,000 pounds. The 

 lamb and wool clip for this year will represent a 10 per cent income on 

 8,000,000, which may be considered a conservative estimate of the 

 value of the sheep industry of Kansas at this time. 



GENERAL FACTS ABOUT SHEEP HUSBANDRY. 



Sheep husbandry is limited in extent in Kansas, in comparison with 

 other branches of animal industry. While not more than one farmer 

 in fifty is engaged in the business, it is a significant fact that there are 

 more sheep-owners in the State now than there were when the number 

 of sheep (during 1881 -'84) was double that of the present time. There 

 are more flocks, but they are very much reduced in size. The average 

 value was never greater than to-day, and never before in the history of 

 sheep husbandry in Kansas were there so many small flocks. There 

 seems to be a gradual movement all over the State to engage in sheep- 

 raising in a limited way. There are not exceeding 2 out of the 106 

 counties of the State where sheep are not now owned. 



The class of sheep in central and western Kansas are mainly grade 

 Merinos, while in the more densely populated counties of eastern Kan- 

 sas they are mostly mutton sheep. Merinos crossed with Cotswolds, 

 Shropshires, Southdowns, or grades of the medium and long-wooled 

 breeds, are numerous. While fully 70 per cent of the flocks of sheep 

 a iv Merinos, not over 50 per cent of the breeders use Merino bucks, 

 and the other half use rams of the more strictly mutton breeds. The 



