WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. 883 



Klwood Rush, Brie, Neosho County: 



Wo have succeeded well, though our experience has not been as extensive as some. 

 W> lni<l that sheep need careful attention and at the proper time. The time is com- 

 ing when there will he a small flock of sheep on half the farms of the country, then 

 there will be fewer mortgages. My flock of 40 head run in the same pasture with 

 my horses and cows, eat weeds and stuff that the horses or cows will not touch, and 

 they give me a crop of wool and a crop of lambs. I have some to sell each year, 

 which is a triple profit. 



M. S. Chapel, Asherville, Mitchell County : 



My opinion is that when each farmer shall keep a small flock of sheep of some breed 

 that combines both mutton and wool, just the number he can easily keep on his own 

 land, sheep-raising will be much more profitable, and on the whole more sjieep in the 

 country than we have to-day. 



A. J. Barter, St. John, Stafford County: 



While I have had a few reverses in sheep husbandry, on the whole it has been a 

 profitable business with me. It is at the present time and has been in the past the 

 best stock a farmer can keep. Judging from the many inquiries of late for stock 

 sheep the future outlook is good. My greatest difficulty has been with the coyotes, 

 but I have succeeded in ridding myself of them with good greyhounds. 



J. F. Bayless, Yates Center, Woodson County: 



I am now 57 years old and have been tending sheep ever since I was old enough 

 to do anything, and I am satisfied that Kansas is a good sheep State, in fact better 

 for them than for any other kind of live stock. 



George B. Bell, Neeley, Leavenworth County: 



I have been among sheep all my life and will stick to them so long as I can, be- 

 cause I think that the future will find sheep in the front rank in this country. 

 Many of the farmers seem anxious to try a few, and they will find mutton a nice 

 meat to eat, wool the best material for clothing, sheep good to clean up the farm and 

 improve the pastures and. ever ready to respond when a little cash is wanted. 



W. J. Colvin, Larned, Pawnee County: 



I have bred and handled sheep for fifty years in the States of Michigan, Oregon, 

 California, Colorado, New Mexico, and Kansas, and have kept from 200 to 8,000 at a 

 time. Eventually sheep will come to the front again in Kansas as well as in other 

 Western and Southern States, and will be one of the most profitable branches of hus- 

 bandry. But pools and combines must be done away with first. Sheep will pay to- 

 day more than any other stock if well fed and protected, and kept in herds in ac- 

 cordance with the range and feed. 



E. D. King, Burlington, Coffey County: 



With my experience of twelve years in the sheep business in Kansas I am satisfied 

 that there is room in this State for five millions of sheep and not interfere with farming 

 or other stock-raising, for there is coarse feed in the shape of hay, straw, and corn 

 fodder annually allowed to go to waste to more than keep that number of sheep. As 

 our farmers learn that their land needs fertilizing, that they can easily fence sheep 

 with wire, and that the coyote and dog nuisance will be abated, they will acquire 

 confidence in the business, keep sheep, and help furnish all the wool our country 

 requires, and of quality fit to make robes for a princess. 



J. W. Brownlee, Horton, Brown County: 



I invested $140 in 59 head of sheep five years ago. They were common Merinog, 



