886 



SHEEP INDUSTRY OF THE UNITED STATES 



from a few hundred as the minimum to about 14,000 as the maximum 

 number for any one county. The counties of the State having a num- 

 ber in excess of 10,000 and less than 15,000 are Benton, Carroll, Madi- 

 son, and Washington; counties having 5,000 and less than 8,000 are 

 Boone, Columbia, Faulkner, Franklin, Fulton, Independence, Izard, 

 Logan, Pope, Eandolph, Sharp, and Union ; counties having 3,000 and 

 less than 5,000 are Baxter, Bradley, Clark, Cleveland, Dallas, Grant, 

 Ilempstead, Howard, Johnson, Marion, Nevada, Newton, Ouachita, 

 Pike, Polk, Searcy, Sebastian, Sevier, Van Buren, White, and Yell; 

 the other counties of the State have less than 3,000. The present num- 

 ber of sheep in the State will not exceed 275,000 head, with a current 

 value of $550,000, which makes a very small average. The progress of 

 the sheep industry for the past twenty years may be seen by the fol- 

 lowing table, which shows the number reported to the auditor of 

 State for taxation purposes from 1870 to 1890, inclusive. The greatest 

 numbers reported were for the years 1876 to 1881 : 



About 1874 renewed interest in sheep-raising was manifested, which 

 resulted in the enactment of a dog law, entitled "An act to protect and 

 encourage sheep-raising in the State." This law took effect January 1, 

 187G. This enactment provided that the right to own dogs of any kind 

 within the State of Arkansas shall be deemed a privilege, and the same 

 equal to $1 per capita for each dog kept by any citizen, or by any member 

 of his family, or any ward for whom he was the guardian. Every person 

 in the State who was subject by law to pay taxes was included in the 

 provision of this act. The assessor took the list when making his 

 rounds, and $1 for every dog was added to the personal property of the 

 person when taxed. While this law was a very good one, and would 

 have added immense value to the taxable property of the State, it was 

 in force only during the year 1870. No law ever passed in the State 

 caused so much of a sensation as did this, and at the session of the 

 next legislature, in the winter of 1877, one of the first bills introduced 

 was for the repeal of this dog law. Nearly every member of the legis- 

 lature had prepared a bill for its repeal, so great was the pressure from 

 the dog-owners of the State. Had this act continued in force until the 

 present time the condition of the sheep industry would be materially 

 changed and of very much greater consequence, and the Government 

 statistician would not have been compelled to place the average value 



