416 



FARMERS' REGISTER— SHEEP HUSBANDRY. 



We may take it as a settled rule, that the more 

 perfect an animal is in all its proportions, the 

 nearer it comes to answer the purposes for which 

 it was designed ; and a well proportioned animal 

 has evident advantages over one of the same size 

 that is somewhat disproportioned. The reason is, in 

 the tirst there is aperfect developcmentof its parts, 

 and every organ performs its functions naturally, 

 easily and properly. In thesecond, where ever there 

 is a variation from a perfect shape, there is some 

 defect, the organization in that part is not perfect, 

 the circulation is not free, tliere is some compres- 

 sion which tends to disarrange some of the other 

 organs, and all the secretions and excretions of the 

 body are not regularly performed. This disar- 

 rangement may not constitute ill health, but it 

 may be enough to make the animal not so suitable 

 to fulfil the purposes required of him by man. 

 For instance, he may not fatten easily, and the 

 most careless must have observed that all animals 

 ■with which we are acquainted, fatten quick as 

 they approach the point called symmetry. We 

 see it so in a remarkable manner in the sheep, 

 the ox, the horse and the hog. Whichever of 

 these animals we raise therefore, fine shape is all 

 important. I speak not so much in regard to th.eir 

 appearance as to their profit. 



Now we will rest for the present, and the next 

 subject of inquiry shall be, whether it is more pro- 

 fitable to the farmer to raise the fine or the coarse 

 wooled sheep; or, in other words, to raise sheep 

 lor the mutton and v.ool, or for the wool onlv. 



"A. 



Note. — I should do injustice to myself in the 

 illustration of my argument— -to the public and 

 my neighbor whogo observation I am to quote, 

 were I not to mention that behaving long thought 

 that an improvement might be effected by judi- 

 cious crossing of our native sheep in the weight of 

 the carcase and fleece, has for ten years been test- 

 ing his plan. He has succeeded so far, and that 

 without any admixture of the foregn varieties, 

 that his iambs will weigh per quarter from 12 to 

 IS lbs., and the average v^eight of the fleece from 

 his flock is between 4 or 5 lbs. The wool howe- 

 ver is coarse. This defect might be remedied by 

 selecting from the foreign varieties, a large sheep 

 with fine wool. The gentleman above alluded to, 

 sells his fat sheep and lambs in market for at least 

 one third more than the ordinary price. 



A. 



SHEEP HUSBANDRY, NO. III. 



In my last number, 1 endeavored to establish the 

 position that the farmers generally, M'ho grow 

 sheep for the mutton and wool, have not yet ob- 

 tained tlie most profitable kind of animal for that 

 purpose. The next subject of inquiry is, whether 

 taking the quality of the native sheep as they now 

 are, the growth of them affords as much or more 

 profit to the farmer— who keeps a small flock only 

 to fill out the number of his stock — than it would 

 be to raise the Saxon or Merino on account of the 

 fineness of their wool. I know of no belter way to 

 come to a correct conclusion than simply to com- 

 pare the first cost of each animal with the expenses 

 of keeping and the profits. 



A native ewe will cost say - - SI 50 

 Interest for one year ------ 10 — 1 60 



The profits will be 3J lbs. of wool at 45 cts. 



per lb. - - - - - - - - $1 57 



Lamb, --------- 125 



Ewe when fattened, - - - - 2 00—4 82 

 Profits, - - - - ^3 22 



A full blooded fine Saxon and Merino ewe will 

 cost say ------^3 50 



The profits will be 3 lbs. of wool which will sell at 



say GO cts. per lb. - - - • 1 80 

 The chance for a landi is one half of its value, i. e. 

 only one half of the ewes have a lamb, and if a 

 lamb is worth i^l 75, we allow - 88 — 2 43 

 Deducting tlie interest on $S 50 for one year 

 leaves .^2 43 as the gross amount of profit. The 

 annual profit on the native sheep is ^3 22, and 

 on the fine wooled it is ^2 43. Thus a balance 

 is left in favor of the coarse wooled or native 

 sheep of 79 cents. 



In the above comparison I have allowed 15 cents 

 as the difference in the price of wool between the 

 coarse and fine wooled animal, but if we go back 

 for the last five years we will see that the actual 

 sales of fine wool have approximated much nearer 

 than that sum, and I do not think 10 cents would 

 vary much from the real amount. This may be 

 considered an additional argument in favor of the 

 native sheep. For the native sheep however I have 

 given credit for a lamb positive. This to be sure 

 is not always the case, but is much more sure 

 than it is in the Saxon and Merino, for in a 

 flock in the last named, near one half of them will 

 commonly go farrow. I account for the last cir- 

 cumstance from the fact that the buck is not put to 

 the latter until late in the fall when the ewes have 

 got over their heat; for it is all important in fine 

 sheep, which are considered of tender constitutions, 

 not to have lambs too early in the spring. With 

 a native ewe however, the buck is generally put a 

 month earlier, and of course the chance for a lamb 

 (other causes being the same) is much greater. 

 We see there is a great difference in the first ex- 

 pense between a common and a fine ewe, the latter 

 costing more than double the price of the former, 

 and as we have taken only the interest of this into 

 calculation, the chance therefore of losing the one 

 may be put against the chance of having a Iamb 

 from each native ewe. Again the fine sheep do 

 not often have lambs until the third year, so that 

 until then the only profit from them is in the wool, 

 whereas with the native sheep the ewes often have 

 lambs when they are one year of age. 



It is manifest therefore that the difference is en- 

 tirely in favor of the common sheep, and more 

 money may be made in growing them by farmers, 

 who do not entirely stock their farms with sheep, 

 than to have the more expensive Saxon and Merino. 

 Sheep for mutton and wool likewise give the most 

 sure and speedy returns. Their wool is much 

 sooner bought up as there are ten purchasers for 

 coarse where there is one for fine wool, and a lot of 

 lambs or fat sheep are always in demand, the diffi- 

 culty not being to sell them, but to keep them long 

 enough to put them in proper condition for market. 

 The expenses of keeping the two kinds of sheep 

 I have assumed to be the same, but the truth is the 

 Merino are the most expensive if they are kept as 

 they ought to be, and were the latter wintered as 

 most of our farmers in this vicinity winter their 

 native sheep, one half of them would not live until 

 a succeeding spring. Were farmers however to 

 stock an entire farm with the native sheep, to the 



