122* MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



Expensive estates cannot be devoted to sheep, therefore this 

 branch of husbandry must be limited to low-priced lands. 



The cost of keeping a full-grown sheep, is, as far as I know, 

 a matter of uncertainty. In 1856, a Mr. Horace Clark, of 

 Wilbraham, estimated the cost of keeping ten sheep at fifteen 

 dollars a year. This seems to me altogether too low. If, as 

 is stated by English raisers, eight sheep are equal to one cow, 

 the cost cannot be less than three dollars in any section of the 

 State, and in others it would be five, or even eight at present 

 prices of hay and grain. I feel quite sure, however, that ten or 

 twelve sheep may be wintered upon the provender that would 

 be given to one cow. Mr. Clark's account shows a net annual 

 profit upon ten sheep of forty-one dollars. If the cost of keep- 

 ing had been put at three dollars instead of one dollar and fifty 

 cents, the net profit would have been twenty-five dollars, which 

 is certainly better than ordinary farming, the gain being at the 

 rate of fifteen per cent, upon the value of the animals. Mr. 

 Beebe, of Wilbraham, returns a gross annual profit of more 

 than six dollars a head for several years. If three dollars be 

 deducted for keeping, the surplus is ample if the business were 

 extensive. 



Mr. Thomas J. Field, of Northfield, was engaged in sheep 

 raising. He is very well known as a trustworthy and honorable 

 man. Mr. Field made the following statement and estimate in 

 1853 and 1851. 



Value of flock March 1, 1853 : 



100 ewes, 1400 00 



220 ewes, old, 120 00 



160 yearlings and two-year-olds, . . 400 00 



1 buck, 80 00 



•11,000 00 

 Gained during the year, .... 1,026 55 



Sold during the year : 

 61 sheep, fat, 

 50 ewes in October, 

 1,101 pounds wool, . 



$2,026 55 



$912 55 



