SHEEP HUSBANDRY. 

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On hand March 1, 1864 : 



134 ewes, $536 00 



38 fat sheep, 133 00 



142 yearlings, . . . . ' . . 356 00 



3 bucks, 100 00 



82,037 55 

 Deduct cosset bought, . . . . 10 00 



12,027 65 



In this account, Mr. Field does not appear to have taken any 

 notice of the cost of .keeping three hundred sheep a year, and 

 if we consider this to be three dollars each, the net profit will 

 be 1126.55, or at two dollars there would remain a profit of 

 1426.55. 



Mr. Soule, a merchant in Boston, but a farmer in Rhode 

 Island, informs me that it is his practice to keep about thirty 

 sheep. These he buys at Brighton, in October or November, 

 crosses with an Oxfordshire Down, clips the wool in the spring, 

 sells the lambs in early summer, and converts the old sheep 

 into mutton in early winter, or about a year after his purchase. 

 This course he finds very profitable. The lambs are early and 

 sell in Providence at high prices, ranging from four to eight 

 dollars, while the parent stock cost only a moderate sum each, 

 the preceding autumn. The clip of w^ool and the mutton 

 usually yield a sufficient sum to pay the cost of the sheep and 

 the keeping of the flock, while the price of the lambs is carried 

 to the credit side of the transaction. 



The whole proceeding, it will be observed, combines the busi- 

 ness of the merchant with that of the farmer. The examination 

 I have been able to make, leads to the conclusion that sheep 

 husbandry is as profitable, under favoring circumstances, as 

 other branches of agriculture. 



If the question of profit be settled, there remain but three 

 difficulties. The introduction of sheep requires enterprise, 

 knowledge, and good judgment. One thing- is certain, ive can- 

 not afford to raise poor sheep, and good animals and good 

 varieties are very expensive. If the business were to be under- 

 taken, especially at the present high prices, there must be 



