SECRETARY'S REPORT. 101 



We quote from a valuable essay by a former able Secretary of 

 the Massachusetts Society for Promoting Agriculture : " Few- 

 persons are aware how destructive dogs are in this respect, and 

 they are generally of a worthless kind, which are driven from 

 necessity to destroy sheep in order to obtain the means of 

 existence. The difficulties which beset the cultivator, especially 

 in populous neighborhoods, are quite enough from depredations 

 and trespasses of various kinds, without being obliged to watch 

 his flocks by day and night. One serious impediment to sheep 

 husbandry in this State has been the havoc committed upon 

 flocks by dogs. The returns which this Society have received 

 unanimously ascribe as the reason why more sheep are not kept, 

 the injuries inflicted by dogs. From returns received from all 

 the towns in the State but seven, it appears that in 1859 about 

 33,000 dogs were licensed, paying a tax of about $36,000 ; it is 

 estimated that nearly an equal number was destroyed by their 

 owners as not being worth the tax, and that as many more 

 escaped taxation altogether, making at that time over 112,000 

 dogs, while at that time there were about 113,000 sheep. We 

 have no data to calculate the amount of damage done here. 

 The official returns of the State of Ohio for 1858, show the 

 whole number of sheep killed by dogs was 60,536. Total 

 number of sheep injured by dogs, 36,441. Total damage done 

 to sheep by dogs, $148,748. The " dog law," if properly 

 enforced throughout every town, would prove a great success 

 and signal blessing." 



In many parts of the State, foxes are qiiite plenty, and do a 

 good deal of damage by catching the lambs and poultry that 

 stray away. We know of one farmer, who has told us that his 

 loss in lambs and turkeys, is annually not less than fifty dollars ; 

 and his is not a singular case. The only method of prevention 

 is by killing them, and that presupposes a gun and dog, which 

 all farmers do not have, and don't want ; then as between the 

 two evils, of having your poultry and lambs killed by foxes, or 

 having on your farm a fox-hunting man with a noisy hound, it 

 is difficult to decide. 



There are all the other wild beasts — woodchucks, racoons, 

 skunks, squirrels, with their hoarded stores ; against these 

 there is nothing but the gun. Of the birds, the crow, black- 

 bird, blue-jay, and some other small birds are great annoyances, 



