156 BOAED OF AGRICULTURE. 



Your income from this investment of $35 amounts to 

 $62.50, or, deducting the total expenses for the year of $45, 

 you have left as profit $17.50; and after deducting one- 

 half, $8.75, for accidents as before, you have left a net in- 

 come of $8.75 on your capital of $35, or a dividend of 25 

 per cent., which, in these days of cheap money, might be 

 called A fairly profitable investment. 



I am so anxious to do all in my power to bring about 

 sheep-raising in this State again, that at the risk of making 

 myself tiresome and tedious I propose to give you a few 

 practical suggestions. 



The first excuse given for not keeping sheep is dogs. 



I grant dogs are a nuisance when you want to raise 

 sheep, and so they are when you want to raise chickens, 

 ducks or any of the smaller barnyard live stock ; but we now 

 have a dog law that is pretty good, — not quite as good as 

 we could wish for, but still good enough to cover all risks, 

 if a man really wants to keep sheep. 



You do not give up raising chickens, etc , on account of 

 trouble from dogs ; then apply tlie same rule for sheep, — 

 namely, keep enough sheep in each town and village in this 

 Commonwealth to give the dogs a liberal education. They 

 will soon learn. As it is now, sheep are so seldom seen, 

 that dogs think they ought to be put out of the way, as a 

 nuisance, as much as if they were wild beasts or vermin. 



Of course there are some dogs that are naturally bad, as 

 there are some bad boys. Do with the dogs as we some- 

 times want to do with the boys, — kill them, and plant them 

 four feet under ground. 



I would suggest, as soon as you buy any sheep, to dip 

 them in one of the various preparations to be found in the 

 market to kill ticks and cure scab. Repeat the dipping in 

 seven or eight days, and you will destroy everything in the 

 way of vermin that might have been in the egg state at the 

 first dipping. 



If you start with a flock of sheep free from ticks or skin 

 disease, it is very easy to keep them clean ; but if you allow 

 either ticks or scab a little start, you will find it a hard race 

 to get ahead. 



Bells on the necks of sheep are a great advantage, for 



