SHEEP FOR WOOL, MUTTON AND BOTH USES 47 



able to abundant growth; and (3) locations not distant 

 from populous centers. These conditions are, in a sense, 

 the opposite of those that favor wool production as the 

 leading object for which sheep are grown. 



The return from wool only, or chiefly, would not be 

 sufficient from high-priced lands to justify the introduc- 

 tion of sheep husbandry on such lands. The profit from 

 the sheep under such conditions comes more from the 

 mutton than from the wool, and it comes rather from the 

 sale of lambs than from the sale of mutton in a more ma- 

 ture form. The higher the productive power of such 

 lands, the larger is the amount of mutton that can be 

 produced from them, and the net returns will be propor- 

 tionate. A part of the return will also come from the in- 

 creased production resulting from such a system of hus- 

 bandry. When mutton is grown on such lands, the high- 

 est profits may usually be obtained from winter lambs 

 (see page 255), owing to the high price for which they 

 may be sold. 



Of course, mutton of the highest class cannot be pro- 

 duced save in localities where food is plentiful and suc- 

 culent. To produce such conditions it is essential that 

 the climate, as well as the soil, shall be favorable to 

 abundant production. Abundant production and succu- 

 ence in the growth usually go together. The pre-emi- 

 nence of Great Britain in producing mutton sheep is 

 owing in no inconsiderable degree to the moist character 

 of its insular climate. The same is true, though in a less 

 degree, of that portion of Ontario that lies between the 

 Great Lakes. The dry ranges of the western states have 

 a soil possessed of great natural fertility, and yet the pro- 

 duction is not abundant nor succulent because of lack of 

 moisture. 



The importance of proximity to populous centers on 

 the part of those who grow mutton arises from the de- 

 mand for such food in the aggregate, from the high prices 

 that are paid for the superior grades and from the rela.- 



