246 



THE ILLINOIS FAKMEK. 



Aug. 



The reai^ing of the above paper Wfis followed 

 by a di-cussion in ■which there seemed to be no 

 dieaent from the opinions expressed by Mr. C. 

 with regard to the superior importance of the 

 long-woo'ed sheep, for the Biitish farmer, as far 

 as the fleece is concerned, over the fine and mid- 

 dIe-woo!ed breeds. This arises from the fact 

 that so much wool of the Merino and Merino 

 grades is now produced in Australia, South 

 Anierica and elsewhere; and the greit principle 

 laid down by Mr. C. in conclusion, is one that 

 should not be lost sight of by sheep men here, 



any more tbau there — viz.: that "the wool 

 grower should develop as much as possible that 

 kin 1 of wo )1 least subject to foreign competition, 

 and the cupply of which Cdn be best increased 

 by good farming, libe.al feeding, and with a 

 largo fr-'inie 'if mutton, as well as a heavy fleece 

 of wool " The statistics given show that the 

 styles of goods now in constantly increasing de- 

 mand are those made of the "long, lustrous" 

 kinds ot wool, and that the price of this descrip- 

 tion of fleece has been gaining r(gularly for 

 many years upon that of fine wool. Jue^t now, 

 indef-d. in thi< country, we believe the coarse 

 wools that can be made into army cloths are the 

 only kindn that sell at all, but of course this is 

 an exceptional case. 



One object we had in referring to the subject 

 here, was to record as among the results of the 

 discussion, the admitted fact that the character 

 of the wool depends considerably upon the feed- 

 ing of the sh^ep. The lustre which w is referred 

 teas especially important, is thought to be "very 

 greatly' dependent 'ipon a system of turnip-feed~ 

 ing and good feeding generally;" and one speak- 

 er remarked — we do not know whether he limited 

 his remark to longwooled sheep alone, or intend- 

 ed it to apply to other breeds — " that if you feed 

 the animal pretty well as a lamb, and then at any 

 period of its life ^>y any accident it is stopped 

 from feeding, the wool immediately shows it, and 

 becomes deteriorated; and they also say it brea'^s 

 in the manufacture." And Mr. Fisher Hobbs 

 also urged the importance of liberal feeding : "I 

 am sure," he snid, " that nothing would pay the 

 flock masiter better thnn feeding tlie sheep in the 

 spring of the year with generous food, especially 

 with oilcake. If, however, you begii> feeding 

 your sheep with oilcake in the spring, and then 

 take it off merely for a week, the wool stapler 

 will tell you of it. The oil flows into the wool, 

 and if it is checked even by a week's poverty, or 

 almost hy one night's exposure to bad wtather, 

 it will greatly deteriorate the quality of the 

 fleece." He thought the oilcake should unques- 

 tionflbly be conti lued until tl e fleece is sheared. 



ANith reference to South Down Sheep — a breed 

 in which many here have the impression that the 

 wool has been sacrificed to the mutton — Mr. 

 Hobbs afterwards said " that a Down flock would 

 not now be considered as yielding a fair amount 

 of wool if it did not average a pound, or a pound 

 and a half, more than a Down flock would yield 

 twenty years ago, when the animal was smaller 

 than at the present time." 



Prof. Wilson confirmed Mr. Caird's statement 

 that " the day for fine qualities of wool was rap- 

 idly passing away. We know now that none of 

 us wear the fine Saxony cloths that we used to 

 wear when wool was sold at a high price to man- 

 ufacture an expensive material to be worn by a 

 few. The great object of the day now is to get a 

 cheaper article that can be worn by the many, 

 and Bradford, Leeds, and all those parts of York- 

 shire, testify to the fact that, the manufacture of 

 looser goods, which are made from long wools is 

 rapidly it creasing; while the manufacture of 

 finer goods from the short wools is as ;apidly de- 

 creasing. He afterwards asserted that Australia 

 and New Zealand " can supply all the fine wool 

 that the world wants " 



It must be remembered in reading such a dis- 

 cussion, that England undoubtedly possessei 

 some advantages for the management of her im- 

 proved breeds of sheep, which we have not, and 

 that very much depends upon the locality of any 

 part'cular point, in selecting the kind of sheep 

 which can be kept there most profitably ; what 

 Mr. Caird said in regard to crossing difi^erent 

 breeds is equally true in cho-sing the flack at the 

 beginning, " it is necessary to bear this always 

 in mind — that both climate and soil must be very 

 much considered ; and any general recommend- 

 ation to cross with a particular breed should be 

 received with very great caution." 



What we have written therefore, has not been 

 intended to discourage those who have flicks of 

 fine wool sheep, which doubtless in many parts 

 of the country will better repay their cost, food 

 and care, than any others ; but to encourage 

 those who have undertaken the keeping of the 

 mutton or longer wool breeds, and who under the 

 less favorable prices of meat the past season may 

 have thought themselves ill rewarded for their ef- 

 forts. We cannot but think that our farmers 

 should all pay a greater and more regular de- 

 gree of attention to sheep, tnan they have here- 

 tofore done ; and near the cities, wnere mutton 

 and lamb, of really the best quality, are always 

 in greater or less demand, but w'lere the value 

 of the fleece is also an important element, it is 

 a question to be decided whether a touch of Cots- 

 wold, Leicester or South-Down blood, will suc- 

 ceed the best and pay the most. Away up in 

 Canada West, where the winters are still longer 

 than ours, we find the farmers raising turnips 

 and keeping long or middle-wooled sheep : what 

 is there in the Yankee character that renders it 

 so inflexibly and diametrically opposed to any- 

 thing that savors 



' o' carrots and mangels and sick — 



As if carrots and mang Is would mak' a mon rich ! ' 



and makes it cling so closely to the two-pound 

 fleece and thirty pound style of carcase that has 

 been stunted and starvei, and complimented with 

 the title of sheep, for so many generations among 



us ? 



— Good men have the fewest fears. He has 

 but one who fears to wrong. He has a thousand 

 who overcomes that one. 



