200 



The Dawn of a New Constructive Era 



Combining 

 Sheep and 



tical systems of controlling and preventing the troubles from that 

 source. One of the systems is to give sheep a sufficiently wide 

 range. Another way is to use the sheep on pastures while the 

 cattle are not there. I said I would not endeavor to outline a 

 detailed system of the proper methods of handling sheep, but 

 whatever system can be safely attempted early in the game will 

 necessarily be somewhat along these lines. 



I will say that sheep can be used on the same ground with 

 cattle, to the advantage of both. I know some of you that have 

 traveled in the West and have read the old-time stories have recol- 

 lections of the bloodshed in those western countries due to the 

 feuds between cattle and sheep men, and you will find that a 

 large proportion of them have been over the possession of the 

 Cattle Raising ground. The solution of the whole question has been found, and 

 it is this : When sheep and cattle belong to opposite and oppos- 

 ing owners, their sheep do hurt the pastures ; but when the same 

 man owns both, they get along very well to the advantage of 

 both. 



I don't believe you are likely to make a success in the pre- 

 liminary stage if you take up sheep raising as a side line. It 

 can be done with small units, but not with the size of pastures 

 you are operating with. Sheep are peculiar to people who have 

 never studied them ; but there is nothing about their health, 

 management or breeding that intelligent study cannot master. 

 Outside of the fencing proposition and alternating with cattle, 

 I think the system that has the most immediate possibilities is 

 that of the straight western ranching proposition ; and I believe 

 that some of the men being crowded out of their holdings in 

 Wyoming and Montana could be interested in these lands to the 

 extent of making a fair try of the proposition. If you will do 

 as those men do you will need a unit of a thousand ewes, and 

 possibly up to 1,500, but hardly less than a thousand, with a 

 herder with them day and night. That h^lps to take care of the 

 dog proposition and gives them proper care. That western 

 herder is with the band all the time. He does not stay in one 

 place all the time, but keeps them moving around. He works 

 them that way and he is on watch all the time. By keeping them 

 on the move the danger of parasitic infection is mainly avoided. 

 Of course, that involves some expense ; and the kind of business 

 that calls for it is one which keeps sheep both for lambs and 

 wool. That plan may seem at first to contrast rather poorly 



Ranchmen, 

 Crowded in 

 West, No IV 

 Ready to 

 Come South 



