EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RITER. 



481 



sold was 33J cents, or 27^ cents net. The average yield of iinwaslied 

 wool to the sheep was 3.44 pounds, which, at 27J cents net, gave a 

 clear income in wool from such sheep of 94 cents. The average price 

 of lambs sold to the butcher in Georgia was $1.87. The average price 

 of stock sheep was $2.68 per head, of mutton sheep $2.75 per head. 

 This estimate is considered too favorable, but, allowing considerable 

 redaction, it shows that sheep raising will pay in Georgia for wool 

 alone, and, where near a market, the profit can be enhanced by the sale 

 of mutton. The commissioner's report further states that of those who 

 tried crosses, 98 per cent found the cross of the Merino and the native 

 the most profitable. The principal, and in fact the only, drawback was 

 the dog. It is estimated that 20 per cent of the sheep of the State are 

 annually killed by the dogs, and nearly 5 per cent by their thriftless 

 owners. This is a grievous tax, and well calculated to discourage the 

 sheep industry. 



The State agent for the United States Department of Agriculture 

 reported in 1887 that the sheep industry was on the wane, as it had 

 been for several years past. The absence of any adequate protection 

 from dogs and " old sows" was sufftcient to deter any new ventures in 

 sheep husbandry in middle Georgia, and the business then, as it always 

 had been, was conducted in the most slipshod manner conceivable. No 

 business paid better than growing wool, and the farmers asked no pro- 

 tection except such protection as they might demand and had a right 

 to expect through their own State legislature. A decline from 1887 to 

 1888 was attributed to the same cause, and again in 1889 a continued 

 decrease was charged to dogs, hogs, and eagles. In 1890 the interest in 

 sheep and wool-growing was still on the wane, the number of sheep 

 was slowly decreasing, and it was stated as a remarkable fact that a 

 larger percentage of losses by dogs occurred in those counties and sec- 

 tions where but a few sheep were kept. In the largest sheep-growing 

 counties public sentiment, based upon a common interest, was death to 

 sheep-kilLLng dogs. 



Sheep and wool in Georgia, 1840 to 1890. 



Tear. 



1840 

 1850 

 1860 

 1870 

 1880 

 1890 



Number of 



267, 107 

 660, 435 

 612, 618 

 419, 465 

 627, 589 

 411, 846 



Wool. 



Pounds. 

 371, 303 

 990, 019 

 946, 227 

 846, 947 

 1, 289, 560 

 1, 198, 379 



Average 



weight of 



fleece per 



heaa. 



Pounds. 

 1.38 

 1.76 

 1.84 

 2.00 

 2.44 

 2.91 



Of these 411,846 sheep in 1890 probably 90 per cent were unimproved 

 scrubs, yielding a low-grade clothing wool, and some grading down to 

 carpet wool. Of these scrub sheep of the southern part of Georgia, 

 the degenerated Merino, notice wiU be taken when the sheep of the 

 Gulf Coast States come under consideration. 

 22990 31 



