766 SHEEP INDUSTRY OF THE UNITED STATES 



eiice, and are therefore well qualified to speak authoritatively upon the 

 matters which they discuss, aud their opinions deserve careful consid- 

 eration, because they reflect in brief certain conditions and possibilities 

 of the sheep industry of this State that are not covered elsewhere in 

 this report, and yet are of sufficient importance to become a part of it. 

 Quite a ^'ariety of topics is covered in the following selected extracts 

 from practical flockniasters of South Dakota: 

 A. J. Bonesteel, Farnsworth, Sanborn Coixnty: 



Our State is fast coming to the front as one of tlie leading sLeep States. It is tlie 

 least trouble to keep tlieni free from disease, and the native grasses are just the right 

 thing to make them do well. 



P. J. Eunser, Eedfleld, Spink County: 



I have handled from 200 to 500 sheep for the last eight years, at a handsome profit 

 above all care and feed. I have fed some grain during -winter with good results, but 

 have wintered mostly on wild hay, millet, and cornstalks. I pasture my flock 

 during spring and summer; after harvest I run them on farm. I commenced "with 

 coarse grades and have bred to fine avooIs, which I much prefer. 



F. M. Stein, Clark, Clark County: 



I believe there is not a State in the Union so well adapted to sheep-raising as South 

 Dakota. AVc have over 40,000 sheep in Clark County alone, and it is only a question 

 of a few years when South Dakota will stand at the head as a wool-growing State. 

 Our people are beginning to realize that it pays to raise sheep and does not pay to 

 raise wheat. 



George D. Elderkin, De Smet, Kingsbury County. 



I think our farmers should commence on a moderate scale and learn the business of 

 rearing sheep, allowing the increase of flock to be proportionate with increase of 

 knowledge. Dakota is wild over sheep and the tendency is to overdo. Many are 

 investing in large flocks without having any previous experience, and such will prob- 

 ably lose to a greater or less extent. 



O. O. England, Tenipleton, Jerauld County: 



I have used tho following home-made di]i with satisfactory results in ridding my 

 flock of ticks and the sheep-louse: I use 3 pounds of tobacco stems steeped in 10 gal- 

 lons of water. Fifty gallons of this dip will do for 75 lambs 'and kill all ticks and 

 lice. 



Wilfred Baker, Wolsey, Beadle County: 



The last five years have been so dry that it mostly used up the grain and wheat 

 farming, and it actually drove the farmers into stock-raising ; but the cattle and beef 

 markets were poor, and the corn crop too uncertain for pork-raising, so the business 

 of Avool and mutton raising took a wonderful boom, and the importation of sheep 

 from other States has been most' wonderful tho last two years. In most cases it will 

 prove a beneficial addition to the iarmers, unless inexperienced men got too large a 

 flock to begin with. 



C. A. Fowler, Huron, Beadle County: 



We have a beautiful country, with a fertile soil and healthful climate; but the 

 msufficiency of rainfall makes grain-raising unprofitable. But the great increase in 

 the number of sheep shows that the attention of the farmers is turned towards this 

 industry, which will relieve them from tl„-ir depression and lift the mortgages oif 

 the farms. \\ o think we have here a greater supply of subterranean water than any 

 other local, y and hundreds of wells will be put do,vn, and Dakota will "blossom 

 as the rose. Have had experience with sheep ever since my boyhood days and take 

 great interest ih the business. 



