376 MANAGEMENT AND FEEDING OF SHEEP 



Notwithstanding these drawbacks to the corral, it is 

 an absolute necessity in the range country because of the 

 hazard from wild animals. Were it not for the hazard 

 from dogs, it would seldom be a necessity on the farm, 

 hence the cost and labor of protecting sheep in the corral 

 and the loss resulting therefrom is nearly all to be 

 charged against the mischief wrought by dogs. 



Dogs in the United States — In the absence of care- 

 fully compiled statistics, it would not be possible to state 

 with definiteness the number of the dogs maintained in 

 the United States. Unquestionably it runs far into the 

 millions. The assessors' returns show that in many coun- 

 ties in a large proportion of the arable states the number 

 of the dogs far exceeds that of the number of the sheep. 

 Furthermore, it would seem safe to say that 19 out of each 

 20 of the dogs kept are of no use whatever save to amuse 

 children generally and a certain class of women. It 

 would be interesting to know the cost of food for dogs 

 in the United States. Owing to the concentrated food 

 called for by dogs, the cost of keeping each dog is several 

 times the cost of keeping each sheep. The cost of food 

 for large dogs is not so very much less than the cost of 

 food for the average child. A very large proportion of 

 the dogs kept are owned by the poor ; hence, in maintain- 

 ing them, if they are to be properly maintained, they are 

 not infrequently given food that should be given instead 

 to the children of the household. More frequently they 

 are not properly fed, and because of this they must gather 

 food by scouring the country as scavengers, hence the 

 source of many of the depredations which they commit 

 while so engaged. It would seem probable that the cost 

 of maintaining dogs in the United States is greater than 

 the cost of maintaining sheep in the same. In other 

 words, the United States pays more per annum for main- 

 taining the greatest hindrance that exists to the sheep 

 industry than it does to sustain that industry. This does 

 not mean that the children of the home are not to enjoy 



