SHEEP OX NEW ENGLAND FARMS. 



13 



doubled. The price received by farmers for dairy products, on the 

 other hand, has increased by about 40 per cent (hiring the same 

 period. 1 



As to costs, grains most commonly fed in these regions have in- 

 creased in price by about 75 per cent; 2 roughage has remained at 

 about the same price (due probably to the large hay crops of the 

 last two } 7 ears in the regions studied) ; while labor has increased by 

 about 33,^ per cent 3 of the former cost. 



At present prices, then, assuming the same production from sheep 

 on the one hand and from dairy stock on the other, the gross returns 

 per animal unit of sheep would be $76.93 instead of $33.46, and 

 from the dairy stock $101.37 instead of $75.52. The combined feed 

 and labor costs for the sheep, assuming the same amounts but present 

 prices, would increase from $38.50 to $43.75 and for the dairy stock 

 from $67.35 to $88.65. At these prices the net profit over feed 

 (except pasture) and labor cost per animal unit of sheep are approx- 

 imately $33.18, as compared with $12.72 from dairy stock, showing 

 that at present, sheep are far more profitable, in small flocks at least, 

 than dairy stock. Prices for sheep products, due no doubt to condi- 

 tions caused by the war, have increased far more in proportion than 

 have those for dairy products; and furthermore, sheep stand de- 

 cidedly in favor at present because of requiring relatively little grain 

 feed and labor, the costs of which have increased greatly, while 

 roughage, which forms by far the greatest expense in the cost of 

 keeping sheep, has not increased materially in value — in New Eng- 

 land at least. 



IMPROVEMENT OF THE SHEEP INDUSTRY. 



Though sheep raising as now conducted on the farms studied is a 

 profitable business at present prices, the writer, judging from the 



1 For the two periods of nine months each, ending Aug. 31, 1914, and Aug. 31, 1915, 

 respectively, the Turner Center Creamery, at Auburn, Me., paid an average price of $1.78 

 per hundredweight for whole milk testing 4 per cent butter fat, while for the same period 

 ending Aug. 31, 1917, the average price paid by the same concern for the same grade of 

 milk was $2.49 per hundredweight, or an increase of practically 40 per cent. A large 

 part of the dairy products in the regions studied in Maine were sold to the concern men- 

 tioned, and it is believed that this increase In price of milk is representative of the in- 

 crease in areas studied in New Hampshire and Vermont as well. A nine months' period 

 instead of a full year was used in making the comparison, as only that length of time up 

 to Sept. 1, 1917, had elapsed since the price of milk had increased materially. 



- These increases are based on figures obtained at the time the survey was made, 

 together with a knowledge of the prices paid during the past spring and summer. The 

 price paid for grain feed in 1914 was about $30 per ton. An increase of 75 per cent over 

 this amount, to $52.50 per ton, is believed to represent not far from the average price 

 paid for what feed was purchased in the regions studied during a nine months' period 

 ending Aug. 31, 1917. 



3 The average value of labor (farmer's time Included) in the regions studied for the 

 year 1914 was about $36 per month, including that part (about one-half) of a man's 

 board not produced on the farm. An increase of 33 J per cent, or $48 per month, is 

 believed to cover fully the value of labor spent on the two classes of live stock concerned 

 during the past year. 



