170 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[.J xmE, 
Management of Sheep in Minnesota. 
To the Editor of the American Agriculturist. 
As stem necessity is forcing an increased in¬ 
terest to be taken by Northern States, in the 
business of wool growing, I propose to give 
you a few practical items from Minnesota. 
My neighbor Mr. Bennett, is the owner of 
about 2000 sheep, chiefly mixed blood, though 
a few arc extraordinarily fine Spanish Merinos. 
He farms out about 1200, taking for his profits 
the fleece, and when the flock is returned, an 
equal number of young healthy sheep. The re¬ 
maining 800 he feeds on his farm, audit is to the 
management of this home-flock that I would 
call attention, as I think that he has winter¬ 
ed them with unusual economy and success. 
Mr. B. raised a quantity of Indian corn, which 
was cut and cured in the usual way in the field, 
where it was left standing in stack for daily use 
during the Winter. The feeding season with 
us is almost invariably free from rains. The corn 
was drawn and scattered over a large pasture 
at the rate of about one and-a-half bushels of 
grain to a flock of 200 sheep. The little ani¬ 
mals stripped the stalks and cobs absolutely 
clean ; then after being watered they were en¬ 
closed in yards adjoining the sheds, and supplied 
with an abundance of fresh straw, in racks. 
Cost of Wintering. —Mr. B. estimates the cost 
as follows: In our neighborhood, unimproved 
land costs from five to ten dollars per acre. An 
acre of well cultivated and well cured corn, cost¬ 
ing about $5 for labor, will support 15 sheep, at 
33 } cents per head. It is now the last of March, 
and he has still some weeks of provision left. 
How the Sheep Look. —Under this head it is un¬ 
necessary to multiply words. The sheep are 
fully as fat as desirable. They are healthy, 
fleece heavy, clean, and in excellent condition. 
Mr. B. estimates his clip will average four lbs. 
to the sheep, including the last year’s lambs. 
How Sheltered— Our climate, I repeat, is unu¬ 
sually dry during the Winter; Ave have few or 
no rains, or heavy siioavs, therefore but very or¬ 
dinary protection is required; nor need Ave con¬ 
fine the animals to close, heated, and unhealthy 
stables. Sheds of rough boards, or poles and 
straw are infinitely preferable to the most cost¬ 
ly and closely built stables. Mr. B.’s sheds open 
to the south, and are well boarded against north¬ 
east and Avest winds. They have a depth of 
about 16 feet, which gives ample protection, 
affording a dry, airy, healthful, and all-sufficient 
shelter. The pens and sheds are daily spread 
Avitli clean fresh litter—the straw Avhich the 
sheep pull from the racks. In warm days 
which come suddenly upon us as Spring ap¬ 
proaches, the animals are driven to the open 
fields, aAvay from the fumes of the heated ma¬ 
nure, until the approach of night-fall, and in 
this daily care for the health of his flock, lies the 
true secret of Mr. B.’s success. 
So soon as grass appears, pasturage with us is 
not an item of cost. A sufficient range is so 
easily procured, that at most it can only cost the 
wages of a man, Avho with a good dog, Avill look 
after and care for from one to tAvo thousand. 
The Profit ..—According to present appearances 
Mr. Bennett’s profit item Avill stand as follows: 
Sheep averaged when purchased.$2 20 
2,000 Sheep at $2 20.$4,400 
Cost of keeping. 1,320—5,720 
Sheep worth without the fleece, say $5. $10,000 
8,000 lbs. of wool, say 75c . 6,000 
Lambs, say. 1 .500 
17,500 
Deduct first cost. 5.720 
Balance in Profit*.$11,780 
You av ill observe that I have added a cost for 
Summer keeping equal to the Winter, which is I 
of course an excess; but I have made no alloAV- 
ance for loss by disease or death, which for six 
months past has only amounted to about $10. 
Having given you the above items I now so¬ 
licit permission to propose a few inquiries to 
be answered by experienced sheep breeders. 
1st. There is a prevailing opinion that the 
further north, wool and fur animals are grown 
within the limit of plentiful support, the finer 
and better is the growth of the animal’s covering: 
—Is this only a conceit, or demonstrated fact ? 
2d. Do fine blooded sheep of the Eastern coun¬ 
tries, degenerate in flesh or fleece by removal 
to the colder climates of the American States ? 
3d. Have sheep growers determined the qual¬ 
ity of sheep natural to the temperate and colder 
climate of the Northern States of America? 
The subject of wool groAving is at this mo¬ 
ment so pregnant with interest that it deserves 
much more than ordinary investigation. Thou¬ 
sands will be tempted to embark in the business, 
knowing little or nothing of the habits, the qual¬ 
ity, or the wants of the animals. T. T. Mahtst. 
Washington Co ., Minn. 
* Mr. Mann’s estimate of profits is too large. His figures 
put wool at $1 a pound, making the profits $11,780 ; we 
took the liberty to change the estimate for wool in Min¬ 
nesota to 75c., and that is nearly double the usual price. 
The present quotation in New-York (May 6) is 70 to 90 
cents, from which must be deducted freight, commissions, 
etc. Again, is not $5 a head for shorn sheep rather a 
high estimate for Minnesota. If one were to now embark 
in sheep growing, he would of course have to pay present 
rates for stock sheep, and not $2.20, the price paid by Mr. 
Bennett. We readily grant that wool growing is largely 
profitable, and likely to continue so, but add these re¬ 
marks as a caution against too great expectations.—.E d. 
Shall Sheep be Washed ? 
"Wool undoubtedly needs cleansing before it 
can be used in the manufactory, but it does not 
follow that it must be washed while on the 
sheep’s back. There are many reason why it 
should not be—few if any valid ones for a con¬ 
tinuance of the practice. The best washing 
will only remove part of the foreign matter 
from the fleece. The manufacturer subjects all 
wool to a cleansing process, whether it has been 
previously carefully washed, or only “soused” 
in a slovenly manner. Sheep washing is vio¬ 
lently unnatural. No animal dreads the water 
more, and with good reason; it requires days 
of warm Aveather to evaporate the moisture 
held in the meshes of a thick fleece of wool, 
and the animal not only suffers discomfort, but 
frequently positive injury. It is comparatively 
an easy process to remove the yolk and dirt 
from wool when sheared from the sheep, but 
impossible to complete the work while upon 
the back of the struggling animal. It would be 
just as Avise, and little less humane, to give chil¬ 
dren an occasional plunge to remove stains and 
soils from their garments. But for the washing, 
the sheep might be sheared one or two weeks 
earlier in the season, Avhich Avould promote 
heaviness of fleece, and add to the comfort and 
thrift of both sheep and lambs. 
The great objection urged against shearing 
unwashed sheep, is that an unwarrantable de¬ 
duction in the price of the wool is made by 
manufacturers. The remedy for this is with the 
producer. He has only to remain firm in a 
reasonable demand, and in time his terms must 
be acceded to. There is a very just cause of 
complaint in the practice pursued, of buying 
wool according to a general average of clean¬ 
liness, instead of fixing the price according to 
the actual condition of each lot. This has, in j 
effect been, to offer a premium for neglect, and 
many clips of professedly washed avooI have 
been little superior in cleanliness to unwashed 
fleeces from sheep properly cared for. Pro¬ 
ducers should, in every case, insist upon selling 
their wool according to its own merits, and this 
can as easily be done with the unwashed article 
as any other. To change the present practice 
will require general simultaneous effort, and 
this can scarcely be expected without consider¬ 
able discussion. It is here intended only to in¬ 
dicate some of the leading points that seem to 
make the change desirable. 
Tim Bunker on Sheep Traps. 
“What upon airth d’ye call that?” asked' 
uncle Jotham Sparrowgrass, as he hailed Seth 
TAviggs in the street, this morning. Seth had a 
gun over his shoulder, and held in his hand what 
might have been mistaken for game, at a short 
distance. On closer examination, the object re¬ 
vealed a pair of short ears, a prominent nose, a. 
long clean pair of jaAvs, Avell armed with sharp, 
bloody teeth. It Avas what is left of a dog after 
his tail has been cut off just behind his ears. 
“ That is what I call a sheep trap,” said Seth, 
as he flung the head upon the grass, pulled his- 
pipe out of one pocket, and a match out of the 
other, and lighted. 
“ Why that is Jake Frink’s dog !” exclaimed! 
Uncle Jotham. 
“ Taint Jake’s any longer,” replied Seth, 
“ Ye see I caught him in the act, this morning 
airly. He was gnawing aAvay at a sheep he had 
run down, and that is sheep’s blood you see on 
his teeth noAV. I put that bullet between his 
eyes, and he hadn’t time to clean his teeth be¬ 
fore he emigrated to t’other country. That trap 
has caught three sheep of mine this Spring, be¬ 
sides lots of my neighbors, to say nothing of the 
lambs, and I was so afraid the trap might be set 
again that I jest cut his head off after I shot 
him, to make sure work of it, That critter has 
destroyed a hundred dollars’ worth of property 
this Spring, I haven’t a doubt. Sheep have 
been found dead, and badly maimed, and he has 
been seen chasing them. When complaint has 
been made to Jake, he could not believe he was 
guilty of even chasing sheep. He did not al- 
Ioav him in such tricks. His dog was as inno¬ 
cent as a lamb. Children could play with him, 
and he wouldn’t even growl. To hear Jake 
talk, you would think the dog’s mother must 
have been a sheep. Waal, now, ye see, that 
talk didn’t go down with me. I can tell a sheep 
stealin dog as soon as I lay my eye on him.. 
There is a kind of guilty look about the critter,, 
that says mutton, as plainly as if it stuck in his 
jaws. Jake has never been able to raise sheep. 
If he tried, his lambs disappeared mysteriously 
Avhen that dog was a puppy. He always laid 
it to other folks’ dogs. But Rover Avas the guilty 
wretch that drunk lamb’s blood. I have been 
watching him for about a week, and ye see this 
morning I got him jest where I Avanted him. 
There was a piece of mutton in his mouth when 
I fired. It will take a smarter man than Jake 
Frink to get array from that fact.” 
“ I guess you’ll catch it when Jake hears of it.” 
“He won’t have to wait long, for I’m going to 
take home Jake’s sheep trap this morning. I 
Avouldn’t have you think that I’d shoot a man’s 
dog, and then not OAvn it. That Avould be too 
much like a sheep stealing dog. I calculate to 
take the responsibility.” 
This conversation of my neighbors shows the 
Avay the current is setting in the dog question, 
and the progress the reform is making, under 
