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Vol. LXVI. No. 3019. NEW YORK, DECEMBER 7, 1907. 
WEEKLY, $1.00 PER YEAR. 
THE SHEEP BUSINESS IN THE EAST. 
Does It Pay? 
Do you consider sheep pay? I live in a section of cheap 
land—a good deal unused at present—and thought perhaps 
to go into sheep raising quite extensively, either fencing a 
large tract or hiring a herder. Is there much trouble from 
disease in this State? What do you consider best Winter 
feed? Where can I get a book on the subject of raising 
sheep, that you consider good and reliable? Does the wool 
actually pay the cost of raising? What do you consider the 
best sheep fence? The best variety of sheep—Shropshire? 
New York. N. o. B. 
I am very certain that much of the cheap rolling 
lands in New York State and New England also, can 
EVERYBODY WORKS BUT MOTHER. Fid. 444. 
very profitably be devoted to sheep. The labor ques¬ 
tion is practically solved with them. I would scarcely 
advise a “herder/’ but rather the fencing of the land 
with some of the excellent woven wire fences on the 
market. Such a fence will keep sheep in, and dogs out, 
and is desirable. Of course, it will cost more at the 
start than a herder, but will be cheaper in the end, and 
very much more satisfactory than to depend on the 
help of man. Most of the lands referred to have had 
no sheep on them for years, and therefore are free 
from parasites. Sheep, particularly the English mut¬ 
ton breeds, are very often subject to intestinal para¬ 
sites, but if the sheep are properly treated, there is lit¬ 
tle loss. The gasoline treatment, many times described 
in these columns, and the carbolic sheep dips are both 
A GOOD WINTER OVERCOAT. Fig. 445. 
excellent, and when timely and properly used, afford 
excellent protection. Dr. H. B. Miller, of Sunbury, 
Ohio, has found tobacco leaves dampened, and mixed 
with the salt, kept before the sheep, and which they eat 
readily enough, to be a complete and simple remedy. 
1 he best Winter feed is clover hay, with plenty of 
roots (ordinary turnips) and oats, for grain. If the 
sheep are thin corn may be added in small quantities, 
to be increased after the lambs are born. These are 
the best feeds, not always obtainable, and the oats just 
now very high in price. Sheep like a variety. Nice 
fine hay and bright corn fodder they relish, and will 
thrive on for roughage. Coarse Timothy should never 
be fed to sheep; it lacks nutrition, and the sharp ends 
sometimes penetrate the stomach. Wheat bran is a 
good food, also too high at present for commercial 
feeding. Dried brewers’ grains, or any of the bulky 
protein feeds on the market for cattle, are good for 
sheep. Linseed meal is particularly good. The broken 
meal is better than the fine; .the sheep relish it more 
and it does not get in the nostrils as does the sticky 
fine meal. In place of the roots, one may feed silage. 
I find it an excellent substitute. 
Formerly sheep were kept with profit almost en¬ 
tirely for the wool. Now the main profit is in the 
lamb, with the increased demand for and price of' 
meat, and the advent of the mutton breeds, with their 
heavier frames and less number of pounds of wool. 
Yet the wool is by no means to be despised. Seven 
pounds to a sheep is perhaps an average fleece; this 
at 30 cents a pound makes a return of $2 per head, 
which will go a long way to pay for their cost. With 
good bodied and wooled sheep the weight of fleece 
will run a good bit above the average. I had not a few 
grade Shropshire and Tunis ewes this Spring that 
sheared between nine and 10 pounds, bringing the aver¬ 
age about eight. It is hard to name any best variety; 
several of the standard breeds have qualities peculiar 
SALTING A WEST VIRGINIA FLOCK. Fig. 446. 
to themselves which especially fit them for some particu¬ 
lar line of sheep husbandry. For an all-around sheep 
of the strictly mutton breeds, doubtless there is noth¬ 
ing better than the Shropshire. For a wider range of 
pasturage the Cheviots are excellent. Where one wants 
a late lamb and more wool and a hardier sheep, the 
Delaine Merinos or Rambouillets fill the bill. For 
Winter lambs the Dorset or Tunis both breed in warm 
weather, most necessary to produce a lamb that will 
bring the price in January. “Sheep Farming in Amer¬ 
ica,” by Jos. E. Wing, is the latest work on sheep. It 
is a book of about 300 pages that retails for $1. It is 
packed* full of practical sheep matter, amply illustrated, 
and withal written in the delightful style peculiar to 
the author. Best of all the information is largely taken 
from the writer’s own experience, who has kept sheep 
on the ranges in Utah and in Ohio with great success. 
It can be secured from The R. N.-Y. 
EDWARD VAN ALSTYNE. 
Selling Sheep in New York. 
Do you know of any large sheep keepers in the East who 
send their “crop” to New York slaughter houses, and make 
money? Is sheep raising in the East at all profitable? Can 
you give me an idea of what sections East are in this line? 
New York. w. k. 
There are many sheep keepers in the East, both 
large and small, who send their fat sheep and lambs 
direct to the great markets in New York City. Not 
the slaughter houses, but to the Union Stock Yards, 
where there are several first-class firms who sell the 
stock on commission to the slaughterers, sending check 
for proceeds the same day it is sold. Such firms and 
sales are quoted daily in the New York papers, and the 
method is very satisfactory. These men make money, 
and there certainly is money in the sheep business in 
the East, and always has been, where it is properly car¬ 
ried on. Some raise Winter lambs, having them born 
in the early Winter and go to market at from eight 
to 12 weeks old. Such lambs bring after the holi¬ 
days from $10 to $13 each; later in the Winter and 
early Spring from $5 to $S. Others raise lambs that 
are born in the Spring, and go to market in the Fall, 
ON A NEW ENGLAND HILL PASTURE. Fig. 447. 
when fat, weighing from 80 to 90 pounds each, and 
sell at from six to eight cents a pound alive. Again, 
others buy lambs in the Fall from the stock yards or 
other places where they are obtainable, weighing about 
60 pounds. These are put in and fed grain until they 
weigh from 80 to 100 pounds, making a profit both on 
gain in weight and selling over purchase price. Sheep 
may be found in greater or less numbers all through 
the East. There are large numbers kept in Washington, 
Livingston, Genesee, Steuben and Tompkins counties, 
N. Y. E. VAN ALSTYNE. 
PROPAGATING FROM NURSERY STOCK. 
In reply to your correspondent on this subject will 
say that for a period of 18 years I have been working 
A FLOCK OF IMPORTED SIIROPSIIIRES. Fig. 448. 
on propagation from special bud selection, and that 
there is no doubt in my mind about its importance and 
value. The Rhode Island Greening and Baldwin, 
under good culture, will not often produce fruit under 
seven to eight years from time of planting. The 
Northern Spy does not often set its first fruit under 
nine or ten years, and we have seen orchards of this 
variety 18 years old not yet producing fruit. We have 
all of these varieties in bearing the present year, at 
three and four years from the time of their budding. 
We select our buds for top-making the nursery trees 
from mature bearing trees, choosing them from trees 
