Voi„ LXXIII, No. 4253. 
NEW YORK. MAY 2, 1914. 
WEEKLY $1.00 PER YEA It. 
SHEEP THE COMING ANIMAL. 
A Great Future in the Business. 
DIMINISHING FLOCKS.—There are fewer sheep 
in the United States this year than there were last 
year. Last year there were fewer than the year 
before. Mutton consumption is on the increase, 
mutton production is on the decrease. Western 
States that have supplied sheep in great numbers 
are fast losing their free and cheap pastures and 
large flocks. It is a land of homesteaders. Dairy¬ 
ing has taken the Eastern States in its grasp, and 
sheep are a relic of former days in farm practice. 
have been extreme cases, but there was food for 
thought in both. 
CONDITIONS REQUIRED.—To flourish in any 
business the disadvantages must lie overcome and 
all natural advantages be made the most of. Any 
man can keep sheep, and at a profit, if he has good 
business sense and will apply himself, but unless 
he has a leaning toward the flock his efforts will 
not bring coin like that of the natural flock-master. 
This should not be marked up against the sheep, as 
it is true of any enterprise. The farm must have 
some equipment for the sheep’s care, but it need 
not be expensive. With a wise owner they will 
flocks with a 20-inch hog fence. A barbed wiie 
stretched above this makes doubly sure, and one 
more wire will turn all other stock. 
BUILDINGS.—Shelter with dry footing and good 
roof is more important than well matched siding 
and closed doors and windows. Keep them dry 
and well fed and cold weather need not he feared, 
of course very young lambs must not be expose 1 to 
cold blasts. We have raised many lambs in : ero 
weather in plain sheds by putting a blanket on the 
youngster. This sounds foolish and bothersome to 
some folks, but it is easily and quickly done. Fresh 
air and pure water both Winter and Summer help 
A FLOCK OF SHEER ON A PENNSYLVANIA ROADSIDE. Fig. 271. 
Is there anything of significance in this for the 
man who owns land? 1 think so. Let me venture 
the prophecy that ere many years prime mutton 
will, the year round, sell in the same notch with 
prime beef and pork. In fact, for a long time mut¬ 
ton of the right age and finish on the right market 
is the highest priced meat. Often it has been said, 
and it will stand repeating, that a flock of ewes of 
the right pattern, well cared for, and raising lambs 
to he sold fat at an early age. will return a larger 
dividend on the investment than a well-cared-for 
dairy herd, and this herd can he considerably above 
the average, too. 
COWS vs SHEEP.—At a farmers’ institute one 
man said that he was the same as in the peniten¬ 
tiary with his big herd of cows. The same job 
every day, the same long hours, and not much 
more pay than if he wore the stripes. Another man 
told of his flock of ewes nearly all raising twin 
lambs, that sell from $10 to $12 per pair at wean¬ 
ing time. “The lambs do the milking,” he said, 
“and I clean the stables when I get ready, and 
market my product when it gets fat,” These might 
live and thrive in the most common and home¬ 
made quarters. 
GOOD FENCING NEEDED.—One drawback in 
starting sheep-keeping on the farm where they have 
long been absent is lack of fences. Two or three 
wires tightly stretched will turn the farm horses 
and dairy herd, but not the sheep, and a flock run¬ 
ning at large on a farm is not good business. 
They love and devour young trees, berry and grape¬ 
vines and roses, and a few hours of liberty in the 
young cornfield will work havoc. Give them credit 
for this, because it is this same appetite that 
prompts them to eat weeds and bushes and many 
things that might go to waste or be in the way of 
better farming. There is only one right way to fix 
the enclosure for sheep, and that is to fence so that 
there will be no first time for them to get out. 
Crawling under or through or jumping over fences 
is easily learned and never forgotten. I have seen 
old ewes as expert as goats at these tricks. Plain 
woven wire has no equal as a sheep fence, and it 
need not be high if the sheep have not learned to 
jump over poor fences. We have safely fenced 
to make mutton. Rains in Summer do no harm. 
It is the wet fleece in cold, windy weather that 
makes the sheep lose flesh and get catarrh. 
TIIE DOG NUISANCE.—Dogs are to be reckoned 
with in sheep raising. It is a sad state of affairs 
when the cur dogs of our land hold such sway 
that many men stay out of the sheep business from 
fear that profits will be torn up and scared away 
in one night. Would that we had laws enacted 
and enforced compelling every dog owner to keep 
his dog as he does his cow or horse. If a dog is 
worth owning he is worth keeping in hand. What 
would we think of a man, or rather what would 
we do with him, if he had a ram galloping along 
the road after him and hopping over the fence 
into every one’s yard or field as he went to town? 
Dog-proof fences can be made by using woven wire 
fence four feet high staked close to ground, and a 
barbed wife stretched above it. Bells offer some 
protection. A bell on every fourth or fifth sheep 
if the flock is large, and on every sheep if it is a 
small flock, will frighten some dogs, and the bells 
will attract some one in time to save the sheep. 
