Wisconsin tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1847-1854, 1852-07-22
From the Prairie Farmer.
Keeping MP Stock.

MEssRs. EDIroBs: The Prairie Farmer Of
late number contains few questions by
an Iowa farmer, 10 which he desires answers.
Therefore l will presume TO give my views
IN my own rustic style, hoping the sane may
be appreciated
The first question is, 'sWhether the farm
ers shall or shall not keep up their hogs and
sheep the year round ~ Now. whether we
shall, depends very much on what the public
may deem the best policy; and as It is very
often the case THAT we find it rather difficult b
obtain even bare majority Of the sulTraEcs
of the people to obtain law for our purposes,
We therefore deem il the most agreeable, and
the most Independent and efficient way. TO
take the law into our hands. Indeed, this
seems to be law Of nature, nearly allied 60
that which says, - mans house IS his Cas-
tie" and we may rest assured that such q
course worketh no evil TO our neighbor. and
consequently such an Independent law IS no
respecter Of persons, and violates no right Of
the rich or poor. As our Iowa farmer says
:. he is in favor of keeping his stock up for a
number Of reasons, so say /, therefore we
will venture our reasons regardless Of what
others may say or do.
AS to sheep, we may as well include the
horse and COW, and say they should never be
suffered to run at large, but always be kept
within the farm, and for obvious reasons; for
If you need a horse for use, you know where
you may find him without having to run all
over the country, and in the end find your
horse has taken q notion and hath straye3 or
and given YOU deal Of trouble and veXation.
10 say nothing about loss of time. With cows
il is Just the same as with the horse. IF yol
keep them up, you have your horse when
wanted, and your cows regularly night and
morning for milking. As 10 sheep ! Just say
1t is Indispensable that they should be kept up
always. Sheep will do more good III Kidding
your farm # noxi0us briars, brush and weeds
than could b. accomplished by ordinary man
ual labor, and they perform their labor with SO
much cheeTfuluess aud do it so cdectaaIly too,
that we even grant them licence, and open
our gates from field 10 field as occas ion may
require. We usually let them remain In our
intended coruGeid until near planting, and as
we don't plant until the ground becomes taor-
oughly warm, they generally get a pretty
good spell Of pasturage. By keeping up our
stock We make a great saving in thar ialls-
pensible article manure
Now let rs say here that we should regard
1t as boundcn duty, as wei! as comfort rs the
good Of our beloved dlmicII, tomake declar-
alton Of independence, and free ourselves from
the tyranny Of these arisJocrats-1yc mean the
Great Barr kIngd7m-then we VIII Be free
and independent farmers, and who hath bet
ter right than The farmer to boast Of his indie
pendance. This may cost US a campaign, SUIT
with vigilance and energy, We Will predict
that three years will be sufficient 10 gain us
the victory, and we shall not cry as did Alex
ander when be had no more c8nguer.ar to do.
n low for those hogs, the sw5uIsh multitude.
We always find thar when they are kept up.
that they are not swiuish after all. but are
generally pretty clever porkaTs. Hence fls
many years We have been in the habit Of keep
N 1t al q v-rF l.-rr-