Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1860-10-26

sheen.

evenings were devoted to the discussion O
some subject of interest to farmers. o.
the second evening the subject was --"sheep
both for wool and mutton, what breed i,
most profitable, and win it be to the adyan
tage Of farmers to Increase sheen husband
ry? We give below an abstract Of ia,
discussion, and il will be noticed that ia lge
Pettibone, of this State was among the
speakers:-
The meeting was called TO order y the
chairman, the Hon I. c. PETERS Of Da-
rien, n. T., who announced the subject of
Sheep for the first hour, and miscellaneous
subjects for the next hour, each speaker to
be restricted TO ten minutes.
The CHAIRMAN then called up several
prominent sheep breeders, the first Of whom
was.
Mr.. JouN WADE of Canada, who was
asked to state what sort Of sheep h. raises
for mutton. He sail that he preferred the
long wool sorts, because they are more
hardy. The mutton sells readily, and the
wool, though not worth so much per pound
rs the fine wool sorts, produces so much more
don't grow much corn, but we feed grea,
many roots and feed well. 1t is foolish to
try TO keep any animal upon low Diet We
feed anything that sheep eat best, and fat
ten principally upon turnips and hay, with
little meal. The long wool sheep are bet
ter adapted to Canada than the fine wool.
We shear eight pounds of clean wool per
head. The Colswold variety are perferred
they are stronger constitutions than the Lei
cester sheep.
The CHAIRMAN then called for any per-
son who could defend the fine-wool breed
Mr.. PETTIBoSE of Vermont-If a man |
keeps but few sheep he should keep nut |
ton breed, If he keeps a large flock, or say
200 or 800, he should keep fiue wool sorts. |
The trouble in sheep breeding is in letting 4
them run down in October. | Winter 800
head, and 100 ewes will give 400 lambs. /
use 400 acres, but many of them are on the
mountain, and valued at only 81 an acre
do not let all my ewes breed, | keep my
sheep in very close Winter quarters, on hay.
| feed breeding ewes one peck of corn
day to 100 head. In eleven years have
not had lamb die, aud they are kept with
out grain, bur always with water and salt
by them. There is a material difference in
the value of the fleece, according TO the way
sheep are kept. | perfrr always to have
my sheep fat. In January | select my ew es
AMI never sell the choice ones. | have an
eve that has produced eighteen lambs, and ,
shears four pounds Of good wool. | do not .
select the most gummy sheep for my use :
they are much more tender than those less |
gummy. Still, you must have greasy wool a
if you have fine wool. / feed generally :
twice day-sometimes only once. s
Mr.. BAKER of Steuben County com
mence in October, after hard frosts, to feed
grain TO he lambs, and when Winter com
mences put them in yards and feed hay
twice day in board racks. ! never kept
coarse wool sheep. My flock averages to
A lb per fleece mot ofthe gummy sort. |
stable my sheep in Winter keep 400
head, divided into three focks, by two par
titions. The gross sales average about 50
a head for wool and sales OF sheep | feed
very regularly as to time and quantity. ]
feed grain sometimes, but not all the time.
recommend the increase Of our focks, as
they greatly improve our farms. l feed
roots TO ewes 20 days before anbing. !
have kept about 800 sheep year on less
than 200 acres in the farm, both Summer
and Winter feed. | haver aised 120 bushels L
OF corn on an acre of sheep mapured land. !"
The water on my farm is limestone. y
Gen HARMON Of Monroe County, COM
menced with fine wool sheep, 40 years ago. =
1 then tried Worcestershire, and then came
back to Mcrinos. l have less than 200
acres, and grow 80 or 40 acres of wheat !
every year; the land improves by sheep.
My average lot of fleece is 8 lb. j keep |
$50 head, and get over 500 year for
wool and increase. stable City sheep in
room l4xi0 feet, without change in the
Winter. ! wash my sheep clean and let
them run six or eight days, and then shear.
don't breed from gummy sheep. feed in
board racks, with straight sticks, so the
sheep can put in their heads. There is
about twenty-five acres of reclaimed land on
my farm that will keep sheep alive bu,
wont fat them My farm is limestone, and
prefer fine wool sheep to any other for
profit; and | consider sheep twice rs pro-
stable as cattle upon any grain farm. |
never breed from ewes less than three wears
old. don't like the cross of Leicester
bucks upon fine ewes. have sold of wool
and sheep over 5000 year.
LEWIS +. ALLEN of Black Rock, said
have kept sheep twenty-five years upon
clay loan, natural to sweet grasses. lime
stone formation, on the Niagara River.
There is no general rule as to the profit of
keeping sheep. All depends upon circm-
stances. In Canada have seen the hest
long-wool sheep ever saw, but the sheen
are too fat for eating. You might as well
dine off a cake of tallow as such meat. Sncb
sheep nsay be profitable in Canada With
me, those sheep require good shelter. They
are not kept warm by their long feeces.
My sheep sheared . TO 8 pounds of wool.
1 don't approve Of feeding many roots ex-
eept TO breeding ewes. They are likely to
scour sheep; at least they do mine.
Mr.. Bowen of Orleans Countv-I have
bred both coarse and fine sheep. | have
gearing coarse-wool sheep that weighed
$50 pounds each at one year old. find
the coarse-wool breed the most profitable.
My sheep average pounds OF wool. that
sells at 81 cents a pound. Ny sheep are
cross Of Cotswold, and are close wooded and
hardy. live on a gravelly loan. wheat
soil, and think it desirable 10 increase the
stock of sheep in this State. A 6aIJ &c