The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1863-05-23
FARMERS DEPARTMENT.
what Bleed of sheep shall / Keeps

+ In reply to the above question of cor
respondent, the Genesee Farmer remarks as
follows: ave- ? -Eg rrE
The answer must depend on circumstan-
ces-oR. the character of the soil and the
system Of agriculture adopted, as we'll as
the price of mutton and wool, or the taste
and experience of the farmer.
During the past year, on account of the
great demand for the army, coarse long
wool brought 40 unusually high price. How
long this demand may continue, Is ~uhcer-
tain. If we might calculate on anything
like the present relative price of long and
fine wool, we should be entirely safe in say
ing that the long wooded sheep would prove
the most profitable in all sections of the
country where mutton is in demand. g.r
In saying this we do not wish to be un-
derstood as asserting that, leaving the NUT
ton out of the calculation, more wool can be
obtained at given cost from the long
wooded sheep than from the Merinos, for we
do not think such is the case. Other things
being equal, sheep consume food in proper
ton to their live weight; and as the long
wooded sheep are fully double the size of
Merinos, and as they do not yield double
the amount of wool, it follows that, leaving
the mutton out of the question. pound of
wool cannot be produced from the long
wooded sheep as easily as from the Meri-
nos.
There can be no doubt Of the truth of
this proposition, if it is fact--which we
think will not be dened-that fine wooded
sheep, in proportion to the live weight, pro-
duce more wool than the large wooded NUT
ton sheep. # @ E.Js.
But of course it is not fair to leave the
mutton out of the,calculation.a There is an
increasing demand for mutton Of good quail
ity in our large cities, and the prices are
approximating more closely to that of beef.
In the English market mutton brings fully
as high a price as beef, while with US NUT
ton is generally one-third lower and fire.
quently one-half the price of beef AS the
quality of our mutton improves, there can
be but little doubt that the price win ad-
vance. Now there can be no question that
large, long wooded sheep will afford more
mutton in proportion to the food consumed
than the Merinos; and where the principal
object is the production of mutton, the large
English sheep are unquestionably the most
profitable breed to keep.
The advantage of the Meriuos are: First,
they produce mole wool for the food con-
sumed and second, the mutton brings a
much higher price.
The advantages of the loug-wooled sheep
are: First, they afford more mutton for the
food consumed; and second, the mutton
usually brings a much higher price.
Under ordinary circumstances 1t is not
easy to determine which of these two classes
of sheep are on the whole most profitable.
AS before said, it depends much on the
character of the soil, on the location, the
system of agriculture, proximity to market,
and on the taste of the breeder. So far as
our own taste is concerned we should pre-
fer the large sheep, because we are better &C
quainted with their peculiarities, manage
ment, &c. We are of the opinion, too, that
they are, in this vicinity, where there Is an
increasing demand for good mutton, and
where mixed system of agriculture IS
adopted, the most profitable. We think
this is the case when their wool sells at
the same relative price as previous to The
war.
At the present time, however, their WOO
commands nearly or quite as high price
rs the fine WOOL and as long as this is the
case, the long-wooled mutton sheep are the
most profitable breed,y,
1t may be asked what is meant by long
wooded sheep. In England, sheep are gen
orally classed as long woods" and 'short
"OOlS ne lOIn6T lnCluue tue AelCoStOi
Lincoln and Cotswold; the latter the differ
ent varieties of the South Down, such as
Sussex, Hampshire and Shropshire Downs
In our previous remarks we have no
made this distinction. We have alluded t.
them as long-wooled mutton sheep Il
comparing them with The Merinos, it MAJ
be we'll to designate all the the English a
coarse wools,' % and the Merinos as ''ine
wools."
We think that so long as the present plic
of coarse wool is maintained, the Englisl
sheep are most profitable. But we woul'
not advise those who have fine woods to dis
pose of them and purchase eoarse-wools
for by the time they have raised flock 0
coarse-wools, fine wool may and probabl.
will be again in demand.
In fact, even now American manufacture
ers are stopping work on army blankets ant
other coarse fabrics, and are running on fin
wool; and a manufacturer recently remark
ed to US that we should do the farmers
great injustice by recommending coarse
wooded sheep.