Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1868-07-31
A Plea for Sheep.

7 . a R.1ctt IOE Smeeps .
Sheep husbandry is one of the most
ancient and honorable occupations Of
man. In the Holy Bible we read that
"Abel was a keeper of Sheep" This
shows that sheep is the first animal of
which mention is made in connection
with man. The wealth of the patrierchs
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, lay in their
hocks and herds. Job was the possess
sor of fourteen thousand Sheep and
"Moses kept the focks of Jethro, his
father-in-law." "David kept his faith
er's Sheep" and it was to the shepherds
keeping watch over their Hocks by night,
that the angel of the Lord announced
the birth of Jesus. y ii ha ani.7lss.r -faH
Thus twill be seen that in sacred his
tory shepherds were often instruments
in the hands of divine providence. In
profane history We might refer as far
back as the heather mythology where
Jason went in search of the golden fleece
| (which makes him the first wool specu-
lator on record), to show that through
all time back to the remotest ages, sheep
have been conspicuous in the worlds
history. '-' ''-'' .-- .
Having shown that the keeping of
sheep is calling of the highest authori-
ty, it may also be said that it is one of
the greatest usefulness. AS soon as the
wool leaves the hands of the grower, it
goes through hundred manipulations,
each adding to its value, and giving di-
versifed employment to thousands of in
dustricus men and women, until at last
| it assumes the form of every kind of
wooden fabric, both useful and ornament
al. -n- '-hoi7s75 fl dt'+.
When properly managed, the keeping
of sheep, as rule, is as profitable as any
other kind of farm business that can be
named. The last two years have been
an exception, but it may be attributed
in a great measure to change of values
brought about by the sudden termina-
tion of the late war. AS we consume
every kind OF woolen fabric, from horse
blankets up to superfne broadcloths, so
do we require every kind of wool, from
the coarsest to the finest. ,-.
Wool growers located in the vicinity
of large towns, derive greater profit from
long -wooled sheep, raised for mutton and
wool, than from the sale of wool alone
from Saxony and Merino sheep; while
on the other hand, wool growers in our
far western and southwestern States,
where pasturage is plentiful and cheap.
or in fact any section of country remote
from mutton market, or where trans
portation forms an important item in the
cost of placing it in market, it is advis-
able to keep sheep for wool alone, and
when that it is the case, Saxony and Me-
rino, with their various crosses, are bet
ter adapted to run together in large
hocks. '--
In England, the long g-wooled or mutt
ton sheep have almost entirely supplant-
ed the other breeds, although great eff
forts were made by King George III. to
introduce the pure Merino, but it was a
failure, because the English were NUT
ton eating nation, and the farmers pre-
ferred to raise and bring to perfection
those breeds of sheep yielding the best
mutton, wool being secondary consid-
GRAFTON. In carrying out this object
the English breeders unconsciously pro-
duced bright-haired and long-stapled
wool, of which the English manufac-
turers were not slow to take advantage,
and the result was that for over fifty
years they almost monopolized the man
ufacture Of worsted goods. Of late
however, the manufacture of goods re.
quiring long stapled woods has been car
ried on in the United States, increasing
in Importance from year to year, until
at the present time, twelve million
pounds annually are used for that pur.
pose. These facts show that no kind Of
wool. long or short, fine Or coarse, car
come amiss; but let each farmer raise
the kind of sheep that will pay best il
the locality in which he lives.