Tama County Republican. (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1867-1872, 1869-11-11
From the New England Farmer.
Fine and Coarse Wool.

AT the earnest request OF number
of farmers who have written to me
making inquiries in relation to the
proper method of breeding and feed
ing, of buying and selling, both sheep
and wool-in short, my whole eNpe-
rience tor the past thirty years in this
branch OF farm stock, | have conclud-
ed, with your consent, to reply through
the columns OF your paper.
In the spring OF 1881, | bought the
farm on which | now live, and stocked
it with Merino sheep, expecting to pay
for it from the proceeds of the flock. l
spared no pans i'll improving my flock
until my farm was fully stocked with
a most beautiful flock of large, fine
Dung sheep at cost of about three
dollars per head, My first clip of wool
sold readily at sixty five cents per
pound and my lambs we're worth a
dollar and seventy cents each.
Had these prices continued, raising
wool and lambs would have been, for
these times, fair business. About this
time South Carolina doubled her fist
and shaking it i'll Uncle Sans face de-
clared that unless he would hoist his
gates to foreign importation his king
dom should speedily come to an end.
So the Government adopted the Clay
compromise. Under this compromise
the price OF fine wool from this same
flock OF sheep, went down from sixty
five to tWenty-nlne cents a pound.
Alter a loss of five years time land
the most important five years OF my
lite) found myself obliged to stop
raising fine wool. sold nearly my
whole flock except enough for an ex-
pertinent in crossing with long woods.
then bought very superior Cots
void buck lamb and very nice pair
OF Cotswold ycarling ewes, and this
cross was the commencement of my
breeding Cotswold sheep. Crossing
| the Cotswolds on the Mcrinos has
been attended with very fine results.
| occasionally added to my number of
pure bloods, until had a flock OF
twenty or thirty. | sold the products
OF one OF the first two sheep l bought,
tor fifty dollars, for one year, besides
the fleece, and the defendants from
them have been as good as any | have
ever raised. | have often sold the pro-
| ducts Of single Cotswold sheep tor
more clear money than | have ever re-
| allied from a COW.
In regard to their propensltics for
rambling, can say truly ", that there is
no breed OF sheep more quiet or order
~, if kept as they should be. 1t is i'm
possible that they should do other
wise, tor:What Roadway would sheep
weighing from onchundrcd to two humid
red and fifty pounds make in jumping
over rail fence? A sheep OF this
breed weighing two hundred pounds
would sooner starve than jump over a
four rail fence.
In a recent tour to Vermont Inotic-
cd that the pastures of some of the
farms were literally black with Merino
sheep, and the all-important question
with the farmer is, what shall we do
with them? 70 raise fine wool at the
present price does not pay. 1--WE are
disguised with keeping fine wooded
sheep" am often asked how will
it do to cross them with long woods;
and here again can only give my
own experience and observation.
We will now suppose farm Of four
hundred acres fully stocked with fine
sheep and those not very large size II
the weight OF the whole flock was in
halt the number OF sheep it would be
easy to decide. | should say by all
means breed them to full blood Cots.
void bucks. send the buck lambs to
the butcher and keep the ewes for
breeding purposes. Give them the
best possible chance at feed, both sum
mer and winter, and the lambs BY tn,
middle Of August should weigh from
illty to sixty pounds, and sell in tn.
market Tor eight cents a pound whicl
would be about four dollars or tou,
dollars and halt per head, which, ad
ded to the price OF the fleece, woul(
make fair income from a sheep. SUP
pose the fleece to weigh five pounds
and to sell at forty-fonr cents pei
pound, the fleece would then bring
two dollars and twenty cents. Ado
to this the price of the lamb, at foul
j. dollars, and we have an income OF ST,
dollars and twenty cents as the incom,
OF sheep.
but with farm fully stocked Will
!. sheep we cannot obtain this result :,
u Will become necessary to reduce tn,