The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1869-12-17
Proilt Of Keeping sheep.

i WAS BOY. the"c WNs Very IcN IllSp
kept la iris part OF Chester county. com
pared with Che last five or ten. Farmers
ceuyTally thought they were poisonous
10 fhc land. Thirty years ago, farmers
would buy cight or ten ewes in the tail,
and keep them overa year or more. for
shc purpose Of getting the wool for man
uiacturingAsc ia their families. but with
40 idea OF positive pecuniary profit.
Nv frhcr went into Strengthening
more extensively, lie generally bought
twenty-five or thirty eve in the fall. and
put good buck among them about the
nrst vt October. so us 10 have them lamb
in March.
IL was part OF my work TO take care OF
ahcse sheep in winter and spring; bu,
after they were turned out To pasture.
there was VERY little care taken oi them.
We had large tract 81. Woodland. that
wa, low and marsly, which ] think is
not the place Tor sheep: tey werhturn-
ed there in the spring. and hardly allowed
to look into field tie whole Summer.
Within ten or twelve wears. have gen
orally bought from fifty 10 seventy ewes
of the conllnon stock. in the tall. and
kept good buck 10 Ilit with them. l.
may as well ncution here, that have
.trict mostall. of the improved breeds cf
stock. and think the Southdown The best
tor my purpose. Us the lambs are ready
for market cartier than any Others. As
general rule, in buying sheep. select
pretty good wooled ones. about ! Merino.
as | think they are the best suckers. and
Claic the f;ltuest lambs. After the lambs
are taken of. tho ewes get ready for mar
ket earlier than coarse or open Mooled
sheep. | sell all my sheep except the
buck every year. aud buy in Il new lot.
Twelve OF fourteen years ago. bought
scme adjoining land. Of which about ten
acres were new land. partly cleared. |
fenced Il oil and cut the timber and clear
ed il up, by cutting away the briars and
rubbish. Part of it was thin land. |
plastered il. and pastured it with sheep
for about ten years. and al the end OF
that time think il was as fine Il green
grass" sod rs | have ever seen. In the
spring of 1858 plowed it and planted it
with corn. Iu the fall. our Chester Coun-
~ Agricultural Society offered premi-
nm for the best five acres, and also for
the best one acre of corn. / had been
called upon by one of my neigbors to
help measure some corn. OF which he mad
a very good crop, for the purpose OF COM
peting for the premium. | happened to-
speak of il before my men, when they
said we had a larger crop than that
They took a barrel out the next day and
measured some heaps, and told me the
result. | called on two ofmy neighbors.
and after carefully measuring it, they
made ont the following report: The
best one acre yielded lO4 bushels OF shell
led corn: the best five acres yielded 95
bushels per acre; !" for which received
the first premium.
think it was owing to its being pas
tured by sheep, as it neverhad any man
ure on it except the plaster. While speak
ing of this land may as well mentionI
that it was entirely out of sight of thel
buildings, and never bring sheep in at
night on account OF the dogs. My neigh
bors' sheep, which were in the adjoin-
ing field, were frequently attacked byI
dogs, but mine were never disturbed. II
have had but two sheep killed by dogs
for ten years. think The reason of it is
that l put number Of bells on them.
from two to three dozen in flock.
Some farmers pasture the land very
closely with cattle before turning their
sheep on it. The consequence is bare
field: but if you let the grass get up, and
do not permit it to be eaten off by cattle
or horse first, thing sheep are no harder
on grass than other stock. The spring
of the year is most difficult to keep them
from eating down the grass. LISA great
advantage for ewes that have lambs TO
have grass early.
frequently let them run in my wheat
field in winter and early spring. to save
the grass fields. / keep them as long as |
can on tie field / intend to plant with
corn that season, not blowing il until
late in Aprif. I have not missed having
a good crop since have adopted this
plan, and have never had my corn injur-
ed to any extent with cut worms or III
sects. don't think it would be proiita-
bic for farmers to stock their farms al
together with sheep, on account of the
resulting manure. Although sheep make
the very best manure, it is difficult TO
work up straw and cornstalks without
some cattle.
keep my sheep all together in good
dry, airy place in winter, keeping them
in at nights. and when it is stormy. but
letting them rum out in good weather
About the first of March when they com
niece lambing, take out the ewes that
have lambs, and put them in scperatc
enclosure, making pen in one corner
for the lambs to 90 in and eat meal,
which they will do when they are three
weeks old. Germantown Telegraph.