Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1870-11-08
Farm, Garden and House.
/. ID. II. COLLINS. Editor.
Mutton Sheep and their MANAGEMENT.


Merino sheep are kept principally for
their wool, the English improved breeds
for their mutton. We say i'm
proved, because there was time when
these sheep were kept three, four, or five
years before coming to maturity, and the
wool was then the chief item of profit, Just
as is the case with Merinos now. In 1897.
in England, bushel of wheat would buy
a sheep. Now it takes from six to eight |
to buy an average English sheep The
in the early maturity and |
fattening qualities of the sheep has been
effected, not by introducing foreign breeds,
but by careful selection and better care and
feeding. A constant supply OF good food |
was probably the first and most important
step in the Improvement. Careful man.
agement in attending to the wants, com
fort and health Of the sheep, the next step
aud then selecting those sheep to breed
from which manifested the greatest facility
of adapting themselves to these improved
conditions Our bees store honey during
the summer to live on during the winter,
but it is said that when these bees are tax
en- where they can gather honey during
the whole year, they soon cease to gather
more than sufices them for their daily food.
A sheep subjected for generations to sue
cessive periods Of scarcity and abundance
will not expend the abundant food in rapid
growth, but rather in laying up store of
internal fat to be used for supporting life
during the periods of scarcity.
We presume, Improved American Meri-
nos that by generations of high feeding
and careful selection are enabled to pro-
duce six or eight pounds of wool and fif-
teen or twenty pounds of yolk in year,
will not bear periods of scarcity, neglect.
and exposure nearly as well as the unim-
proved Spanish Merinos from which they
are descended. And the same is true Of
the improved English breeds. The i'm
provement has been effected by letting the
animals know, 50 to speak, that they can
eat, drink, and sleep with the certainty
that they have kind owners who will see
that the supply Of food and water never
fails, and who will attend to all their
wants. Animals that show the greatest
confidence in their owner, that are quiet,
docile, and confding; that eat freely and
grow rapidIy-hcse are selected for breed
ing; and the process is continued genera
ton after gene;ation until we get lamb
at SIX months id that will weigh as much
as some of its Jnimproyed ancestors would
at six years.
Now, such sheep, no matter whether
they are the improved Merinos or the i'm
proved South-uowns, or the improve
Cotswolds, will not stand irregular feeding
as well as their uuimproved ancestors. A
well-known American writer, speaking oil
Leicesters, Cotsvolds, and other long -wool-
ed breeds, says They do not herd we'll
that Is, thrive we'll when kept together in
large numbers The Down families herd
much better, but still they do not compare
with the Merinos in this respect" In 9th
er words the Merinos have not, in tn,
sense we have used the word above, bee,
improved as much as the Downs, nor tht
Downs as much as the best long woole(
breeds. The latter will not grow Will
= great rapidity if furnished 8 constant sup
b ply of nutritious food. and they will suffe
far more than the Merino if subjected L
periods of scarcity. When kept in larg
aocks, they would be more likely to b
: subjected to such neglect than in smalie
2 hocks receiving constant attention. Tn
long-wooled sheep will bear close confne
. ment as well As the Merinos. We think
e greater weight Of Cotswolds or Leicester
/ can be kept in given sized shed or bar
| than IF Merinos Neither Cotswold,
= South Downs, nor Merinos do as well i
{ very large focks as in small focks. W
}. DO not know that there is any difference i
this respect, provided they receive the nee
essary food and attention. Flocks Of
thousand anc upward are successfully keI
in England, md this would be equal j
q weight to 1900 or 2000 Merinos; and j
$, growth, which isthe real test, equal to thr,
e or four thousand Meripos 1t may be sal
It that our hot summers, with periods of s.
Il we're drouth, Ire nntavorable to these in
l. proved sheep but certainly not more
2 than to improved breeds Of cattle. In fac
II there Is nothing an English sheep farm
l. likes better than a dry summer And no
;, that we have such facilities for securir
e hay. we can see no objection to feedir
II sheep on hay during the summer and a
Il tumn if the pastures are bare. There
d no such necessity for supplying succule
ID food, as in the case Of mich cows, O
winters are much more severe than tho
K of England, and 'roots" are more expe
!; sive; but this objection holds equal
Is against Shorthorn, Hereford, Devon, Ay
es shire, and Attorney cattle. We need mo
if combing wool and we need better mutto
j. and there is no way of providing them b
If by keeping the English long wooded shee
~ and whatever difficulties there may be
I'd the way can be overcome by intellige
e, study and observation. High priced la
u and high priced labor demand high farl
n ing; and high farming requires high fee
ye ing; and high feeding is only proitai
H. with improved stock. Lambs that at
months old can be made to weigh 100 i
will pay for little grain or oil cake; a
if during a scarcity Of pasture, we feed su
sheep all the clover hay they will eat it
in certainly no more wasteful than it wor
a have been to plough under the clover
d. manure instead of making it into hay.
is Improved long-wooled sheep are l
at adapted to a primitive system of farmil
ar They never can take the place of the n
list rino on extensive ranges of cheap lal
he 1t is well that such is the case. There
us less danger OF the market being glutt
an and prices forced down below the cost
nd production. They are the sheep for
at grain growing farmer whose lands v
xn grow an abundance of clover, rather til
is for the owners of land well adapted
III dairying. They afford us the emporium
nd of turning our clover to good account, a
of making rich manure with which to gr
rich grass and heavy crops of wheat
Hearth and Home.
DIX The Guernseys.