Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1871-03-30
FOr the Fayetteville Observer.
Sheep and Dogs.

Another desperate raid has been
made on that horrible monster,
the dog. In discussing this cues.
ton as well as all others, we should
use reason and stay within the
bounds of common sense. The
article in the OBSERVER taken
from the Lebanon Free Press, we
think has forgotten to comply
with these rules in writing on This
subject, He does not look at the
other side. We have five times
as many sheep in Lincoln county
as we ought TO have. / am not
in favor of keeping dogs to thin
them out; but if a man wants to
make sheep raising pay, he must
thin them to the amount Of pas
ture he has, say twenty head to
one hundred acres is a plenty
more than that will not pay. The
trouble here of rai>ing sheep is,
the mostot farmers keep too many,
therefore they are little runty
starved things that.are not fit for
market, and do not yield more
than one pound of wool to the
sheep, and about as many die from
hunger every winter as is LANDED.
The way 10 make sheep raising
pay is to keep few and keep them
well. Feed corn in winter in
cold freezing weather. My sheep
bring me thirteen dollars and fifty
cts. per head annually. | have the
improved breed. | have been
raising sheep about fifteen years.
never had one hurt by dog
yet. Some make a great fuss a.
bout the dog law. Some of these
men have no business with a dog
or a sheep. 1t is very necessary
in some parts Of the county to
have dogs to protect flock of
sheep. | will admit there is some
sheep killed by dogs, but that is
no reason why you should kill all
dogs. That would be as cruel and
as unjust as it would be to kill al
the men in a neighborhood where
some stealing had been done, tc
get the right one. We need dogs
to protect our lambs and pigs from
the foxes which are getting more
numerous every year. If it wa:
not for a gang of hounds in
neighborhood it would be impos
sible to raise lambs, pigs or fowls
There are a great many destroyed
with our dogs here take them
away and we are gone up. You
might say a man could pay tax on
a few dogs and keep them; SO he
might, but the man that keeps
four or five hounds and hunts with
them does enough without paying
for it. Less thar that number tc
hunt foxes is useless. 1t is not
the dogs that have company tina,
kill sheep; it is dogs that are by
themselves that are pampered that
are the worst to kill sheep. S.
when you begin to tax the dogs
you make it worse on the sheer
raiser; also the tax levied on the
dog if it amounts to much, it does
us a great injury, because we are
better off without free schools.
judge the future by the past; We
never have had a free school here
that was worth the meanest dog il
the county, but it has done u:
harm for we can not have a good
school if there is few months of
free school taught in the neigh
borhood. You can see from NY
writing that | stand in need of
education. The cause of it wa
free schools. | went to schoo
enough to have been good scholar
but the teachers did not their du
ty; therefore learned but little
What | do know | know as vel
as any one. l know that dogs are
not a curse to sheep raising, Id,
not care whether you call me il
favor of the dog or sheep-I have
some of both. | have as pretty {
flock of sheep as see in this coun
ty; | have seven ewes that have
fifteen lambs that are sucking
now ; they are none of your little
starved things that if dog was t
look at them they would fal
down and perhaps die, and still
they want dog law to protec
them. They need something t.
protect them from starving. X
tax dogs is nonsense, we are no
able to pay the tax on other prop
erty that is assessed, and to forc'
a man to kill his dog, he will no
do that, he has raised his dog am
he feels near to him. II you wan
to try}a mans grit strike his dog
or show foul play in dog fgh
and if he is a man at all he will
collar. quick. These men tina
made the dog law and cher law
if they had wanted to have done
US a favor, they would have stayed
NJ homo There is WHORE tn.