The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1872-05-09
Sheep for the South.

In rebuilding the prosperity Of our Southern
States there is no branch Of industry calculated
to contribute more certainly than sheep hus-
bandry on a small scale. We do not wish to
be understood as advocating sheep-raising ex-
clusively; but we do insist on this industry
forming link in that chain of diversified farm
ing which is the basis of an independent and
lasting prosperity We have uniformly and
energetically thrown the whole weight OF our
influence, since the war, against the almost eX-
elusive cotton culture which has we'll nigh
bankrupted our section but we have never yet
advised the abandonment of cotton. On the
contrary, we have constantly urged the farmer
to make it the main feature of his market crop,
being careful to diversity his energies to the
extent of making his farm self-sustaining: In
places No farmer throughout the cotton re-
gion should be without his flock of ten, twen-
tv or fifty head, according to size and location
of the farm.
All experienced farmers will know that SIM
ply purchasing the focks and driving them
home without further attention, will result in
failure and loss. The effort will be profitable
or not, according to the care and intelligence
bestowed upon it, and those who are not pre-
pared or disposed to bestow these had best let
it alone.
The intelligent farmer will first determine
the number Of sheep he is prepared to care for.
If he has pasture for twenty head only, he will
not 20 beyond that number This question
settled he will next direct his inquiries to the
breed best adapted to his locality and the wants
of his market If he is so situated that the
fleece forms the item of profit, he will select
that breed the wool of which is most valuable.
If, on the other hand, his market offers greater
profits for mutton than wool, then he Will select
the breed most productive of mutton. In eth
er case economy will suggest that ne BUY the
common native ewes of the country, which are
cheap and bring them up to the breed desired
by carefully selecting and purchasing IS SUCH
who have no experience will be astonished at
the rapid progress the proper care will make in
Transforming a flock of common ewes into
beautiful Morinos, or Cotswolds, or South
downs, or whatever breed may be desired
Seven-eights constitutes what. is termed a
"thorough. breed" and a little calculation will
show how short time is required to bring
sheep to this point of purity
Now as to the profits. The increase OF sheep
with proper care is never estimated with any
degree of certainty because of the great varia-
tion dependent upon breed. pasturagee, care,
&C., while the price is equally unfixed. The
farmer who gathers up his sheep but once a
year, at shearing time, gets two to four pounds
per head, for which he realizes from eighteen
to thirty cents, while the farmer who pastures
and cares for his focks gets a yield OF ten to
eighteen pounds per head, for which he realizes
thirty to seventy-five cents per pound. In the
first case, the profit, though triiiing, is clear,
and in the last it is subject to the charges OF
investment, pasturage, feed, care, &c. In the
last instance, however, the flock is entitled to
credit for its fcrtilizng deposits on the farm,
an item of the first Importance to most sections
of our country, and one that is not sufficiently
appreciated. The profits in almost every in
stance are larger than those of most all branch
es of farm industry, and are not to be dspens-
ed with by the skillful husbandman.-S0ath
Land.