The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1873-05-30
WHOLE NO 94S

tue SluD the benefit OF his experience In
keeping sheep. He remarked My farm
consists of about 400 acres Of arabic land.
make no mention ofthe woodlot, orchard,
&c, but simply that which cultivate.
manage TO keep. on an average, about 1000
sheep OF AL ages and kinds. endeavor to
farm 1t to make money. Hive 10 far from
the city and from railroad communications
that am compelled 10 manufacture my
own manure, and, OF this, must have a
large quantity in order 70 keep up the fer
tility of my soil. find that pure e-bred
Cotswolds demand more attention than
Merinos, and this care costs monss. True,
the Cotswold has a'larger frame, and will
produce greater amount Of mutton. car
cass for carcass. than Merinos, but | am
not yet entirely assured in my own nina
that given amount of food will not pro
duce as many pounds of mutton when fed
TO Merinos as when fed TO Cotswolds Ger
tain it is that the wool Of the former com.
mands a higher price per pound than that
of the latter ] have found 10 desirable to
keep my sheep separated into flocks OF
about 100 in each enclosure. A large num-
ber confined in small space seem TO have
a detrimental effect upon the atmosphere.
They herd closer than almost any other
species Of stock, and thus inhale each
others poisoned breath, and there seems to
linger about the fleece some of their inn
pure exhalations | find it most profitable
TO feed well, and keep my flocks in a thriv-
ing condition. One needs TO study tho
habits of the sheep in order TO know how
best to care for them. They require some
thing more than shelter and food A man
needs to be schooled TO the business, to be
able To feed flock of sheep properly The
weather has much TO do with the food 10
be given. Once get flock "oT their feed"
and a month may elapse before thoy get
around again so as to thrive. BY n little in
attention or carelessness in this particular,
winters feed may be entirely lost 1t re-
quires but little more time TO feed out u
given amount of fodder TO flock Of sheep
than TO a herd of cattle and cattle, if
stabbed, should be curried or carded, but
sheep require nothing of this labor. Hence.
am Of the opinion that it pays better TO
manure Of the former preferable TO that
of the latter 5000 invested in store sheep
will not require so much labor TO look
after as the same amount invested in
steers. Still ] am free 10 admit that one
man may do better on cattle than upon
sheep. \ good buyer and feeder OF sheep
might 60 far astray in regard 90 cattle,
and a cattle-dealer utterly fail with sheep.
One needs judgment for each But | should
like TO hear from Mr.. Bullock
Mr. b. said Il have listened with at
tenton TO what neighbor Shepherd has
said You know our farms Join, and are
nearly Of the same size and quality am
persuaded that he has made money from
feeding sheep, but l have not felt inclined
TO rush into the business, for ] think ]
am doing tolerably well with my herd of
Short-horns. / have been Keeping about
fifty on an average, but should keep three
times as many to enable me to carry the
same amount of stock upon nay farm az
Mr.. Shepherd has upon his. OF course,
think my cattle are, in the aggregate,
worth quite as much as his sheep think
| can use up coarser fodder than he can,
but the fact Is, if we feed any stock for the
butcher, we must use the feed that will
make the best returns Tor the money eX-
pended. Stalks, poorly cured, weather
beached, and coarse, are not worth hand
ling There are, comparatively, no fatten-
ing properties in straw. ! want good hay,
meal, oats, mill-feed, oil-meal, and roots to
feed my stock on. don't think the roots
amount 10 any more in satisfying the APP
petite, or in fattenng than apples do in
my individual case But I Ike fruit
cattle like roots, and are the more health
ful for liberal supply"
Mr.. Forest, beng called upon for few
remarks, spoke as follows II have come
to live in this neig ghborhood and the more
] see of it, the more do | regret that the
streets have been so much neglected. |
think it would be u oar a vantage TO ap.
ply to the Highway Commissioners 10 have
the streets laid out in uniform width, pro-
perly graded, and improved | am per
suaded that onehalf he labor now ex-
pended to keep the highways in repair, is
thrown away. have never been able to
perceive the consistency Of turnpiking up
a street from two to four feet in the center
with deep ditch upon each side of it.
The street is thus narrowed and the
bitches dangerous, and a fruitful source Of
accidents. Were the streets properly un-
derdrained, a very slight rounding mp of
the street would be all that would bc re-
quircd The sides of the road could then
be smoothed down, and borderod with
shade trees, which should be set at not less
than two rods apart and about eight feet
from the fences. Thirty. or even less
number Of feet, would prove ample room
for a carriage way. All this could be ef
fected, by our united efforts, at such times
as would prove most agreeable. We need
TO work with one mind and with will
with the full understanding that. what
proves a benefit TO one neighbor will, in
directly, benefit all the rest Our interests
are mutual And the trees should be pro
tected. No one should think of tying his
horse TO one, or Of allowing Toy 60 climb
them. Indeed, it might be well, were fruit
trees cherry trees particularly, TO enter