The Rutland daily globe. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1873-1877, 1874-05-11
Che 8utland Iailg Globe.
MONDAY, MAY II, 1874.
AGRICULTURAL DEpAnTuENu
SHEEP RAISING

it is with a feeling of delicaCy and doubt.
that | undertake the labor of answering it.
1t seems so much like an advertising of my
own wares, that it is in n measure distaste
full to me, and only through the persistent
urging of my friends, and Il certain sense
of responsibility that has overcome my re-
luctancc, do | consent to undertake it at
all. TO authorities to whom | have re-
ferred, and from whom | have literally
quoted, as Youatt, Morrell, Fleiscehn,an
Randall, Hayes, etc, | tender my kindly
remembrances and acknowledgements
From the earliest period Of the worlds
history sheep have been domesticated and
appropriated to the wants of man, and
have ever stood in the foremost rank of
essentials to his comfort and prosperity
/ He has been food and raiment, the type of
| mans salvation even, in the gift of the
/ Lamb of God that takcth away the sins of
/ the world;' unto Adam, also, and to his
wife, did the Lord God make coats of skins
and clothe them 'Abel was Il keeper of
sheep, and brought the firstlings of his flock
and the fat thereof rs an offering unto the
Lord And if, us Morrel has it, there is
no authority for supposing that the flesh
of the sheep, was used for food until after
the flood, the Divine permission was given
unto Noah. even as the green herb have
| nor given you all things" (or food (;
and even stronger unto Moses, 'rhen
thou shalt kill of thy herd and of thy flock,
which the Lord hath given thee, as | have
commanded thee and thou shalt eat in thy
gates whatsoever my soul lusteth after"
and there is every reason to suppose that
the milk of the eve was eaten very eaily
as it has since been in various parts of the
world, and even now by the nomadic tribes
90 tbp E,et nj In, ututla him, 20 upl-
honey out of the rock. p Butter
of kline and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs,
and bulls of the breed OF Bdshan." Burck-
hardt gives the following account OF the
manufacture of butter from ewes milk by
the Syrian Arabs
"Thc sheep and goats are MIXED during
the three spring months, mornin5 and eve
ming. They are sent out to pasture before
sunrise, while the lambs or kids remain in
or near the camp. About ten o'clock the
herd returns and the lambs are allowed to
satiate themselves, after which the ewes
belonging to each tent are tied to n long
cord and MIXED, one after another. Wher
the eve is feeble in health her milk is left
wholly for the lamb. The same process
oc urs at sunset. From hundred ewes oil
goats (the milk of which is always mixed
together, the Arabs expect in common
, years about eight pounds of butter per day
or about seven cwt. in the three spring
months.
I'm, II is NOT really Of the milk or mea
producing qualities of sheep Il am willing
to admit all that can b. faithfully sal,
about ihem), but sheep rs icoof JeaI1hi
animal that purpose to speak. | have
p made these references to show that we hay,
: Divine authority tor putting high est
mate upon them rs sheep, for even lie shall
set the sheep on his right hand and tn,
goats on his left. The art of weaving an,
dyeing was understood in early days. ,Jol
says, Only days are swifter than weaver
shuttle" and Joseph had ''coat of man,
cOl0rs.
\ writer on ancient manufactures says
= .'NIodern historia1s have united in tracin,
y the invention of weaving to tho Egyptians
: not of wool but of flax The banks of tn
e Nile was as untitled by its overflow and it
II soft bottoms for the keeping of sheep the
as now. and sheep no doubt as unfit e
for that kind of pasture: but, whereas nm
fitted for sheep, it was eminently fitted fl
- the production of flax. from whence tn
and now the fine linen Of commerce is man
ufactured.
But are claims of the primitive shepherd
fairly considered? The cultivation of shee
as we have seen, was coeval with the e>
mlsinn from Paradise; aud when Noah
descendants were scattered, there is II
proof but they retained their old ayocator
although they changed their tongues; c
when Abraham soiourned in Egypt, wit
IN his family. and his fOcks, and his herd
y how easy for him to have impaired the
~ skill, though he saved his wife, and his ca
Is tie, his gold and his silver
10 The comparative histories of the prim
l., ~, ,l..., Il. or.
of to-day. show so many points of rcseu
blance, and withal such tenacity t. the tt
litions of their elders o1 the part OF Il
cS Arabic shepherds, whose customs are II
most identical with those of The Patriarch
that it is fair to suppose them entitled to Il
credit of inventing the very simple proce
by which Arab women manufacture fro
the wool of their tioclis now.
Burkhardt thus describes the loom
present found among the Arab shepherd
''The Arab women use simple loom; it
called nuloH, and consists of two she
sticks which are stuck in the ground ut
certain distance, according to the desir
breadth of the shaRki, or piece to be wor
ed a third stick is placed across over the
and over the two horizontal cross site
the wool. To keep the upper and und
wool at Il proper distance from each oth'
fiat stick is placed between. \ piece
wood serves as the weaver'S shuttle and
short gazelle's horn is used in beating ba
the thread of the shuttle The loom
placed before the mahairem, or womcl
apartment, and worked by the mother Il
her daughters. The distah is in gene
use among them, and among the Xii
Arabs all the shepherds manufacture wo'
Mt 1t is probable that the covering of I
M primitive sheen was mixture of hair a
'o' wool, very closely akin to that Of many
ma reties now occupying extensive distri
where the patriarchs wandered, northw'
and eastward, through a great part of
II rope and Asia, and our own Mexico u
. South America. Says Youatt, at is his
" improbable that the sheep which has n
become pal' excellence the wool bearing
imal, should in any country, at any til
have been entirely destitute of WOOL
covered externally with hair, and und
Meath with fine, short, downy wool tr
which the hair is easily separated I
tally by temperature, perhaps, but mai
rs by breeding and cultivation, this hair
been caused TO disappear and its place
cupied, yea, more than occupied, by
soft clean wool, once of but few ount
but now of many pounds.
In the palmy days of the Roman emf
-
fineness of their fleeces. The sumptu
Roman was clothed in wooden fabrics
the finest texture, and fortunes, G
according to ideas of to-day, were O
,oo. expended for his TOga. 1.-The best v
nous of all Others" says Piny, sis
of Apula and Tarentum, which is of v
short staple, and especially in request
cloaks and mantes." "This induced
extreme asslduity in perfocting the mate
for its manufacture" says Iouatt. :
though the old Tarentine sheep produe
Il. wool unequaled in early times, they
AS not without their defects, and very ser
ones, too. They were called by the q
culturists of those days, pelliHe, from
skins and other clothing with which
were covered; and also molles, not
from the softness of their tioeces, hut
the delicacy Of their constitution and
hat IN