The Portland daily press., 1874-11-30
THE FARM AND HOUSEHOLD.

rascally sheepbiter, come by some notable shame?-
Shakespeare.
Questions involving the welfare of state,
or the happiness of a community, are fire.
quently decided by the popular voice without
the slightest regard to either; and it is not
uncommon for the decision to rest wholly up-
on the passions or prejudices, or personal
tastes of the individual. In such cases. facts
and statistics however overwhelming, have
not feathers weight; men cease to be in
fuenced by reason and common sense: prin-
ciples are ignored, and in the very vacuum
produced by the absence of these good quail
ties, all motive power seems to originate. Soft
has been hitherto in this state, whenever the
question of protecting sheep against the raw
ages of dogs, has been earnestly mooted. AL
though farmers themselves are not always
united upon the question, they usually make
up the majority in favor of the measure;
while the large towns and cities furnish the
persons who almost uniformly array them
selves in opposition. 1t is unfortunate in
such a case that there should be this DIVERSE
ty of opinion, especially when there is really
no divided interest, when there can be but
one consideration upon which decision
should rest; and that is the common good.
In the discussion and decision of such ques-
tions, legislators are most certainly cut of
place, who allow personal considerations or
interests to control their public acts, and who
reat subjects of consequence to the state. not
as statesmen or lawgivers, but as partisans or
politicians. In these days when the antago-
nism between labor and capital between town
and country, is not only apparent but sharp
ly defined, when men need all possible en-
enlargement to induce them to engage in or
remain in agriculture, it indicates lack of
intelligence or prudence at least, to trifle with
questions which demand and receive the at
tention of grave and wise men. Upon no
other measure ever presented for legislative
action in this state, has the mere politician
conducted discussion in so offensive and ir-
ritating manner, or in way so well calcu-
lated to create and continue the existence of
class distinctions. For this reason alone, it
is high time that, when again submitted to
public consideration, the question should go
upon its merits.
So far as the future is concerned, the pros
perity Of agriculture in Maine depends mainly
upon the dairy, the orchard, the hay crop,
and sheep husbandry; ana the latter pre-
sents two-fold claim for public recognition,
on account of its intimate relations to the
manufacturing interest. The farmer who
sells his crops for a fair equivalent does well,
but he does much better, when he supplies
the mechanic who has established some
branch of productive industry in his imme-
date vicinity. Too long Maine has been
content to be the mere producer of raw ma
teral, and has suffered others by the addi-
ton of skilled labor, to reap the richer re-
ward to which they were entitled Let the
productive capacities of the soil, the I'm
rivalled forces that lie idle in our water
power, and the facilities for transportation
afforded by being on the grand highway OF
nations, be harmoniously adjusted and
brought into requistion; and the motto of
the state will thenceforward cease to be an idle
boast. For our own part we must say that in
our coat of arms, the deer under the greenwood
tree savors more of the days of bold Robin
Hood and his merry men, or of early pioneer
life, than of these times of cities and corpora
tions and colleges; it might have been ap
propriate for the hunting days Of the Penob-
scots and Pequawkets, and so perhaps would
have been the Latin motto, for we judge the
red man takes kindly to the language, from
the open air specimens at Oldtown. Better
for the state, when on ouc coat of arms, aud
on our rocky ridges, in place of the wild deer,
shall stand the sheep with fleece of wool and
'sfeet OF gold.''
Whenever sheep are no longer hunted and
harried in the Silence of the laws but have
tatute rights which even the lean and hun
cry hound and the cur Of low degree are
bound to respect, the people at large will
share in their improved condition. Without
intending TO enter upon a disqaisition on
morals, we may say that we are inclined to
believe that no decent domestic animal can
be depressed below his normal condition,
without dragging down in some degree some
wing of the human race with him.
Simply on economic grounds, sheep are en-
titled to large consideration; converting as
they do the coarse, cheap, and often waste
products of nature, into wholesome and sub
stantial food. How much of the earth's sur
face, producing scanty growth on hill and
slope where soil and stones contend for the
mastery, secure from the attack of pillow or
scythe, and almost inaccessible to the foot of
man seems to be admirably adapted, and
almost designed for the habitat of these sure
footed climbers. And then through the long
months Of winter, what skilful and success
full agency is here secured, Cor transmitting
the sedgy and juiceless grasses of the meadow
into nutritious food. For keeping down, and
thus destroying the wild growths of nature;
for restoring the fertility Of exhausted lands:
and for a continual enrichment of good soils
there is nothing SO sure as sheep husbandry.
We make no special allusion to wool, although
in value and importance to the aericultur.
al and commercial world, this part of the ami.
NAL growth far transcends all the rest. One
who is familiar with tariff discussions. or the
statistics of a census, or treatises on political
economy, knows how much consequence is
attached to this single product. Enough for
our present purpose, to present few outlines
Of this subject, and suggest to thoughtful
minds careful investigation of its merits.
~l' " 1PSShSn, AoWcfSi, vi WudT might be
done were facts and figures drawn up in bat
tie array, we content ourselves with the
statement, that the returns of assessors in
Ohio prove that the damage done to sheen
pydoSs In that state for the term of ten wears.
was more than one million of dolIa-s-and
the estimated loss in the United States each
year, exceeds two millions. A discussion IF
this subject does not necessarily involve =
declaration of war against dogs; rather If is
pacific attempt to bring about cessation IF
hostilities on their part; and also rightly re-
garded, movement in this direction is ono
for the improvement OF the race The direct
result of repressve legislation is to encour.
age the ownership of valuable animals, and
to consign to the public executioner only
worthless ours, which almost invariably are
the real culprits-thus also giving an excel
lent exempli6cation of the Survival of the