The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1874-03-17
agricultural department.
BY ALBERT CAARMAN
sheep Raising,

\ pap0 Fe"5 bfWe me Wethny ~ Mf State Board
Of agriculture, at Iirgenncs. F,J 3 and 1, 1874,
BY COL E. $. Sioccii, Of CorapaR.
What sheep should we raise, is a
question now agitating the minds Of
many men, and it is with 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 a measure distasteful to me,
and only through the persistent urging Of
my friends, and certain sense of re.
sponsibility that has overcome my re.
luctance, do | consent to undertake it at
ALL To authorities to whom | have re.
ferred, and from whom | have literally
quoted, as Youatt, Morrill,, Flcischuue,
Randall ,,iIayes, ETC., tender my kindly
remembranccs and acknowledgements.
From the earliest period of the worlds
history sheep have been domestcated and
appropriated to the wants of man, and
have ever stood in the foremost rank Of
essentials to his cotnior. and prosperity.
lie has been food and raiment, the type
OF man S salvation even, 10 the gift of the
Lamb of God that taketh away the sins
Of the world !" unto Adam, also. and to
his vile, did the Lord God make coats of
skins and clothe them" label was
keeper of sheep, and brought the first.
lngs of his flock and the fat thereof as
an offering unto the Lord And il, as
Morrell 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,
Given as the green herb have l a,o,o
given you all things" flor food) and
even stronger unto Moses "Then 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 thy soul
lusteth after" and there is every reason
10 suppose that the milk of the eve was
eaten very early, as it has since Been in
various parts Of the world, and even now
by the nomadic tribes Of the East.
And he made him to suck honey out of
the rock. Butter of kline and
milk Of sheep, with fat of lambs, and
cows of the breed of Basban."
Burckhardt gives the following account
OF the manufacture Of butter from ewes
and goats milk by the Syrian Arabs:
"The sheep and goats are MIXED dur.
ing the three spring months morning and
evening. 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 long cord and MIXED, one after
another. When the eve is feeble in
health her milk is left wholly for the
lamb. The same process occurs at sun.
set. From hundred ewes or goats 1.-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"
But it is not really Of the milk or
meat producing qualities of sheep Il am
willing to admit all that can be truthfully
said about thcm), but sheep as a 7cooz
bearing animal that l purpose to speak,
| have made rthese references to show
that we have Divine authority for putting
high estimate upon them as sheep, for
even He shall set the sheep on his right
hand and the goats on his left. The art
of weaving and dyeing was understood in
early days. Job says, My days are
swifter than weaver's shuttle" and 10.
seph had ''cost of many colors."
A writer on ancient manufactures
says, Modern historians have united in
tracing the invention Of weaving to the
Egyptians" not Of wool but of flax. The
banks of the Nile was as unified BY lis
overflow and its soft bottoms for the
keeping OF sheep then as now, and sheep
no doubt as unified for that Kind Of pas.
ture; but, whereas untitled for sheen, il
vas eminently fitted for the production of
hax, from whence then and now the fine
linen Of commerce is manufactured.
But are the claims of the primitive
shepherds fairly considered The cult.
walton Of sheep, Us we have seen, was
coeval with the expulsion from Paradise
and when Noah's descendants were scat.
tered, there is no proof but they retained
their old avocations, although thew
changed their tongues or when Abra.
ham sojourncd in Egypt, with his family,
and his focks, and his herds, how easy
for him to have impaired their skill, !
though he saved his wife, and his cattle,
his gold and his silver.
The comparative histories of the
primitive shepherds, with the nomadic
shepherds OF to-day, show SO many points
OF resemblance, and withal such tenacity
to the traditions of their elders on the |
part OF the Arabic shepherds. whose Gus.
toms are almost identical with those of
the Patriarchs, that it is fair to suppose
them entitled to the credit of inventing
the very simple process by which Arab
women manufacture from the wool of
their focks now.
Burckhardt thus describes the loom at
present found among the Arab shepherds.
The Arab women use very simple
loom it is called nulon, and consists of
two short sticks which are stuck in the
ground at certain distance, according to
the desired breadth of the shank, or
piece to be worked third stick is
placed across over them and over the two
horizontal cross sticks the wool. To keep
the upper and under wool at a proper
distance from each otner, fiat stick is
placed between. A piece of wood serves
as the weaver's shuttle, and short ga.
1elle's horn is used in beating back the
thread OF the shuttle. The loom is
placed before the moharrem, or women's
apartment, and worked by the mother
and her daughters. The distsff is in
general use among them, and among the
hllby Arabs all the shepherds manufact-
ure WOOL"
1t is probable that the covering of the
ahaan Uao p,,vtu.o r. l..