Lamoille newsdealer. [volume] (Hyde Park, Vt.) 1860-1877, 1874-11-18

!
! where long wool can be sold readily tie
! larger bodied sheep which yields fleece
of 8 or o pounes Of wool will be the most
profitable under certain conditions Aud
this is the most important consideration.
To raise sheep successfully. the pastures
must be dry. healthful. fertile. aud carry
good bite, aud the soil aud its culture
must be such as to produce heavy crops
of roots and green forage 1t would be
all the more satisfactory if the climate
we're such that late feeding upon rape,
turnips, or other roots, upon the ground,
and early feeding upon rye, clover, and
other green crops could be practiced. This
would enable the farmer TO make a great
saving, and yield proportioanately larg.
er profit tho yard.tceding through half
the year upon crops harvested and stored
at great cost For instance, in the great
or part of Virginia, parts of Tennessee.
Kentucky, Maryland, and some other To-
calitics, similarly situated with regard to
climate, the hurdling of sheep upon green
or root crops might be pratccd to large
extent, and the cost Of their feeding re.
dueed to a minimum. Under these cir.
cumstances the Oottswolds might readily
be made tic basis for very profitable
elias of sheep. different varieties of which
might occupy different localities as be.
cane the most suitable. But it will sure.
~ result, that there will be failure and
loss, if in all localities. however diverse
they may be in soil, climate, and other
conditions, the eudeav-
or is made . to keep up and produce
any one particular type Of sheep. I'M
other places in the East and North, whore
hurdling cannot be practiscd, the extra
price to be procured for early lambs and
choice mutton in the gIeut city markets,
will make the house or yard feeding of
sheep upon crops grown on richly manur-
ed land equally profitable, But there are
many localities still where i IS difficult to
keep sheep that require abundant pasture
and roots for winter feed, but where NUT
ton may yet be raisedwith profit.
In many parts Of Europe sheep are
raised upon mountains that are artlyI
styled barren wastes, aud salt marshes
and sandy plains, where one Of our native
sheep, much used to hardship as it may
be- could not exist. Yet the mutton of
some Of these sheep is sold at stores where
fancy fruits and choice articles of food
are kept, as an expensive luxury The
small Welsh sheep, whose hind quarter of
the most delicate mutton may weigh four
to SIX pounds, is fed upon rocky pastures
as bleak as the sides of the granite noun
tains. of New Hampshire while an equal.
ly choice mutton to the cpicure, is raised
in salt marshes of the coast upen sedges
and rushes. The chalky downs of South.
ern England, where the soil is too thin up
on the chalk rocks ever 10 be powed, pro.
duce the South Downs aud the Hampshire
Downs whose mutton is very highly priz.
ed, and whose fleece, although short is
thick, and valuable for manufacturing.
The vast prairles Of the West furnish
exactly the conditions needed for these
races of sheep; a short nutritious her
bage perfectly dry soil extensive open
areas, and the most salubrlous atmosphere.
ever fresh and invigorating, and dry for
the greater part Of the year. These races
of sheep also reem fitted by nature for
those Western pastures. Their hardy
constitutions, and their close compact
hceces. impeneirable by storms either Of
snow, rain, or wind. render them able to
| Yithstand With perfect case those sudden
but short periods Of more than usual Sc
verify which sometimes occur. There are
also the black faced Scotch sheep, which
would be perfectly at home upon the most
northerly Of the Western prairies. We,-
tern Kansas aud Nebraska possess millions
Of acres which eau be purchased for IA
nominal price that should never be dis
turbed by the plow, but should be popu-
lated by thousands of focks Of sheep who
would there find convenient and congo
NAL home. From thence the wool and
mutton could readily be transported to
profitable markets. Further West still
the range can be occupied by sheep whose
wool alone should be the object Of the
shererd 10 each of these localities in
course of time there could be built up a
race of sheep eminently suited to its pc.
culiarities, but the founding Of such races
will be the work of time. and to great
extent, labor Of love with some persons
who must be devoted to thus employment,
and who, although "Hhere is money 10 it,