Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1875-04-23
The Dog Warfare.


The warfare of dogs upon sheep still con.
tinues; the direct losses are million Of
dollars annually, in wool aud mutton, aud,
indirectly, even q larger sum in the repress-
ion Of sheep-husbandry, aud the consequent
waste Of large percentage OF the annual
crop Of grass, crop more valuable than
that Of cotton or corn throughout the South
ern states and elsewhere, in all dog-cursed
sections Of the country. The canine war;
fare is badge Of vagabondage, an indication
Of savagery and lawlessness inconsistent
with progressive state oil agriculture. In
communities where "every poor man keeps
dog, and every very poor man keeps two,"
the legislative candidate dares notpledge him
self to vote for dog.law. Until recently,
only few states in which wool-growing is
prominent had dog.laws, which is equiva-
lent to saying that the ideas on which our
agriculture was based were primitive. and
its rural processes crude. Laws are now in
force in large proportion of the states, and
in several are quite efficient and protective.
Farmers are agitatiag for the passage ofsuch
laws In the remaining states. 10 the South
ern states the insane pursuit Of cotton to the
fcial ostracism of every one who dared to
.lauce meat or grow fruit, for many years
kept sheep-husbandry at the lowest ebb,
while it was known by all intelligent men
not stricken with the prevalent mania that
millions Of acres of succulent grasses were
annually lost in decay in all the southern
prairies, the open pine-forests, and the oleva-
ted glades Of that sunny region. There
II u l. -A.1 a. "A
laws for protection against the ravages Of
dogs, quadruped and biped, black and
white. The result would in twenty years
appear in degree Of wealth to which this
section has never before attained, for it
would revolutionize and vitalize the entire
agriculture Of this section.
We have repeatedly attempted to gather
some of the items Of loss by this scourge.
In our stock returns of this month there are
reports from five hundred counties, with
some losses reported, of course not all oc-
curing, but they make an aggregate Of 49,
2S5 sheep killed during the past year, in
counties holding one-fourth of the territory,
aud nearly one-fourth of the sheep of the
United States. In twenty-four counties in
Ohio, 6,5l7 are reported killed, or four
tenths Of one per cent. of the sheep. This
is probably not more than one-half the real
number, as the state report Of Ohio for 1873
makes the loss for that year 35,44O, or
seventy-sevcn hundredths Of one per cent.
Of total numbers. Besides this, 30, l2f were
injured in that year by dogs, entailing loss
of SAT ,210 in addition to Sll0,044 for
those killed outright.
1t is very evident that the real losses by
| dogs amount to one and one-fourth per cent.
Of the sheep in Ohio, and more than two per
cent. throughout the country, or $1,000
600. The percentage of loss is vastly great
er in states where no efficient laws exist.
AS far as the territory is reported on in th'
January returns the annual losses in Flori
da amount to IL per cent. of value; Arkan.
sas, 6; Georgia, SIG; Tennessee, 4.6 ;
Kansas, 3.S; Virginia, "a; Missouri, %
In protected states Ohio, four-tenths Of one
percent; New York three.tenths.-De.
pa rtment Report.