The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1875-05-04
How 10 Make Sheep Pay.

How 10 Make sheep Pay. -
All the stock keepers aim al getting
pay for their expense and labor But
the methods of doing this are widely
different. There is quite large class
who seem to think that the profit is in
herent in the animal, md that it only
requires so many sheep on farm to
make a certain gain, and Il the profit is
not found it is the fault of the sheep
This class never study the nature aud
wants of an animal. and then provide
for them in generous. way, that they
may produce generous return. They
often lay great stress upon the breed,
but none upon the care and feed This
class will never make anything BY keep
ing stock of any kind Thev believe
something comes from nothing, in mira
cies and not in works
b 1t the class that can make sheep pay
believe that every pound Of mutton and
every pound OF wool represents q Ger.
tain amount Of food and care. They
believe much in breed, but that every
breed has been produced by intelligent
selection and generous treatment. They
have no faith that any breed can pro
dace a carcass of 200 pounds weight
and fleece of II to 15 pounds, with
out eating the amount of TODD required
for that weight OF carcass and 8eece.-
They know that time is most impor-
tsEt element in the growth of all AMI
mails, and that the shorter the time re-
quired to reach certain weight, the
greater the profit. Tnis principle once
established, they are not looking for
sheep that eat but little, but those that
can eat and digest the most. They
naturally regard the capacity to eat and
utilize food as the miller does the ca
pacity OF bis mill to grind II it will
grind thirty bushels per hour, he sees a
much larger profit than in one that will
grind only ten. 1t takes a certain
amount of food TO support respiration
and the live weight of the sheep. with.
out any growth, and the gain must all
come from the food eaten beyond this !;
II it eats little il gains little, and what
1t does eat is mostly lost. If, by gen.
erous keeping, a sheep can reach the
weight at IL months that it would reach
In l6 or "a months with meagre diet,
who does not see the advantage Of full
feeding? Now, that flock master will
succeed best who produces a given
amount of mutton and wool from the
least amount OF food
Well kept Cotswold ewes will average
at 20 to "a months, $50 pounds; shear
at the end of the first year 1G lbs, and
second year II lbs. making % lbs. OF
wool, which will always bring so cents
per pound, or Sill: will raise lamb the
second year, worth, for the butcher, al
six months, Sc to IS, and the carcass
of the. eve, ii fat in the fall, is worth, Of
least, six cents per pound or SIS; ma.
king an aggregate of S32 to SS4, fol
two years and hal. keeping, starting
from d lamb, or s13 per head per year
and If kept till FIVE years old, will pay
IN wool and lambs about the same, SO
that sl2 per head may be assumed as
the average yield, per year, of Cots
void Now if we compare this product
OF long wool sheep with that from the
dairy. and estimate 44 sheep as equal,
In consumption Of food, to a cow, we
have S54 as the product of the sheep
representing the COW. This is not in.
ferior in profit to the dairy, since the
average income,in our best dairy district
does not exceed $50 per cow But We
must not suppose that this average o.
S12 per sheep can be reached with com
mon, indifferent management. We
should expect a small degree of care
lessness or ignorance in the manage
ment Of Cotswolds, or other long WOO
sheep, to reduce this figure one.half, o.
TO St per head, just as the same sort o
management win reduce the produce o
cows from $50 to $50, which represent
the average of many dairy districts
The weight mentioned at two years, 25t
pounds, is only obtained by generous
feeding from the birth of the lamb; ant
this food must not consist of two largel,
concentrated food, such as Indian corn
but must, to some extent, consist o
green succulent food, even in winte
such as roots, pumpkins or oil meal
The oil meal which we send to England
for market, would make millions o
pounds Of mutton and wool, and leav
rs much richer both in money and sol
il fed at home, and there is probably N
animal that is more benefited by tn
use Of this food than the sheep darinl
our cold eason.-Byfalo Live Stoc
Market.