The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1875-11-20
Sheep HSsbaniry.

|
We have seized upon the following cor
respondence for the benefit ofour readers
TOPEKA KAN, Oct. 80, 1875.
Prof. E. NJ Sheldon:
DEAR SIR:-Will you have the kind
ness to give this Board the benefit o.
your personal experience in sheep hus
bandry in your county? What are the
best grades and crosses for Kansas
Have there been focks brought into
your county since the first Of March
If so, give size of focks, breeds, and name
and post office address of owner or person
having charge of them. What are the
peculiar advantages and disadvantage.
of Kansas for sheep-raising? State what
is necessary in food, shelter, protection
etc., to secure success?
Yours respectfully,
ALFRED GRAY.
Sec'y State Board of Agriculture.
MANHArrAN, KAN, Nov. 3 1875.
Hon. Alfred Gray:
DEAR SRI am very glad to do any
thing within my power for the advance
ment OF sheep husbandry in this State,
for l believe that Kansas possesses certain
natural advantages which, when our
people are properly educated, will make
it one ofthe great wool growing States"
I say "when our people are properly
educated" for wool growing is different
matter from raising corn or wheat, or
herding cattle; it dsmands good degree
Of natural taste and special knowledge of
the work, and the difficulties to he en-
countered in it. The considerable sue
cess, no less than the disastrous failures
that have been made in wool-growing in
this part of the State, will, 1 think, bear
me out in this statement. Without
attempting to reply to your questions in
the order in which they are propounded,
| will endeavor to answer as fully as
seems suited to your purpose.
First among the peculiar advantages"
possessed by Kansas in this matter of
sheep husbandry, mast be mentioned its
climate. 1t is we'll known both in Colo
RADIO and Kansas that che dry atmosphere
and soil of these regions are not only
preventative but specific of some of
the worss C 'mpiaiats t, which sheep are
subject, nntably foot rot and catarrh.
am told also that the attacks of e;trus
owls are als1 unknown. The great ex-
tent of uaoccupied range" covered with
,5un1ant grasses, foual in the abuud-
ance of excellent water and the exceeding
cheapness of hay for winter forage, must
also be placed amoag the advantages
possessed by our State in this matter.
Bat sheep husbandry as practiced East,
namely, as part of a system of farm man.
agement, is hardly possible in Kansas
except in rare cases. Here sheep must
be kept in considerable herds, with the
herdsman constantly in attendance, and
the range mast not be limited. The
reasons for this are: l. The abundance
of dogs. wolves and coyotes. 2. Expense
of fencing. 8. And most important the
general absence of tame grasses' in
Kansas, and the impossibility Of pastur-
ing closely the native grasses without
destroying them.
Ofall the breeds Of sheep the merinos
and its grades are best adapted to the
wants OF Kansas. In Colorado and IVES.
tern Kansas the favorite sheep, so far as
have observed, are the cross-brcd pro.
geny of Mexican and Missouri ewes and
merino rams. The whole argument 50
far as breed is concerned, may be briefly
stated thus: The merinos have the
instinct mare perfectly devel-
oped than any other breed. It's claimed
that the herdsmen can handle with the
same ease three times as many merino as
Of English sheep. Moreover, the meriuos
ire the hardest of any sheep having
like their value, when once