The weekly herald. [volume] (Cleveland, Tenn.) 1876-1888, 1876-08-25
sheep ana Wool.

Wool and mutton are as staple
as wheat, and are as important in
the general agricultural system,
We cannot do without either wool
or mutton-some must grow
them; and those who dispose OF
their sheep make their neighbOrs
rich who hold on. A young farm
or, who with his father owns a
good flock Of sheep says: "We
shall keep cur sheep; and we in
tend to procure the best buck we
can find to put with the flock.
We shall sort out the poor ewes
and boy all we can get that are
of the right stamp" We have no
doabt that here lies the true poll
cy. We are unable TO discover
how farmers who grow grain will
get along successfully without
sheep. They are one Of the chief
agencies in keeping up the fertil-
ity of The farm; and their value
for this purpose should not be
overlooked.
Against the spirit of discomfort
among farmers about sheep-keep-
ing now, we have placed the adj
vantages Of a steady system Of
production in which sheep and
wool are main pillars and sup
ports. The country cannot sus-
tain its industries without them.
If sheep are sacrificed our grow
ing home manufactures must suf-
fer and at last die out, and the
advantages Of home market will
be lost to us for many years.
PROFESSIONALLY there are large
numbers Of sheep which are I'M
profitable as wool producers.
Sheep that shear not over three
or four pounds of common wool
per head ought never to be kept
where wool is the chief object,
even when wool bears higher
prices; and we imagine that the
proportion of this class of sheep
Is so large in the country that the
average profit is reduced to a
rate which awakened this alarm
among agriculturists; for it is a
notable fact that growers whose
sheep have averaged six or seven
pounds of washed wool do not
talk Of relinquishing wool-grow-
ing. A farmer of our acquaint-
ance has just threshed the wheat
grown On twelve acres, and OBJ
famed 100 bushels-equal to thir-
teen and one-third bushels to the
acre. This is from splendid burr
oak land, which ought to have
yielded three times this amount.
We would be glad to see some
profits from growing wheat at
thirteen bushels to the acre, but
cannot. We only wonder that
three-tourths Of the farmers in
this country do not abandon
wheat They are pursu-
ing a business which affords them
q bare subsistence-worse than
Wool-growing at 25 cents. Strange
to tell not one of them thinks of
up wheat-growing. Now
us a general rule, it will be found
that those farmers who grow thir-
teen bushels Of wheat to the acre
and thirty or forty of corn, + the
very men who are first to want to
sell sheep when the price Of wool
There is a good reason for
it-they are in want of funds. A
farmer who hates composts and
crops, and likes the society
of the market town better than
the tugging work OF the farm, is
we have noticed, out Of
money; and if he happens to have
few Sheppard indeed it is
very easy to have them-they are
the first to be sold. This a bad
policy, 1t is far better to procure
better blood, better wool quail
ties, and bring the flock up to a
profitable standard even if the
price is low now and then. An
other warit may be high. The
average rate Of wool for twenty
five year has been a paving one.