The Lake Charles echo. [volume] (Lake Charles, Parish of Calcasieu, La.) 1876-1898, 1877-07-05
Sheep Raising in Louisiana.
IN. O. Times,1


that it is the intention of the gov.
eminent to sell the public lands in
this State as soon AS proper lists
If them can be made ou-, it may
not be out Of place, at this time,
for us to say something of their
value, and of the opportunities
which this sale will offer for
proftably engaging in sheep rails
ing. ,.r.. u.........s.-. b. .a,sT
The great bulk OF the public
lands which lie in this State, being
what is known as spine lands. .
the soil of which is wanting in
that fertility requisite for profitable
agriculture, have hitherto attracted
little attention from settlers, and,
consequently, large tracts of them
still he vacant, and are covered
with the virgin forests, notwith-
standing the fact that homesteads
npnn them were offered on the
most liberal terms by the govern
m.-nt. pa.
But if they were comparatively
vaIueless for agricultural pur-
poses, they have another value
independent of that OF the timber
Which covers them-which should
not give them IL ready sale but
make them very attractive tt
persons desirous of realizing large
profits upon small Investments and
light labor. We mean their great
adaptability for sheep and cattle
raising, for upon those neglected
lands grow nearly all the year
round, grasses and herbs most
nutliiious to all our domestic
animnls--particularly sheep and
such is the salubrity of the climate
for these animals, that while it
costs little or nothing to feed them
as the diseases which decimate
elsewhere are there unknown, and
even the wild animals which
usually prove SO disastrous to the
stock-raiser elsewhere are not to
be found there. @a"'
These lands cover a large por-
ton of this State, reaching from
the Mississippi line to that OF
Texas and ranging from fifty
to one hundred miles in width.
they are not entirely
devoid of population, still i'm
rnense tracts are vacant, and when
brought into tie market by the
will offer opportuni-
ties Tor the requirement Of sheep
walks equal if not superior to those
Df any other State in the Union.
Wherever it has been tried upon
J'ose lands, and experiments have
b en- made from st. Tammany
parish to Sabine, the business has
oten found to present fewer OBJ
,tacies to profit than in any other
ocality We know OF. In st.
rammany, Washington, Tangi-
oahoa, ST. Helena and Livingston
parishes in particular, which,
wing to their close proximity to
his market, possess peculiar ad-
'antages, sheep raising is really
puch more profitable than sngar
'lanting on coast with the ad-
litioDal advantage that it requires
ess capital to enter into it. There
'eing no burs growing on these
ands, the wool also comes to the
market cleaner, aud AS the climate
nd food appear to be peculiarly
onduciye to the health of the
heep, the wool from that district {
ways ranks higher in grade.
TO begin in the business of
heep- raising in this section, a
ian u sed not to be rich. All that (
9 will require is = few hundred
ollars aud industrious and care l
ii habits. With ordinary in :
slligence his experience will grow
itb bis fock, Stock sheep can /
Q bought in the neighboring il
,upties Of Mississippi at very /
sasobable rates, and they will re- A
nire no acclimation here. The {
binary increase OF sheep in these u
arisbes is from thirty to fifty il
or cent=-eyen when little cared A
u. This can be raised, We belieye, f
= due Gale to over seyepty-fye Il
sr cent. And it must be re- Il