Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1877-10-26
Sheep and Soil.

We take the following from the
Mark Lane Enpress In the main its
suggestions apply to the sheep and
wool industry in this country quite as
forcibly as to England
The judicious adoption of breeds to
suitable conditions Of soil and climate
have enabled the Australian wool grow.
er to produce superior article to any
thing grown in this country The
squatters now know exactly what each
district will grow and they know, too
how to grow it. They have gone in fol
the quality" Not only so, but they
have learned to wash and pack Their
woods in a very superior manner. TO
see bale of one of the best brands of
Adelaide or Port Phillip wool opened
would be very useful lesson to many
of our very best fockmasters. With
these realities before us it is surely
time to pay little more attention to
our home produce.
Wool may be considered to be pro.
duct of the soil and climate, rather than
the distinctive characteristic of particu.
lar breeds Of sheep. We are accustom
ed to regard Southdown and Leicester
feeces in connection with the animals
from which they are taken, and not as
the result of widely different conditions
Of soil and pasture to which these breeds
are in measure Indigenous No doubt
this association Of ideas has led to the
cross, or rather mongrel breeding
| which is the evil of the day in this
country. The hard earned and dearly
bought experiences of patient and OBJ
servant breeders have resulted in the
establishment of we'll defined breeds OF
sheep, which take the names of the dis
trlcts in which they have been brought
to perfection, or at least to very high
standard of excellence. These success
es may be described as the develope
ment and perfection of animals whose
requirements are exactly met by the
soil, heritage and climate of these sever
al districts, and whose flesh and WOO
are the natural result, so to speak, OF
these combined influences.
In other words, the different comb
nations of wool and mutton of which
we are familiar, as Leicester and South
down, are the products of two geologi
cal formations of opposite characters
Although these districts produce ami
mails which are almost perfect of their
kind, and English hockmasters have
reached stage beyond which it would
seem difficult, if not impossible, to make
any great advance, the bulk of those
who may be said to merely keep sheep
pay very little regard to the principles
which have been worked out by the
great breeders. Elements of the most
heterogeneous nature are mixed up in
their focks Rams bred anyhow are
used with ewes bred anyhow, and as a
matter Of course, the lambs are nondes
cripts. tits difficult to find more suit
able terms for expressing the actual
state of affairs which exists at the pres
ent time, more or less, all over the coun-
try. The idea ofwool being the product
Of the soil is altogether lost sight of,
and the natural result is variable sta
pie OF poor quality.
Whilst the character of the wool thus
depends on the nature of the soil, or in
other words, the nature of the heritage,
it's value is affected by various circum-
stances connected with the treatment
the animals receive, and the details of
their management. Exposure to the
extremes of temperature which pertain
to our climate, reduction in the guam
tity of the food, or any of the many
causes which have the effect of giving a
check to the thriving condition of the
animals, results in corresponding check
of the growth of the wool. The fibre
does not cease growing, but it's sub
stance becomes weaker, and the staple
readily breaks at this part when in the
wholesalers hands hence it's value is
greatly reduced Care, attention, lib
eral treatment, and if necessary, shelter,
in fact, every requisite for keeping the
animals in continually thriving con-
dition, would be we'll repaid in wool
alone