The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1878-04-25
GEORGE PECK on SHEEP.
Extracts From His Agricultural Lee
ture Last Evening.


the lecture delivered Thursday evening at
Summerfeld Church, by George ". Peck
at the dime entertainment:
FELLOW SPRING LAMBs:-The subject
OF sheep culture is one that may Well ar
rest the attention of the truly good
There is no branch of horticulture that is
so neglected as the raising of sheep. And
there is no other garden vegetable that is
80 early brough to maturity as the lamb.
The transition from the early bunting
period, when the little creatures scratch
feas off their foreheads by bunting their
heads against the front part of another
lamb, to the time when they are hung up
by the hind leg, at the market, to be sold
for garnishing with mint sauce, is indeed
short, and every moment should be made
use of to prepare the mind of the lamb
for the great change, for death and what
follows.
The sheep family is made up of four
classes. The lamb is the little baby of
the family, that has to be looked after by
all the rest, that has to be learned to walk
to talk, to say ''ma, and to tip over the
furniture in the sheep pen. The lamb
has to go through all the diseases children
have, only We do not notice it. At first
the lamb has to cut teeth. then have the
measles, and the whooping cough, the
itch, and it gets in love, just like human
beings. 1t is a sad sight to see lamb in
love, and to see the unrequitted affection,
to see Its cheeks pale, as the object of its
affection passes along unmindful of its
sufferings, to see it lose its appetite, and
sigh, and weep. But in all its troubles
about love affairs, the lamb never gets to
drinking, or playing base ball. 1t takes
its heart troubles to its mother and I'M
burdens itself to the old lady, and lays
down at her feet and goes to sleep, and
the old lady shuts her eyes and chews her
cud, and thinds hour after hour, how to
help the lamb out of the difficulty.
The mother of the lamb is called the
eve. do not know why the mother of
the lamb is called eve, but maybe ere
do. Anyway she answers to that name,
and performs the part allotted to her in
this life without murmur, and she never
talks back. You never see the eve Cos
siping over the fence with neighboring
eve ank talking about other ewes while
hanging out clothes, or making fun of
another ewes last falls hat, which she is
compelled to wear all the spring, because
her husband was "long on wheat when
he should have ''short." You never hear
of eve getting cross and scolding be-
cause the head of the house has to go
down town to attend the Lodge of Royal
Arch Masons, and she never sits up till
twelve o'clock to see if she can smell beer
when he comes home. When eve meets
another eve on the street, she never looks
back to see how her polonais sits, or to
see if her cloak is a Circular, or short
seal skin heightened out with mink. The
eve never gets up first in the morning
and goes through pantaloons pockets and
takes out all the change, so her protector
has to walk down town, not having a
nickel to pay car fare. The eve never
gets mad and pulls hair, so that the one
who has sworn to love, honor and protect
has to wear his hair bald headed. She
never asks for new dress the very day
the rent has to be paid. No, the eve is a
sgood. kind, domestic wife, an indulgent
parent. and good neighbor, who always
pays back the tea and sugar she borrows.
The next branch of the sheep family is
the wether. The wether is the uncle of
the lamb, a bachelor uncle, and he don't
amount to any more than any old bachelor.
They are useful, ornamental, and good to
carry shawls and baskets to picnics, and
to go home with the sheep from festivals
and to talk nonsense, but they never
mean business. They may be attentive,
and monopolize the time Of young sheep
just beginning to go into society, and just
as you are beginning to think of orange
blossoms, and wedding cake and bridal
trip to Wauwatosa, you are startled by
the announcement that the affair is''post-
poned on account of the weather." The
bachelor sheep are useless, entirely, ex-
cept for mutton, like those of the human
family.
As an emblem of purity, innocence and
tenderness, the lamb cannot be excelled-
IN the spring. But in the fall, when it
arrives at the age of discretion it is tough,
The sheep is one of the most constant,
devoted animals. 1t can constantly be
found on the table of boarding houses.
There is sympathy between the house
keeper and the sheep which is touching.
Though the boarders may abhor mutton,
the friendship between the sheep and the
landlady is so firm that she will not 90
back on her old time friend. Scofers will
say that this is because mutton is cheaper
than any other species of horned cattle,
but that cannot be true. There is no
other meat that will stand the hard usage
that mutton will unless it be India rubber
in its native state. Rubber, just as it
comes from the mint, will compare favor
ably for toughness with boarding house
mutton, but after the rubber is manipu-
lated into overshoes, or betting, or car
springs, it loses much of its tenacity of
purpose, and mutton takes the chrome
for elasticity, durability and ornament.
THE people of Wisconsin employ over
DC, 600 Agricultural lahnrers. and 20 600