The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1878-11-29
SHEEP-KEEPING IN KANSAS.


OF all animals, sheep require the least
water, and they will degenerate and be-
come diseased where there is great hu-
Nudity, and on low, wet land. Hence,
pastoral life has always been coupled
with arid plains and mountains, and we
only read of the CLOCKS on the hillside"
Twenty years ago continued storms were
unknown here, and we had only brisk
showers, followed at once by sunshine.
The increase of the white man and the
influx of the cloudy black, has seeming
ly-under God-not only changed poll
tics, but the seasons. Showers are now
more frequent and week of rain not
unusual, and there have been times when
for a month rain has hardly ceased. At
this rate of progress the day is not dis
tant when the plains west of us will
blossom as the rose" receiving the rains
in their season, and not the unnatural ir-
rigation of man. The drought of " co.
is broken, but we have no fears that the
rains will be so abundant as to curtail
the sheep industry. Our winters are
short, during which more or less dry
food is required In April the sheep are
turned upon the prairies, the succuIent
grasses of which soon inspire animal
life with new vitality. These prairies
our out-lands, are owned by railroads or
non-residents, and will afford a free
range for stock for years to come In
this we glory, and Kansas is ahead. The
pastoral regions of Colorado and Cali.
fornia are now owned and controlled by
cattle kings and big shepherds, with
their one hundred thousand sheep, and
the masses have no rights on their range
Here the ''liOn lies down with the lamb, ~
and all men are equal in their rights over
the public domain.
The sheep are kept on this grass until
frost, which comes in October, when they
are taken to the farm and turned upon
the rye, bluegrass or clover fields, where
they will thrive as long as snow does not
cover it. If no such winter pasture is
at hand, the sheep will require, in addi.
ton to what they CLEAN from the frost
bitten prairie, daily feed of corn or
good hay, to be increased as the weather
grows colder. The lambs and breeding
ewes should also have daily. ration of
lent per head. This will keep them
strong and growing. The wethers, in
tended for mutton, should have no less
than pint of corn per day, with plenty
of fodder and hay. We crush our corn
in the ear, and are very partial to cob
meal for sheep. But the manner and
method of feeding, on which, indeed,
the whole success of feeding hinges, must
be left for some future discussion. As
to the shelters, common sense saws build
them. No part of the temperate zone is
SO serene that inclemencies do not occur,
against which animals need protection.
The warmer they are kept mot to the ex-
clusion of fresh air. the less food they
require. Protection is economy, expos
ure is waste. Rude shelters can be
cheaply and quickly constructed Of forks
and poles, covered with hay and left
open to the south. Inclose thes with a
picket fence, and your sheep are happy
and comfortable, and safe from dogs and
wolves.
All kinds of sheep thrive here, but the
finer thorough bred varieties of Cots
void, Southdown, Merino, etc, are in
the hands of a few, and are kept for
breeding purposes. Such flock repre-
sents much capital and requires much
subsequent care, especially the combing
woods. They are only suited to small
hocks attended with great care, stabling
and high feed to keep them mp to the
standard. The fine woods are more har-
dy and selfseliant, but the wool product
under the present regulations does not
bring the best price, nor do they in their
purity produce the best mutton. The
question is, what sheep are best adapted
to the masses? It Is the common coarse
or medium wool sheep, missouri
sheep" Cross these for two generations
with the thoroughbred Merino, then
throw in cross of Cotswold, and you
have sheep producing a good clip of a
desirable quality and carcass big and
well rounded for mutton. Such sheen
can be found for from one dollar and
fifty cents to three dollars per head and
an acre of ground-WelI stocked-wiIl
support eight or ten of them. For me-
dinm, unwashed wool, for three years
past, we have received at our door, re-
spectively twenty-five, twenty-four and
twenty-three cents per pound. This
makes about one dollar per head, or suf
ficient to pay the running expenses of
the flock, leaving theincrease and growth
to the side of profit
The pilgrim must select his own home.
Unimproved land is held from three 70
five dollars per acre, and improved al
eight dollars and upwards, according 70
the value Of the improvements. I was
bred upon the historic ground of Mon
mouth, New Jersey, ninistered for years
as physicianto the invaIids of BufIinx.
toa county, both oasis in the vast ex,
panse of sands; but their paIatial hemea
and finished fields, after these many
years Of absence, haze 40 p1wer TO draw
me hpmeWaFd, nor any magic compared
With the simple cot Of the shepherd
Dr.. W L. Challiss, N the New York
Tribune