Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1879-09-30
Sheep and Dogs.

All readers of the South know that i
high appreciation of the sheep is nc
surpassed by its appreciation ofany otl
er domestic animal, though it has ur
shaken faith in the final success of th
Angora in America.
Unfortunately, the majority appea
still to differ with it upon both points
That difference, taking the form of pre-
ference for dogs rather than sheep
costing the South alone several million
of dollars, and the country at large ten
of millions annually. While one grea
want of the South, and more or less O
the older States, is the restoration o
waste and barren lands to thrifty bear
ing no instrumentality can compar,
with sheep raising for repairing thes,
wastes and creating this thrift, hundreds
of farmers, many towns and counties
ard almost whole States have ceased The
business of sheep raising out of Difference
to the dogs-the ours and their defend
| erS.
| In the absence of the ours the raising
sheep, on larger or smaller scale, ac
cording to the section of the country, is
always profitable, affording at leas1
fleece and' pelts for various domestic
uses, and that kind ofanimal food which
practical science asserts is, all things
considered, the best animal food now
readily obtainable for our tables, sur
passing even beef and pork and all at
little cost,
Comparing sheep with cattle one of
our exchanges thus gives some of the
advantages the shepherd possesses over
the herdsman
''In the first place a stock of sheep
costs less than one of cattle. A farm
which will carry twenty cows will car
ry about eight times as many sheep, and
to stock farm with twenty cows and
corresponding fixtures will require an
outlay of 81 900. An equivalent num-
Der of sheep (say l50) can be purchased
for about half this sum. Again, flock
ofsheep demands less care than herd
of cows. The latter must be milked
daily, and the work of the dairy maid in
making butter and cheese is constant,
laborious, demanding also skill ola high
order to make it eminently successful.
"Then sheep will live and thrive
where cows would starve, or at least
make poor returns. There is no acces-
sible place where these nimble animals
would not venture; and almost every
herb that grows, even down to Canada
thistles, sulfices them for food. Pastures
are greatly benefited by being cropped
by sheep. They not only cut down the
weeds, but have more fertilizing ma
terials in their droppings than do cows.
In the milk of the latter much phosphate
of lime and other saline as we'll as nitro
genous matter is removed, but sheep
carry off only what is on their backs. A
flock of sheep also multiplies much more
rapidly than herd of cows and this is
true of the large mutton
breeds, which often produce twins. Not
to be too particular in enumeration of
the advantages of the flock master over
the herdman, VIII only add that sheep
fatten much more easily than cattle, and
when slaughtered they furnish not only
meat but wool, the latter an article that
not only keeps Indefinitely, but pays
for long transportation"
Let us place what another exchange
says, as q commentary upon the fore
going, thus:
1.-The State of Maryland, with 4,OOO,-
coo acres of uncultivated land and ,000,-
900 acres of wild pasturage, has only
Isl 200 sheep. The reason given for this
state Of things is, that per cent. of the
sheep are annually killed by dogs. The
entire South have less than 1000, 900
sheep, and of these 1000 are said to be
destroyed by dogs. Yet the South has
summer pasturage and winter keep for
20, 100000 to 100000 600 sheep, if rightly
managed"
The once important sheep industry of
Connecticut and other States North and
South is gradually dwindling into insig
nifcance from causes here indcated--the
worthless dogs.
We are all familiar with the title ad-
age about pulling wool over the eye; but
it must be dog that is pulled over the
eyes of the majority Of States, Legisla
lures and people, even in the South
The SOaWs.