, 1879-08-09

Sheep'Husbandry atpl catt'e-RaIs
Ing in the Lone.Star
State.
The Immense Profits That Are RcinE
Made out Of These Branches
Of Business.
unbsundcd Opportunities SiIl Presented for En-.
gagemtnt In These Lucrative In.
duslrits.
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WESTERN TEXAS, AtY. B.-Shccp-ralaing ii
ttcstined to 10 onu Of tho most cxtcnatse an.l
profitable branches Of stttels-ralslng tn iha
s.ato,-in fact, II may now bo 30 consfacro'-
antl yet II is only In ts Infancy. Tic protlts Of
the business nre lnn,ense, and In no pnre Of tlu,
Union can It be n,uro advantagcously pursued
tlnn In Western Texas. Bit the western
portion Of the 2lato Is not the only section
whcro sheep cnl 1sc successfully raised, though.
alt things considered. 1t affords tho hest field
for shceueh,lsbandry on large ecale. All thu
rrarlcs OF Tcxps, however. arc vol adapted to
sbccn.rasilc; and, even In the wcli-scttlcd
counties, tito farmers giyo this bralch Of III
dustry attention.
Tile average increase Is groater with small
numbers, and, rtt, tho advantage Of fIu,uc-
market at their very tloora for mutton, WOOL
pelts, anI stoct-shceD, there eau he
NO NouBr or 4 sATispACronr RESULT.
Tho newcomers to Texas, " wlth Il very few cx-
ccntons, laust commence small. mud work un.
on n jarrc scale, they need not think t!,cra j. no
hope Of ileir ever being nbte to count largo
tlocks Of sheep Ut their own. ALMOST all who
contnler,cod in small wnv; and. BY constant
nml eloao attention tn shr!r lfttlc aocks, they
aaw them increasing rapidly every year, until
they themselves wcro surprised to find tilelr
HQGEp Huul0EEEu Uf IdlH Lllblbluubs Htl1 tnclI-
suiyes iIo owners ot larro do1,ans, nn,1 with
good and constnptly- y-ncfeasnE bnnk-accolnt.
Instances Of this ktntl arc not rnro, and the op-
p0rtunittcs aro still open to thousands who ran
way. and property attcnl to their little 'locks.
But It is In Western Tcxns tint steep.llus-
ha,niry OH largo scale Is found! au'l where cx-
tcnat1a sheep ranches: Wit, tlelr Nun
fac.orily conducted. Individual experience
could DO given, but It Is not my fntcntion
tn 70 Into detail In this article. rcscrvI1,g "iacta
and 0Eurcs" j" for some future tl'ne, when will
Give tho actual experience Of several Wlo nro cx-
tenslToly engaged In ahecp-ra(sng.
In no part of tho state is there any shelter Or
feed provided for shesp,-so thnt
TnB ONLY ExrENsn
IN raising them Is tile wages and board Of the
stcchcrli. aud her.1crs who take caro- nf Them.
In the southwestern part Ut the State, csnocally
where thczeie sufficient timber for protection In
case of severe storms or very cold weather (which
isc xeeedtngly rare In this portion Of tho Stutc)no
shelter or feed is necessary; hut, tn Northwest
ern Texas, believe the flocks would thrive bet
ter II they were provided viii, somo kind Ut pre-
tection against severe storms, which, though nut
frequent, are lah!c to occur every Winter In
addition to a cheap shcltcrt Or sbicd against
wlnls aud storms, 1t will certainly ho fouu,l hufe
md t,sdtctous to provide little feed in case Of
snnw-storms III winter, Tint hnvc been known to
cover the grass for several days. Tile extra
trouble OF cxuenso will l'o moro than paid back
iu an Increased quantity aud quality OF wool ut
sllcaring-tinlc.
THE IMPORTANCE or snEEr-nusBANDHY
In Teras rail- bo partially conceived when the
following estimatel shipment OF wool from The
State, nfd the present number OF sheep NOW
feeling upon thu natriclous grasses Of Texas
are properly considered. It Ia estimated TINT
there arc now over 900 sheep III the Stntc,
moro than there nre IN Rny other State In tho
8,000. 000.-Uhlo ranging third In the list. with
ubouL 4,500,000. Last year over 100000
pounds Of wool were shipped ons OF the STATE,
besides large quantities that were manufactured
| into yarns and cloth by tho wootcn-n,itls In our
State. These figures will Increase annually, and
| in d very fcw years this State will contain
| larger number of shccp, ahtp mnre WOOL n1ld
manufacture muro woolon goods, than any other
Etare in t1e tJp1ou