Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1879-07-25
Wolves.
BIG MONEY IN LUPICULTURE.
LEom the ChlcAgn Trihune.l

Ga3c office on Saturday and wrote ont N
advertisement, Wanted, for agricultural
purposes, two yoke of healthy wolves
Address shepherd, this office" A report
er, who had noticed the singular wording
OF the advertisement. entered into con
versation with the honest farmer on the
subject
You see, :" said the bronzed agricultur
ist, We raise good many sheep III my
section.
'.But | don't see, said the reporter.
But you will, said the farmer, If You
viii only listen We raise good many
sheep in our section, and the business is
overdone-no money in it. prefer to
raise wolves. You see, there is the
bounty ON wolves-scalps. My she-woli
matches out three broods of wolves every
year, and, on an average, has five wolf
foals at Il time. Fifteen wolf-scalps
make no difference if they are day old OF
a year, they are scalps i'll the eye of the
Revised Statutes year at 50, Is SO,
and that is blamed sight more money
than You can make ont of yoke OF
sheep
But doesn't their keep cost some
thing !" asked the reporter,
Nothing that is to say. hardly any
thing. My neighbors, as l have already
said raise IL great many sheep, and there
Is no money in the business, So at night L
let my buck wolves ont, and, rs they are
good providers for their families, and
characterized by strict application to bus
mess, they bring back enough unmanu-
factured woollen hats and crude mutton
| frfa 20 my
family too. 1t is a blessing to my neigh
bors. too: there is no money III sheep at
present, and besides the principles of
political economy teach us that when any
industry is suffering from over-pro.luc-
ton that the right way to give it relief is
to curtail production. Besides, there are
further advantages about the process
which may not at first occur to you. For
instance, as l keep the secret of my wolf
iary to myself, for the world in all ages
has been suspicious and envious OF Its
great men,-part of the neighbors attri-
but ethe dIminution Ill the mutton crop
to dogs. and part to wolves. The result
Is that Il strong feeling III favor of the
payment of bounties for the destruction
of the latter rspacious animals prevails III
our county, and the discussion OF the dog
law question in all its various aspects
conduces to keep aliveand feedthe sacred
flame of oratory.
"Of course there are seasons Of the year
when the sheep are penned up, but then
those wholesome and nutrituhous fruits,
the yellow and brindle dogs, are in sea-
son, and, as the impulse of every farmers
dogs is To go out and nominate partisan
ticket when they see anything with four
legs and tail passing peaceably along
the road at night, my wolves live on the
fat of the land Old David Davis, my
senior wolf, comes home often with as
many as four and five dogs of n night,
and, though their skins are too much claw
ed and bit mp to he available for mittens,
their fat is good for rheumatism.
Then again my wolves and myself are
on footing of mutual respect and toiera-
| ton, and they make the best sort Of
watch dogs, I've often thought of taking
out patent for them. One of my wolves
William NJ. Springer I've chnstened
him-would amuse you If you could see
him after a tightening rod special com
missioner. | put up post about twelve
| feet high in my front yard, with a few
staples driven promiscuously into 1t SO
that if man had business at the top of
the post he could attain thereto without
any unnecessary waste of time. About
once or twice week during the busy sea-
son hear a noise like a whole menagerie
| broke loose or ward meeting, and
when / come out of the barn | see II man
on top Of that post and old William Nj.
| Springer walking round it on his hind
! legs and opening mouth like carpet
sack full of hanI-saws. l discover that
my visitor is agent for a lightning rod
company, or wire fence, or all orchard
and garden seed house, and that William
NJ. Springer has let him advance beyond
his base of supplies, cut his lines OF COM
munication with the gate, and driven him
in great disorder to the top of the post,
refusing to accept anything but uncondl-
tional surrender. Why sir, there $ moth
ing like such emergencies to bring out
mans better nature and quicken his gen
erosity Often and oftena lightning rod
canvassar has freely offered me $40 to call
off my dogs,-my wolves | mean,-and
there was one liberal individual came
round few weeks ago and pressed upon
me his pocketbook and watch and Il new
spring overcoat that he had only worn
twice, as u token of his esteem and admir-
alton for nv frank and manly character.
Oh tell you them wolves pay for them
selves ten times over i'll the course of II
Year.
'And as for tramps we'll, one day two
tramps came Ia NV house, and, as the
post wasn't built to accommodate more than
one caller. you can imagine the result.
The tramp who pre-empted the top OF
that post was dumb, and by the time |
happened to come down from the med
der lot where was plowing the other
tramp had been eaten beyond all recognl-
tion, and the hair of the one on top Of the
post had turned white as milk punch. I'd
rather have paid so than have that hap
pen, for Gen. William b. Anderson, the
wolf that was on duty at the time, died Of
Indigestion in less than four hours. Well,
| took the othertramp down, and he made
signs that he wanted to be given a knife,
and then he went and carved some sort
of hieroglyphic on the post of my front
gate, triangle, circle, and some other
mystical inscription. From that day to
this there never has been tramp inside
of my front gate The country may be
swarming with them, hut when one Of
them comes to my front gate he looks at
the hieroglyphic, drops the latch, and
4
- 49, oI M,I - sict viii b;s
Lnir a,olJ;nao'' anj c,r;n,. o;nt II q"
ma" a..
bus saiu lit Ifo"hc !elor''f' o,l
"ila' maze you go IN ior wolves
stranger" said that brawny and
bearded man, as his powerful frame
trembled with emotion and pearly tear
meandered down his cheek, stranger, !
was married once. Ah' ! may wen say
ma Wle, liiat ""I,,ah Tn eA'r','iN', i've
nnilisy was iillli'i'S' nL Nv I'M
aS s"5 '"i, % ~. y. ail ,h;na. I, vnn c"nIi
have s.,,," her nmn Lrioht hracinc day
with all her surroundings. sernaztliungc
dog a coming out Of the back kitchen
door neck or maybe hall a length ahead
OF fat-lron, and the nelghbor = eat, with
her tail as blg as AN elecirlled mum, lay
ing herself along the ground III her hurry
to get home without stopping to lick the
/ bnlIIup Dork fat off IA bald place on her