Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1879-01-16

ner bacon and corn-bread. For drink, he
has coffee and sometimes little whlskey.
The rations he has to cook hllnseli. n
pair of good revolvers is part OF inc
necessary outfit of herdsman. and ne
sometimes needs them badly. A man VINO
lives thus usually thinks he should have
some compensation for his time. A good
man can he hired to herd sheep for 80
per month, not including board. A fair
estimate of the cost of keeping loOo sheeP
Il year and ten per cent on the capital IN
vested is as follows: 100
Cost of 1000 Mexican ewes, Sl9OO
d" 80 Merino rams, oOO
ranch and Improvements, lOOO
"A span of mules, wagon, &c. 800
Total capital invested, S33Oo
Ten per cent. interest on capital
invested, 3oO
Wages of herdsman one year $50
Cost or herdsman's board, 10
Shearing and dipping sheep l5O
Salt for sheep ~
To this sum should be added the expense
and time in carrying the wool to market
and the procuring of supplies for the ranch;
There must be extra help to do this, and
extra expenses, us Il matter OF fact. the
year through.
All of the foregoing expenses of keep
ing 1000 sheep amount to about SlOOO, or
ST 90 per head Il year. The income from
the flock, with good luck, is rs follows:
$500 lbs of wool at II cts. per ID. S425
$40 lambs Mt 81. so per head 975
Total income. S1400
This sum, less the cost of keeping the
sheep one year, leaves Il balance of S4OO
for profit. This result is with good luck
with bad luck the result would be far diff
ferent. Let me assure you that bad
luck are two words full of meaning 10 Il
person who raises sheep in Texas. Some
times it is caused by ineXperience and
want of care. at other time by severe
drouth. or the locusts may come and de-
norther, as it is called, may visit the
country. A norther is cold, strong,
piercing wind which occasionally sweeps
over the country from September to May
When it is accompanied with rain it is
most trying time for sheep, especially if
they are Just shorn, and is death to young
lambs. | have seen person who COM
menced herding sheep last winter with
1900 ewes. and in the month of April he
had only so of them left. The way he
cursed sheep raising in Texas would BIO a
caution to young folks. Another sheep
breeder of experience informed me that
some four years ago he had a flock of 2600
sheep, he now had about 800; he had not
sold any sheep during the time. have
named these instances to show that it is not
all sunshine in raising sheep in Texas.
The money made by herding sheep
there is by first learning the business, then
by keeping the grade Merino sheep. The
profits from 1000 ewes of three-fourth
blood Merino with good luck, is about
$4,000 per year or 50 per head, These
sheep are worth about 81 per head and will
shear from to 5 pounds Of wool, worth
% cents per pound, when Mexican is
worth II cents. The lambs from these
sheep will sell for So per head The NUT
ton sheep will sell in market for 20 per
cent more than Mexicans of the same size
and condition. To these facts is due the
demand for Merino rams for Texas and
other like places. | submit to you in all
candor if the herding of sheep in Texas is
not encouraging and cheering for the
Merino sheep breeders of Vermont.
The fundamental points in good Mer-
well covered with IL good quantity of the
desired quality of wool, and in their power
of transmitting these qualities to their
offspring. This last named quality de-
ponds, in great measure, upon their ped
igree.
A good constitution is one of the all es-
sential points in IL good sheep. 1t is to be
valued above all the fancy points that
can devise. A flock of sheep
may have all of the fancy points; some of
which are essential to beauty, they may be
the unquestioned descendants of the Hum
phrey or some other importation and if
they lack constitution, they are poor
flock of sheep. Good size is essential be-
cause n very large proportion of the
Merino rams that are sold are sold to
persons who breed sheep for mutton us
well rs wool. A good form is essential
because 1t makes the sheep IN object of
beauty and also means that n sheep is well
developed and all parts of the sheep are in
their proper and necessary proportion.
The form the sheep indicates, in II great
degree, their breeding qualities. In the
ewes it should be more delicate than in
rams. An eve that has the form of
robust ram is almost invariably IL Door
breeder and such ewes seldom give IA
suitable quantity of milk for their lambs.
1t is as essential that II sheep be well
covered with wool rs it is that all of our
llllaSe land, so far rs is practicable, be
made to produce II crop. A sheep that is |
not well covered does not generally pro. |
luce good crop of wool The quantity
1t wool that il sheep will grow must
iePend somewhat upon It's size and consli- |
ution. think there is IL desire among
'ome Merino sheep breeders to grow more
WOOL upon the sheep than they can reason
IDLY produce; the effect of which is to
njure the sheep for breeding purposes and
| they are ewes to deprive them, in some
!egree, OF their power to produce well |
developed offspring, and also to furnish
he necessary amount of milk for the same,
As to the quality of wool desired it depends
lpon the uses for which it is raised and
lpon the location and surroundings where
he sheep are kept. Thus, in southern
Texas, where they shear twice year and
n open plains, long staple of wool is
Iesred, while in places where the sheep
re shorn but once a year and feed among
he bushes, briers and thorns a shorter
taple and more compact fleece is prefer
ed because the wool is less liable 10 be
'ulled out by the thorns and bushes and it
ccumulates less burrs and filth.
The ability of II sheep to transmit their
Qualities to their offspring depends in IL
.reat measure upon the length of time
hat they have been bred with special ref.
renee to those qualities. 10 ascertain this
englh of time history of their ancestry
+ pedigree is necessary.