The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1879-10-22
20 Beam with sheep.

If there IS but one man in the South whC
entirely understands sheep that man 1
Mr. c. Brown, Of Spring Hill, Tenn. IL
respon.c to an enquiry a. to what breed thC
begiuuer in sheep-ralsing should begin with
ne states. a might have been expected he
would. that much depends upon locality
soil. etc The three leading classes OF SHEEP
are acknowledged 10y all ialr-mlnded breed
or To have three distinctive cxceliencles
and three distinctive defects, ana these
characteristics should be carefully weighed
bv the beginner against the Pecullarltles OF
his locality before making choice OF the
breed 10 be tested.
/. The Merinos are small, hardy, active
sheen. Welding good weights of fine wool,
and thriving better Ia large locks than the
English breeds. They are not so prollhc a.
the latter and are apt TO be careless mothers
They arrive slowly at maturity but make
good mutton when grown.
2 The Southdown is below either the
Cotswold or Merino, in weight OF Wool. As
a mutton sheep, he Is uuequalled and l.
much more prolific than the Merino. locks
of several hundred do we'll together They
mature early and the lambs are much
rought after by butchers.
T. The COtswOid may be taken as the
representatiye Of the Long Wool type-the
Leicester being nearly, or quite, identical
and Lincolns a. yet little known They
are large. quiet sheep with heavy heeces OF
long. loose wool, which do not protect the
body from rain and cold quite so well as the
shorter and closer hceces of the two prece-
ding breeds. In this latitude they seem
only moderately prolific and the lambs are
rather tender. From their size, they re-
duire rich pastures. The same cause, how
ever. makes them excel the other breeds in
yield per head.
If the beginner is on a railroad or within
reach of city, he will find early lambs
very profitable Otherwise, he will proba-
bly, turn his attention chiefly to wool.
In either case, it would be injudiciOus to
buy pure blood flock to begin with Let
him select good, large native ewes, well
covered with wool. Above all, they must
be young. An old sheep is dear at any
price Then for every forty ewes, let him
buy a thoroughbred male of the breed that
n consideration of all the circumstances tells
him would be best suited to his wants. If
he goes into the business on scale large
enough to need several males it might be
well to get them of, say, two different
strains-the strains best adapted to his con-
ditions and requirements-this will be for
crossing.
Mr.. Brown urges that in buying the
males for our flock we should take no in
ferior animals, no matter if they are
"merely for crossing with Scrubs" and we
should never under any condition, use
grade of cross bred male. A grade may be
very handsome but his lambs are as likely
to breed back to the native as to thorough
bred bred type. In using a cross male, you
sacrifice that "prepoteney Of blood which
enables the thoroughbred to stamp almost
all its characteristics on the first cross from
q mongrel.
In buying males choose yearlings or two
year oIds. Male lambs should not be used
for breeding. There is but one safe mode Of
buying-namely, apply to a reliable breeder,
tell him what you want and leave the Sc
lection to him. Not all noted breeders are
by-the-bye. As for "peddlers'
avoid them and their Thoroughbred !
sheep.
Begin with a small flock, well-selected
and take good care of them. Fifty choice
native ewes, well-fed, will give more wool
and raise lambs of more value, than double
the number Of average animals badly cared
for