The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1880-12-15
we advise the use of strychnine.
Sheep and a Dog

Liz qu0SJlOH COl1eS 10 us III Il JuOuSdDC
forms, Must we abandon sheep farm
ing?' The worthless mongrels that run
loose every night, and sometimes every
day too, in neighborhoods otherwise
suitable for the care and cultivation oil
sheep, rob that form of enterprise of its
fair returns and compel the farmer to
contemplate abandonment of the bust
ness, unless means of protection can be
found. We propose to consider this
question. Sheep farming offers too many
advantages for us to entertain the idea
that it should be given up without a
struggle, when there is no obstacle to It's
successful prosecution except the vulpine
instincts of worthless dogs, that are
owned by nobody in particular, and are
not even worth the strychnine that would
convert them into manure
Sheep farming ought to be carried on
upon scale large enough to allow of full
care and precaution for the shelter of the
flock from the elements and from mid
night marauders. The sheep is capable
of sustaining life under many hardships,
but the fewer sufferings there are to be
endured, the larger margin of profit in
"OSA eNhO III IuSdO Will SNSnIud1lJ dSOl uS
to the proprietor.
We have no Arctic winter to provide
against, but when sheep farming is to be
pushed for all it is worth there must be
root crops in sufficient quantity for the
maintenance of life while the grass is
covered, and sufficient shelter from the
storms that must otherwise be sustained
by large OUTLAWS of vital force. In Aus
tralla where there is no winter, or only
a rainy season of about three months, in
June, July, and August, the winter
grasses are sweetest, and provision is
more likely to be demanded for man S
care during December or in the hot
months succeeding. Our energies are
likely to be taxed during the same
months by excessive cold and rigor, and
shelter for the focks, with stored food
will customarily enable farmer to
winter his charges satisfactorily. The
great trouble is with the dogs that are
owned by nobody, and to which nobody
will give bullet or halter There
should be no mercy for such animals
They are pests to neighborhood. Run
fiocks that are large enough to pay for
the services of a shepherd, and, if he has
a rifle ready to his hand, wild dogs will
soon become scarce. If you are not rich
enough to run large flock of your own,
join your focks with your neig hbors, and
the same end can be attained without
excessive cost, SO that your venture does
not go utterly to the dogs.
Procure next, under the same system
of cooperation, the best rams that may
be bought, and cultivate the crosses that
experience tells you are most profitable,
whether 'Merino, Cotswold, or what you
will, and the outcome will be returns in
wool, that will handsomely repay your
Investment, while your land will be kept
in body by the droppings of the animals,
and their increase and eventual sale will
afford large margins of profit. The ag-
riculturist cannot afford to pursue his
avocation without sheep, but he must
devote his ingenuity without stint to the
protection of his investment from spolia-
ton, and he will find it absolutely in
cumbent upon him to guard the sheep
from all the manifold ills to which mutt
ton is heir.