Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1881-05-28

| SideS, III sofa, constantly u StT0y-
ing the young sheep OF the flock,
instead, as We would propose, sell
ing the old sheep Of the flock and
keeping the young ones. which
are increasing in wool and In wall
ne, while the old ones are decreas-
ing in these essential qualities of
the animal But to go back gain
to the Spaniard. In sheep raising,
we are informed, that sometimes,
in that country, the sheep are mi
gratory. Randall, in his treatise
on sheep husbandry, says that
men engaged in the sheep bust
| ness Oh large scale, and during
the sum II months the sheep are
driven hundreds of miles to the
| mOuntxins 10 subSist while The
heritage is plentiful, but when it
| is exhausted they are driven back
to the valleys for subsistence dur
| ing the ScaTcer seasons OF the year.
The treatment OF the sheep has
been alluded to in this address, but
without defining any particular
method by which these animals
should be treated, nor do we pro-
fess to be of ourselves the best
judge OF the manner of treating
them. One thing, as we have
said before, all other animals on
the farm are treated better than
sheep. The horses, hogs and cat
tie are fed grain; the sheep are
kept without it and expected to
yield profit in wool and mutton,
which cannot reasonably take
place, Keenan,, gentleman who
has lately sold and bought stock
among US, has been engaged in the
sheep business for many years,
and who has had large experience
in she sheep feeding, says in our
climate sheep should be fed one
fourth pound of grain per day,
with sufficiency of foddering from
the first of November to the first
of May, when to all intents and
purposes the profits to the owner
will be doubly realized.
Our vast and sparsely inhabited
country now presents the best op.
portunities for profits in sheep
husbandry known on the face of
the habitable globe, and none bet
ter than the mountains and valleys
of West Virs mia, our fertile val
leys affording food for the winter,
and our hills and mountains herb
age during the summer months.
While all the countries of the old
world are either SO denssly popu-
lated as to prevent sheep grazing,
or impoverished SO as to forbid
the idea of keeping them, our
country here is abundant with ele-
ments necessary to the well-being
of sheep, so that nothing remains
to make the sheep stock profitable
except proper care and manage
| ment.
So much has been said about
sheep being impoverishers of the
soil that it becomes our duty here
to adduce allegations and proof to
the contrary.
1t has been my fortune to be-
come somewhat more or less ac-
quainted with sheep raising in
Washington county, in the State
of Pennsylvania. where sheep rails
ing has been for many years the
fundamental occupation of the
farmer. On visit to that county
a few years since, we found the
lands in high state of cultivation,
buildings and improvements of
first order and, in fact, the people
in a most prosperous condition,
and was informed by those people
that forty years prior to that time
constant blowing and cultivation
had rendered their lands sterile
and poor producing, and necessity
in part at that time and afterwards
forced many of the farmers to en-
gage in the sheep business, and by
that system of rest and pasturage,
their worn out soil had become re-
| cuperated and Is at this time
highly productive. Our own prac-
tical and experimental knowledge
too clearly shows to US that the
danger of impoverishing our lands
by sheep pasturage is not half so
| great as a system of constant plow-
ing and cultivation.
Innumerable reasons may be
adduced to show that our people
may turn sheep husbandry to
profit to themselves and TO their
country. Our rocky surface, though
strong land, makes it impossible
to use the improved machinery of
the present day to the same adj
vantage that it can be used upon
the fertile plains of the Mississippi
valley. The near proximity of
that country to ours by rail in the
transportation of their commodi-
| ties 10 the seaboard towns of the