The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1881-12-27

Georgia agricultural Report for 1874
The average annual profit On the capital
invested in sheep in Georgia i es per
cent This presents very marked con-
trAst between sheep raising and cotton
growing. Or those iaFmers Who have
tested crosse in Georgia, 81 per cent. re-
port the cross of the MerinO and the na-
tive sheep post profitable.
The annual cost per head of keeping
sheep Is only tifty-four cents. The cost
of raising q pound of wool is six cents,
while the av erage price for which the un-
washed wool is sold is ss4 cents, or 273
cents net
An average of sevnty-four lambs are
raised from every 100 ewes, notwithstand-
ing the ravages of the dogs.
The average yield of unwashed wool to
the sheep is 3.44 pounds, which, at 274
cents net, gives an average clear income
in wool from each sheep of "a cents
The average price received for lambs
sold to the butcher in Georgia is $ls7.
The average price of stock sheep is $2.5s
per head. The average price of mutton
is s2.75 per head.
Ninety pc cent. of the reports made to
the Commissioner of Agriculture on sheep
raising, state that dogs are the principal
and generally the only obstacle to sheep
hnsbandry. Many report the abandon
ment of sheep raising on account of the
want of proper dog laws for the protec-
tion of sheep
There we re in Georgia, in 1850, &C
cording TO the United States census, 5l2,-
6ls sheep. The census of 1870 gives but
4I9, ,465.
In 1870 there were 90, AIS dogs in Geor-
gia. The humber sheep destroyed by
dogs betwee a April /, 1874 and April l,
1875, amoun ted to 2s,625. 1t was estima-
ted that Is per cent. ofthe sheep were an
nually destroyed by dogs aud per cent
by disease and other causes.
Correspo,i dents report that 100 sheep
regularly folded will fertilize so as to
double the yield on eight acres of land
a year. At this rate even the number
of sheep in Georgia, in 1875, would fertil-
ize annually 5,544 acres.
The climate of Georgia and the Gulf
States corresponds with that of the best
wool-growir1g regions of the world Spain
once so famd dus for its Merinns, is warmer
on its southern coast than Southern Geor-
gia Australia, now one of the principal
wool-growing g regions of the world, en-
braces the altitude of Georgia, bat maxi
mum temper rature in DecembeF-their mid
SUMMER moIth-of II2e Fahrenheit.
The effects of warm climates and their
perennial herbage upon wool bear .
marked analogy to those of warm climates
upon vegetation giving increased vigOr
ofgrOwth, length, uniformity and strength
of fibre, and consequently greater weight
in the wool
Consider, in this connection, the cost Of
keeping sheep in warm and cold climates,
and we end that warm climates have de-
cidedly the advantage.
Mr.. Peters is the leading sheeP-raiser Of
Georgia, and has had an experience in this
business which gives great weight to his
opinions lie has tested Merinos, South
Downs, observation-disclosures, Leicester,
Asiatic, Broad-tails or Tunisian, Improved
Kentucky, Cotswold, and native sheep
Of these Spanish Merino aud natives
proved most profitable, the other breeds
proving unhealthy with him. His ex-
per5ence in sheep-raising extends through
period ofltwrnty-seven years.
| For general purposes, for wool and mat
ton, he recommends most decidedly cross
from native MeFinO ewes and Spanish Ne
rinO bucks the progeny showing marked
improvement, having constitution, fAtten-
| ing properties, thriftiness, and compact,
close fleece
| During mild Winters in Georgia sheep
require feeding only so dsya
| Speaking Of diseases IN sheep MF. Peters
nys: @Chsnge Of pasture. and liberal
ne oftar oh the noses ofsheep during the
Summer mpnthA. viii cheek the Ay dur
| ing the tipIe Of iss depo~ising is eggs On
the nestESl1 Of the sheep. This disease
show itself by funaing - the nose, and
i muek mdse pfesalent smong tie native
thar MeTin0 sheen.