The patron of husbandry. (Columbus, Miss.) 1875-1883, 1881-06-25
sheep Husbandry In the South

In your April number l see an
article of mine on the above subject,
and | am fully convinced that sheep
raising on cotton farms can be made
very profitable. l will give your
readers history of my first venture
in sheep husbandry, hoping that it
may induce others to try to make
living without so much hard work
in the cotton patch.
In 1853 l formed partnership
with friend to plant cotton; he
was one of the wool dyed cotton
planters who religiously believed
thai every acre of land not planted
in cotton was sinful waste, and |,
true to my Kentucky blood, believed
in stock and hated cotton patch like
the devil hates holy water. When
on visit to Kentucky, in 1884, I
purchased 900 well graded Merino
ewes, for which l paid 5000 cash;
brought them home and put them
in the partnership, and then put a
negro boy to go with them to the
pasture and drive them home every
night, and twice a day l saw them
myself.
| soon saw that my partner did
not like the thing, and in a few DAYS
told me so. He said that sheep
would not pay, and that l took a
hand out of the cotton field. / told
him to charge the sheep to my ac-
count, and [ would take the risk.
Next week l went to Tennessee and
purchased seven hundred head of
common sheep and five Cotswold
bucks-$I for my ewes and Sex
each for the bucks, brought them
home and sold three hundred ewes
for 5000 and kept the balance.
then opened an account of potts
and loss, charged the sheep with all
money received, and, after the first
year showed my partner that the
one negro who attended my sheep
was making more clear money than
any six he had in the cotton field;
besides, we had broiled mutton
chop for breakfast every morning
in the year, and l doubt if my whole
family eat so pounds of bacon in the
whole year. During the time l
kept these sheep, l fed entirely on
cotton seed during the winter.
always had field of barley or rye
to turn my ewes on when they had
lambs .a
Now, brother farmers, will not
you at least get enough sheep to
raise your own meat, and quit eat
ing meat brought from the North
II you knew how many hogs that
die or are abou; to die of hog chol-
era are made into bacon and ship
ped South, l think you would at
least try to make meat enough to
do your family.
But if you try to raise sheep at
tend to them, and do it well: give
them as much attention as you do
your cotton field, and if dogs are
troublesome feed them on sausage
with one grain of strichnine in it,
or fence your posts with barbed
WIRE. The manufacturers of wire
fence say that five wire fence will
turn dog, wolf or man. tits cheap
er IN the long run.
do not know what is the average
profit in sheep-raising, and much
depends upon the man and the at.
tention he gives them. have made
$50 per cent. per annum. Six years
ago induced a friend to purchase
a flock of sheap on nine months
credit, telling him 1 would pay al
the losses he made. He bought the
mock Of ewes for S. each in Sep
TENDER. and the next June sold The
man from whom he purchased hi.
SheeP the wool and lambs, which
Pa'd the debt, leaving him nine o
the best lambs and SIS in money; or
IN other words, he made his origina
niock- worth $6oo-clear, as tn,
lambs and money paid all expens'
OF keeping.
Brother farmers, there is no PEG
pie on earth that ever got rich will
hoe and pillow, nor never will; tn,
world does not pay enough none,
lor the labor of a man who uses
Plow. Your grass is idle capital
get stock to utilize it, and make ma
nure to keep up the fertility of you
lands. Old men, you are not abl'
10 make cotton; you are worn Out
soul and body. Get you a thousan'
ewes and then good Merino buck
10 cross them with; build sheds t
protect from winter rain; cold doe
not hurt sheep, but rain does. l
you have nothing better to buil'
Snees with, you can cut long poles
put one end on the ground and tn
other on ridge pole seven feet high
and cover with cornstalks and hay
Leave both ends open as sheep gen
crate heat, and if the shed is to
close they get hot and when the
go out are apt to catch cold. Tr
II Tor year or two, have nice, ia
mutton to eat and to sell, and wher
you get used to it you will neve
want to go back to corn bread
pacon and cotton again.-T Il
VI IN the Southern Farmer:
Journal. ff