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

ate a movement in one department.
of husbandry heretofore unknown
to us-that is, to exhibit here 10
the people our sheep, one of the
objects of our fostering care upon
the farm, as we'll as the fruits of
very important liRk in the chain
of duties as it pertains to means
of living and acquisition Of wealth
to our country.
Sheep shows as we have stated
have never been In use among US,
and the idea of the present one,
we believe, originated with the
President of our equalization, but
the precedent has bean elsewhere
established in some portions of
our country and in England and
with, it is said, highly beneficial
results to the sheep owner and TO
the vicinities in which these ex-
hibitions of this innocent and val
liable stock are made. Ia some of
the Western States we believe
sheep shows are yearly usage
among the sheep raisers, and the
records of Niles register shows
that sheep shows were common
usage in England; besides, the
sheep exhibited upon such occa-
sion were shorn of their fleece in
the presence of the multitude who
had assembled to witness the per-
formance. These shows were
looked forward to with much in
terest among the people, and upon
such occasions thousands of Eng
lands people would attend upon
the ground, manifesting the great
est interest in the proceedings, and
the greatest hilarity would pre-
vail. The diminution in point of
sheep numbers, cansed by density
of population in that country, has
somewhat abated the interest felt,
and sheep shows are not Of as fire..
quent occurrence there as formerly.
But as we have before stated we
have met here to-day in Berkely
county to revive an old custom, or
rather to inaugurate new move
ment in that particular line, and
in doing so have brought some of
our sheep here to show, they being
some of the fruits of our work.
We do this thinking the husband
man and sheep raiser will profit
by it, besides all classes aud con-
ditions of society will be benefited
by a more humorous propagation
of sheep stock, and in the selec-
ton of better breeds of that useiu l
animal.
We deem that such exhibitions
as the present one for honorable
competition is q great incentive by
which these ends my be attained,
hence the object of this move
ment.
A few years ago sheep raising
was carried on to quite limited
extent in our section of the coun-
try, as they were regarded by our
forefathers as too close choppers
and impoveri5hers of the soil. A
few sheep were all that were kept
among our best farmers, and they
were of the cOarsest and most in-
differt Mt kind, kept on the poorest
pastures of the farm, and If any
stock had to subsist on the briars
and back fields, without feed and
water, and thus living on the
wind as it were, it was the sheep,
and it is not wonder that sheep
raising was deemed poor bust
ness. Or ~ good as no business at
all But ~ltnin the past few years
the eX ample and precepts Of other
coun ries where sheep raising has
been more successfully and profit
ably carried on, has exploded such
ideas as those entertained by our
forefathers upon the sheep-raising
subject, and our people of the pres
ent generation have engaged in
the business some to greater and
others to more limited extent,
but to the satisfaction at all times
OF those engaged in it, and we hear
on all sides that at this time the
sheep raising produces satisfactory
results to the owners in point of
profit. and by no means q disad-
vantage to the soil. We hold that
no stock on the farm produces so
great an amount of per centage for
the investment or the amount of
provender fed as in a few months
ownership of sheep. 1t is no un-
common remark TO hear of the
farmer that has doubled the
amount of his investment, and
that too with very little expense
or trouble, as in the majority of