Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1881-04-28
Republican party Of the nation would
have brought in the past twenty years.
-ReDwblicGn.


There are many reasons for wishing
that the wool-growers' convention helc
at Sedalia two weeks ago may direc-
the earnest attention Of Missouri farm
ers to an interest hitherto neglected
aud induce them to make sheep snd
wool subjects of more careful cultiva
| tion. Our Missouri climate Is suitable
for sheep raising, and the uplands o.
the southwestern part Of the State
could not be devoted to q better pur
pose. Sheep-raising Is not immediate
ly profitable; 1t does not exhibit its
benefits at once like . farm planted in
wheat or corn. 1t requires first q care
full selection of the breeds best adapted
to the locality and the market, then q
a convenient arrangement of the farm
with reference to water and pasturage.
But with q little patience and judg'
ment sheep can be made feature on
any farm adapted to them, and after
without any further care and attention
light feeding in the winter. Sheep
raisers claim that breeding sheep Is
profitable both for wool and mutton.
but one important advantage attend
ing it is the constant enrichment of the
land on which they feed. Sheep pas
lures steadily improve in productive
capacity and value, and in neighbOr-
hoods and districts devoted to sheep
raising the farms are invariably better
kept and command higher prices than
in neighborhOods where such rude
farming as raising and selling raw
crops is the rule. The world exhibits
an increasing desire to be better ted
and clothed every year, and even fash
ion comes in to encourage sheep-rais-
ing by discarding linen and cotton
clothing for summer wear and affecting
thin wOolen cloth for warm weather.
The Americans are the best clothed
and fed people i'm the world, and this
fact will long continue to maintain a
healthful demand for the flesh and
wool of sheep, and make sheep far ming
profitable. The best Missouri farmers
are tired of the business Of raising and
selling raw crops, which is 30 exhaus-
tive Of the best lands, and are showing
a disposition to work gradually into
the higher vocation of rearing animals;
and this change finds its ample justifi-
cation in the fact that the finest farms,
the most comfortable farm buildings
and the highest priced lands are to be
seen in those counties " here stock-feed
ing is the chief interest. Stock-raising
in Missouri means cattle-raising. The.
number of sheep in the State 10 too small
to entitle them to be mentioned in that
and there are comparative
ly few farms devoted exclusively or
mainly to sheep and wool. In 1870
there were only 762, ,511 sheep in Mis-
souri,, and in 1879, as the Auditors re-
port shows, there were only :,436 $40,
or about % to the square mile, while
the experience Of England shows that
there might be 500 to the square mile
without too severely limiting the area
devoted to grain and other food crops.
The number is steadily increasing how
ever, having doubled i'm nine years,
and it is to be hoped that our best
farmers will more aud more cultivate
an interest which brings with it ligh-
ter work, better profits and greater
cOmfort.-Repubticd