South Branch intelligencer. [volume] (Romney, Va. [W. Va.]) 1830-1896, 1882-10-13
letter from Colorado.
PunnIo. Cor. oc,. 5. lsaa

MR- -klARR1R .---They say out here
that ~ man c.tu make tots of money
IN the sheep business, but he's ius.
got 10 have sand This Is 1adonbtcdiy
a correct statement of the ease. The
business IS profitable yheu managed
with care, Judgment and industry.
but Il entails . life of solitude 10
great extent and one full OF vicissitu.
DIES. a plaH should have Il proaer
appreciation of these things and an
understanding OF the business before
going into if. They tell of high
toned Englishman who came here l.
few years ago with $50, 900 and went
away owing $4,000. lie was always
blasting this bloody country you know
and lived high. In the language Of
an old timer blamed ii he cared what
he paid for anything. Offer him a
horse worth forty dollars and charge
him $3.50 and he'd give you check.
de didn't care what ne paid for his
sheep. Had $500 of them, and YOU
used to zee thirty or forty EngIishmen
ioahng on him. You bet he didn't
have the trouble of selling them sheep.
Sheriff did il for HIM OF course
such man could not succeed in rails,
ing sheep. But rs an off set To- this.
and to illustrate the real character of
the business, hero is another instance
given me by an old herder. Said he !:
L wanted q man to herd sheep, and |
met one coming out of Pueblo who
said he would like TO work for me-
Look here, said /, Il won't pay you
any wages, bot III give you $50 lambs
which you must herd as part OF ;he
iocS.' He agreed TO that aud work
eel tor me three years and halt, un-
tai he had to go away and be married
and then bought him ont. The wool
had paid all expenses and he had 50,
$50 coming to him in cash.
1t is needless 10 say that there is 70
royal road to success aud wealth in
the sheep business, or any other call
ing, IN Colorado, any more than there
is IN every part of the world. There
is no hope for ii without economy and
industry and strict personal attention.
and even with all these the fates some
times decree failure. But as rule
man who knows what he is about may
invest from five thousand dollars TO
S25, 900 in sheep and realize a return
OF twenty live per cent Ter annum.-
Comparing this with tile profits OF cat.
tie raising it will be found that the
latter promise larger, though more
tardy, returns, but the advantages on
the side Of sheep are smaller require
mcnts in the way OF capital and the
ready returns of cash from the yearly
crop ofwool. Some old-timers assert
that they can run a flock of five
thousand sheep, year in aud year out,
at an average cost of fifty cents per
head. For such rs they-and there
are many Of them-tLe above esti,
mate of profit would need to be ma
terially changed. Your old-timer has
lived twenty years, perhaps, in this
part OF the country. He is deeply at
tached to the soil and knows no 9th.
or home. He has spent years in the
mountains prospecting, and while he
may like 4 soft bed and tight root.
and u good dinner as we'll ashis neigh
Dor, there have been epochs in his
life when any one Of them would he
no nearer his reach than the JOYS of
Mahommedan paradise, and he 'coun-
teth rone Of these things dear when
his mind is set on the accomplish
ment OF any object When this man
takes up the business of shecp-raising
he Is in dead earnest. lie knows
nothing, thinks ofnothing, but sheep
lives among them, studies and mas.
ters every detail of their management.
and institutes n rigid economy. lie
will have good sheep, good corruls.
and probably good sheds, but he will
care little for the comforts Of his cab
in. One Of the most successful sheep
men in this region began ~ living
IN cave near Colorado Springs.
To loneliness the old-timcr has long
ago become n stranger.
The ideal shepherd may be cncoun.
tered here in every conceivable va
ricty, full of entertaining and voraci-
Gus narratives of his adventures and
experiences Successful old timers
enjoying the results OF past Iabors and
clad In the sober garb Of civilization,
lay down the law over their social ci.
CARS; while youthful beginners, with
doubtful prospects, sport hats with an
enormous breadth OF brim, and eeom
10 delight in garments Of dubious cut
aud texture and extreme antiquity
One Of two gentlemen from the East
visiting Colorado Springs and calling
on a lady Of bis acquaintance there.
apologizad forthc absence OF his com.
panion whose clothes suitable for Tie
occasion had been delayed by tIo cx.
press only hear thatr she cXcIajin-
cd, delighted at ibis uuu4uu respect
for civilized habits. Why / have