The Billings herald. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1882-1885, 1883-11-10
nEEp PASSING.

will devote the remainder of my Letter
10 the sheep interests Of Montana About
ten years ago The first tocks of sheep were
driven into this territory, and as they were
found - thrive wei! on our grasses during
winter Others We're driven over the noun
tainS ana MontBna was recognized as Il
p st"ral sheep country. 1t has. however.
been only within four years that the special
fitness of Montana as a sheep raising and
wool growing country has been Understood.
! Ii is now known that Montana wool leads
| al! other woods from the Western State.
! and Territories. No other wool SO nearly
! approaches tie Australian in softncss and
! evenncss of grade in the fleece So popular
has Montana wool become III the eastern
| markets. and niany buyers in other terri
tories represent their wool rs grown in
Montana. the same az flour from Illinois
AMI Iowa, i. often branded Minnesota. to
increase IFS market value. All breeds OF
sheep. especially the Mrri:i,S and Downs
mature finely here, ans! attnin Il lar:-c size
Oar well bred liocks o: grade Merinos Weld
feeces weighing >ix t" eight pounds. OF
wool that will not shrink in occurring. over
81 10 - per c'nt. | havt ucver seen sheep
eiseE here ~ tat as the sheep uf his terri
tory, when property lanl!cd all this too
when they are grazing in i!rck> of o,HD to
1000. In np pastoral country oil this con
tincnt can the >hcs;, business h.. carried on
as safely as in Mrntann. Nrnrlth~, suc., a>
often prevail in California and Texas. and
which are 50 disastrous To the nocks Cf
those states. are unknown here. The dan
ger which NJ ,ntan sheep owners must
guard against, is occasional very cold and
stormy weather, r"mmcncng in Dcccm.
ber and c"nimuin : through January This
he Can always do by bulling shed. and
supplying himself with 80 tons of hav for
each l.0uo sheep In California large flock
owners have never been able to provide
means to carry their f"cks through pro-
tracted droutlls. During the five wears !
have spent here there has been but one
winter in northern Montana when it was
necessary to feed hay TO sheep That win
ter. however will long be remem bercd
by MontaniaEs tor its severity. 1t is well
known that Wlleg-yer sheep owners during
that winter were provided wit ample shed
room and 40 to 30 tons of h To each 900
sheep. their loss did not exceed 3 to per
cent. The losses ana hardshiIs that were
borne by many Of our flock owners during
the winter referred to IsS0-SD are now
carefully guarded against by those engaged
IN the business. With thc natural increas
Of our ilocks and the new hOcks from Cali
fordia, Oregon and Washington. we now
have a. least SG0, 1000 sheep. which will yield
the coming June about 5000. coo pounds Of
wool. This is considerable wool from a
new country, bat the sheep business here
is only in its infancy. confidently ex-
rect there will be 10000. 600 sheep in Nom
tana before the the enc of the present de-
cadt. !; requires special fitness to man
age sheep here successfully. Many fail at
it, and'of course curse sheep ana the sheen
business; but ambitious young men, OF
good habits, and especially those reared on
eastern farms, can make the sheep business
great success in Montana. Our nocks are
generally composed of grade merinos, half
blood and above, and the wool Of the ter
ritory is fast approaching uniform grade
or srandatd. At present wool is shipped
east in sacks the same as wool from Mime |
sofa and Wisconsin, but soon much of II |
will be graded and baled to secure the
minimum freight rate, and large quantity |
will be secured before shipment. More |
wool Is mark eted at Fort Benton than any
other point in Montana. although much
has been diverted from the Musscl>hel
and Judith Basin to the Northern Pacific
The average price of unwashc'l |
wool at this place during the past five years
has been 25I cents, WHICH believe to be a |
higher average than the clothing wool in
any other country during the same time,
and especially country so far distant from
the eastern seaboard.
The settlement Of Montana by farmers
may to some extent interfere with the
sheep business, as it is now carried on, and
smaller focks in many places may be the
result. hut the extraordinary fitness OF the