The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1884-11-07
THE FUTURE OF SHEEP

HE FUTURE OF SHEEP.
! Prof. Stewart very properly thinks AM
says in his book on feeding animals tina
sheep husbandry is destined to assume
very great Importance in this country
1t appears to be the industry which can
not produce q supply equal tc the de
mand
i THERE Is No PROBABILITY
of our ever growing much wool for ex-
Iport. The wants Of our population in
| clothing will even more than keep pace
with our wool production. But it is to
be hoped that, with our constantly ex-
panding territory suited to the produc-
/ ton ofwool and mutton, we may, within
a short period, be able to supply most of
the wool now imported. 1t is the one
home market not yet supplied, and thus
has the advantage of most other agricul-
tural industries, of a customer unsought.
In dairying, beefgrowing, wheat-grow-
ing and cultivating swine products, we
sedulously stimulate the foreign de-
mand but in woolgrowing our last
fleece is sought at our own door. We
are improving so rapidly th machinery
for manufacturing the best cassimeres,
broadcloths, and Brussels, Wilton and
Administer carpets, that our woods bring
better prices to the grower than those Of
any other country. We have cheaper
lands, cheaper food, and as good a.
climate for sheep growing as can be
found and all we need beyond these to
compete with all the world in wool pro-
duction is a knowledge of the business
equal to our facilities. Here, as else
where, we must study the whole bust
ness, understand and utilize all its de-
tails. Simple woolgrowers cannot be
maintained in any country where land
has any considerable value.
MORE PROFIT IN MUTTON.
To breed and feed sheep simply for |
the wool is little better than raising
wheat for the straw-the more valuable |
half goes to waste. As civilization has
advanced, and the processes Of agricul- |
ture have been improved, one country
alter another has ceased to grow wool 1
for itself alone-mutton has become the !
principal, and wool the incident of the
business. This transition was accom-
plished in England first but France is
on steadily to the same point. /
England did it by improving the Leices-
ter, Cotswold and Southdown mutton
sheep. France has been gradually do
ing it by transforming the Merino into 4
mutton breed, by an improved system
Atthe feeding establishment
Of Rambouillet, the last century has
witnessed an almost complete transfer
nation of the Merino-from the small
bodied, short-fibered, thin-feshed, slow
animal of the past, has come
9 larger size, little coarser and longer
fibre, heavier carcass and a heavier i
fleece one more ready to take on flesh,
and much earlier in maturing. The /
best-fed American Merinos are tending
in the same direction. They are ami
mails of much better formed bodies,
longer staple, heavier fleece, earlier ma
Jurlty, and better favored flesh than the 4
originals imported. The French are al
so testing the English Leicester and Cots
void cross upon the Merino, to hasten
the transformation to mutton carcass.
The tendency everywhere is to utilize
the flesh in the best possible way. 1t
must not be supposed that this trans
has reduced the quantity or,
materially, the quality Of the WOOL The
quantity has been very materially in
creased, as we'll as its aggregate value i
SO that the wool interest is not injured 4
by this new zeal in favor of the mutton.
Good feeding improves the coat, wheth- |
er it behair or wool. Note the effect up
on the hair of well-fed cattle, compared
to those poorly fed, and also upon the ]
wool of well-fed and poorly-fed sheep.
PROFIT IN SHEEP
means the most generous
and judicious feeding and care, carried |
out in every part of the system. When /
this is done, so far from sheep being I'M
profitable upon our higher priced lands, |
it is. doubtful if any other animal pays
so well. In England, it has been said
that on lands worth three to five hun |
dred dollars per acre, fertility can be /
more proftably kept up with sheep than /
any other stock. Dairy stock, for in
stance, carry of much rIlors /: Sc mix
alone than sheep III all ways, besides
taking as much TO build the bones and |
grow the bodies. The waste of phos-
pilates is much more rapid in dairying
than sheep husbandry. If, then, sheep
may be fed to profit in England on land
worth four hundred dollars per acre, we
should not be deferred from sheep-feed-
ing on lands worth $50 to $3.50 per acre.
England is considered peculiarly beef
eating country but yet the bestmutton
brings q higher price than beef. Our
large cities and manufacturing towns are
constantly increasing their demand for
good mutton, and this demand is likely
to increase as fast as the production. I'll
we should feed as large number of
sheep per hundred acres in the Middle
and Eastern States as does Great Britain,
the desire for emigration from these
states to the more fertile lands of the West