The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1884-05-21
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SHEEP RAISING.

The following from the Calgary IN.
w. IT, Herald, which has for some
weeks been persistently urging the in
PRODUCTION of sheep into that country,
will be read with interest here, as there
likely to grow up a considerable de-
mand from the north for the acclimated
sheep of Montana, where the climate
and range conditions are somewhat SIM
liar:
At the present time, when speculation
is rampant throughout the west, and
men are daily exerting themselves to
devise some scheme by which they can
become suddenly rich, it is not to be
wondered at that the slower but surer
roads to competence are passed by I'M
needed. Mineral excitements and real
estate fevers are the all absorbing topics,
and seem to be the chief incentives in
attracting eastern people to the far west.
But in our opinion it would seem as if
the key note to Alberta's future pros
perity has only just been struck and in
the formation or the British American
Ranching company for the purpose of
raising sheep, the seeds of a grand in
. VI bO1hS 0oNl- Oil 1IluuSIlV
that will grow quickly and surely and
be as a magnet to the British capital
that is now seeking a like investment in
the western states.
The history of the Australian colonies
affords:.a good criterion on which to base
o few remarks, and from which to draw
a parallel. Some thirty years since the
Australian colonies were agloW with the
gold fever. Men grew rich in a day and
as suddenly became poor. The plodding
pioneers who started sheep farming in
those days were looked upon with a feel
ing almost akin to pity. Eallarat, Ben.
digo and Gabriel's Gully sprung Up as u
by magic, and gold dust was circulated |
with a lavish hand. Few men in those
times cared to lead a shepherds lonely
life. But the order of things is now re-
yersed. The placers are worked OFT
and the cities, once rife with p1asnra
and dissipation, are deserted and almost
forgotten, aid the once Wealthy miner
II alive, IL to-day a newer of wood or IS
pushing north to Queensland in nones
of striking it rich once moe: while
thousands 81 them are deaa and forgot
~ten7-purled without a coffin by the trail
through the bush, and the big hearted
OlO IIllucIS are SIOWIuS lew.
The history of the plodding sheep far
mers presents a strong contrast. For
wears they toiled steadily on, increasing
in hunters every year, until to-day
the squatter of years past is the leading
man in those distant colonies. Now the
statesmen and leading business men tell
with pride OF their success as sheep far
mers and Of the pleasures and trials OF
bush life. Their sons are graduates OF
the best schools in England, and are the
professional and commercial men of the
time. The Merino and Leicester have
grown from thousands into millions,
and are spreading from Queensland to
the southland OF New Zealand. High
up among tire southern Alps the hardy
Scotch farmer has built his home, and is
the happy owner of fiocks ranging from
ten to eighty thousand head, and the
Merino and Leicester sheep are the
mainstay Of those colonies. But it has
not been all sunshine with the sheep
farmer. For years he had to lead a very
lonely life !; wa a stranger to the enjoy
ments and luxuries of civilization was
far from a market for his wool the boil
ing down establishment was his only
meat market, where the carcass was
valued for it's tallow he had to battle
with years of drought, of which a Cam
adian can have but a faint conception !;
the wild boar, the dingo, and the rabbit
had to be fought against, while his flock
was often seriously thinned out by the
the frequent avalanches of Mount Cook.
But patience and pluck have won the
day, and brought a rich reward, and the
sheep farmers have built up those Q
derful colonies. H
To such men Alberta offers bright in
ducements. The undulating formation
of the country, the nutritious grasses,
the plentiful supply of pure water, and
its bright, sunny climate are all that a
sheep mar could desire, while the di-
seases fostered beneath a tropical sun
will be unknown here. During u
most severe winters a few hundred tons
of hay will carry a large band success
fully through, and meadow lands are to
be found all over.
We wish Mr.. Kerfoot a hearty success
in his enterprise, and congratulate him
on being the pioneer in an industry
which we are convinced will o take
the lead and be a source Of venue
when the days of placer diggings and
real estate fevers are gone and forgotten.
A Cattle Sale.