The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1884-05-09
The Egis and Intelligencer.
Bel Air, Md, May 8, 1854.
DEER CREEK FARMERS' GLIB
l'nlLi ing hOut N D0r Law

Besides members there were present Rey. &. II
Wilson, Messrs. +. A. RdOut, VIM. H. Bay les
and Geo. ii Gorrell
Messrs. Archer, Webster and W. d. Lee, TIN
committee of inspection, were accompanied b,
the entire club in an examination of the farm
a I'd premises. The commit tee reported that the,
had never seen the farm looking SO well. Til,
field. OF those in the stable IL or 10 are to bt
shipped away in few days The sheep were
remarkably fine lot, being mostly common ewes
w.ih II touch of Cotswold and Southdown il
them The grass field is one of the best sods the
committee knew of. In short they saw nothing
Does The Sheep Industry of hartford county
require protection from The depreciation ol
dots?" was the question for discussion
> b. Silver answered it in the Affirmative
Every farmer knows the value of Il small bunch
ui sheep and it is necessary to have some protcc-
tiol for them. His sheep are housed every night
lnit he has frequently been aroused In the night
Ly the barking of dogs around his sheep pen and
been obliged toget up and drive them away. IL
is well to have good shepherd dog to assist in
driving the sheep from one part of the farm to
ana lambs are profitable. A neighbor, John Carr,
Ind sold $40 worth of lambs and wool in one
Sheep must be housed every night. but they do
better in the fields. In warm weather they feed
CHIEFLY at night. They huddle together on the
kunlls, which are always the poorest spots, and
enrich them by their droppngs. Sheep are few
III number in comparison with other branches of
farming, but If we had some protection from
th.'m source of great profit. He did not know
what measure of protection to suggest, as a ma
irity of persons seem to prefer dogs to sheep.
.lonn Moores said he was n sheep man and in
favor of dog law, but not in favor of special
law to tax dogs IL is iact That dogs are not
property until they are dead.
A member suggested that it would then be Il
good thing to make property Of AL dogs MS soon
Mr. Moores rcsuming, said that ut the next as
easement dogs should be assessed and he
made respectable animals in the eyes OF the
law If the owner cannot he taxed, from
not having n sufficient amount of property
let the dog be uutlawed. Owners ought to
La
dogs. Dog laws are unpopular because there are
ten dog owners to one sheep owner; Encourage
soon become popular. In Cecil county no man
could go to the Legislature il he were opposed TO
Il dog law, while in Hartford the reverse is the
casc We have dog law in Hartford. but il is I'M
popular and it must he because il is not good
hw The keeping of sheep would be profitable
To the individual and also TO the community.
+. a. Ridout thought ii desirable to do away
with many of the dogs which now infest the coun-
try As IL rule the less property man has the
more dogs he keeps. lie dCsparcd of getting
practicable dog law in Hartford since the cfori II
few years ago A few dogs we're killed but moth
ing is now heard of the law. lie is afraid to keep
nice sheep and has only some common ones which
would not be much loss il they were killed by
dogs.
W. ID. lee thought il strange that sheep in lIar
ford can not he protected. No doubt many more
sheep would be kept IL we mad Good dog law
s ock on the farm. Sheep onot thrive II penned
Up ut night in summer, which you are Obliged to
do or be uneasy about them. From 50 10 10 per
cent Of the dogs in Hartford are not worth cents
apiece.
James Lee was in favor of II stringent dog law.
There ought to he Il fund to pay owners of sheep
that are killed by dogs, and the whole thing be
made sclf-sustaning.
WIN. Munnikhuyscn was strongly in favor of
dog law and thought II strange that every man is
not. Dogs have more rights than human beings
and he could not see why gentleman should
want to see the lowest cur have more privileges
than he has. Dogs can trespass ON your place
hut man can not. You dare not iniure "A dog
found on your place but II you llnd II man Tres
passing you can kick him OF.
Il Harris Archer said that taxing dogs To pay
the owners of sheep might be a premium on care
lessness. If II man knows he will he paid for his
sheep he will often not care what becomes of
them Special taxes are obnoxious to the com
munty and he was opposed to them lie would,
however, favor making them property and il II
dog comes on your place, take him up and advcr-
tise him. He opposed killing all dogs ihdiscrim-
VIM. Webster said he had wondered for n years
how such an intelligent class of people as the
farmers of Hartford could have had patience TO
permit so many Legislatures to pass without de-
manding dog law. Thirty years ago it might
have been unpopular but il is not now. He was
friend to the dog but greater friend to the
sheep. Dogs are not property and If they can be
allowed to deprive us of our property and taxes
there is something wrong Dog laws work well
in the Western States and In Cecil and Chester
counties. Why not in Hartford? MIR: Webster
had read a letter from the editor of the Elkton
WING, who spoke of the efficiency of the dog law
for that county. In 1888 the sheep awards
amounted to 500 and $l"h was turned over to
the school fund.
The Cecil law imposes II tax upon owners of
dogs upwards of two months old of 81 ON each
male and 81 on each female dog, To be collected
by the tax collectors. All dogs upon which no
tax is paid before the LIST of April must be killed
by the collectors under Il penalty of from $40 to
800 The fee for killing dogs and the awards for
sheep destroyed or injured are paid out of the dog
Mr.. Webster said the law was SO popular in
Cecil that no one could be elected To the Lcgisa-
ture if opposed it; In Chester county fox
hunter whose hounds frightened some sheep and
prevented them from feeding properly after
wards was fined 500 If we had dog law we
could afford to keep fine sheep If more sheep
were kept here it would be better for the farmer,
the mechanic and everybody. Sheep are n bcne-
iit to rich land and greater benefit to poor land
He would put these words in every farmers
mouth until the next Legislature meets: "Givc
us dog law!'
ton for sheep without law and that has been a
frlIitless effort so far. On many lands sheep are
more profitable than any stock that can he kept
Why dog law should be unpopular he could not
tell, and it is not crcditable that the opposition
comes from class of people who do less than any
other for the interests of the community. 1t is
not uncommon to find man with family of
children, blacks in particularly with nothing in
the house to eat and keeping three or four dogs.
A man who would pledge himself to give us a
good dog law could not he defeated. One dog is
as much ms any man has use for and no one would
object to paying reasonable tax for good dog.
Edward Z. Moores believed the best plan is to
make dogs property and tax them, making man
responsible for the damage done by his dog
Sheep are prof. table but dogs are in the way.
Rev. &. ID. Wilson.-Sheep have rights and dogs
have rights too. II is right to tax dogs 1t would
them. If man has to pay Il tax he would have
Il dog worth paying for. Scripture makes a dis
tinction between sheep and goats, but not be-
tween sheep and dogs to the disadvantage of the
dogs. Dogs are property, whether considered so
not, and il it is difficult to keep sheep because
of the dogs owners of dogs ought To pay tax
If sheep dared To modest dogs, the dog owners
would object.
Geo. t. Silver said the last Agricultural Report
gives the value of sheep in Marya at S4T,9jl,
estimating the value of the l52 700 sheep in the
State at $i.l3 each. The capital invested in sheep
~ nal f..t
it is therefore of great importance. You can buy
in the falla few sheep at from $3.50 to - head
ordinary stock ewes-and by the list OF the next
May each one will produce lamb worth S350
and wool worth Sla5, making profit of SiT6
from $3.50 or s. and the capital retained; There,
fore the 795l invested in sheep in Maryland
can be made to Yields yearly revenue of that
amount. For the capt and labor invested and
provender consumed sheep are the most prOiita-
bile stock we can keep Every farmer owning
from ~ to 5O acres can keep sheep. Ut II farm is
small cattle may not be handled, but sheep can
be kept with profit Sheep require range. Ii is
not well TO herd Them in large tlocks or too many
in the same field, nor should they be housed too
closely. If sheep are KEPT dry their wool pro-
tects them from cold in winter. They can stand
the summer rains, but must have pasture and
water. All farmers can keep sheep and make
capital invested in sheep, and he did not see why
the farmers should allow the sheep interest 10 be
sacrificed to dogs, There is.no objection to any
man keeping Il dog, but he should be responsible
fora dog tax. Make dogs property and their
the sheep they kill. BY keeping more sheep
clothing and meat would be cheaper, and every
BODY benefited. The public should be educated
to realize the value of sheep and then there
would be no difficulty about protecting sheep. He
wanted the poor man to get along and it is his in
terest rs well as the farmers that dogs should he
taxed and worthless ours d stroyed.
Geo II. Gorrell thought the best dog law would
be one TO kill all the dogs. Sheep are profitable
and only one dog in five hundred is good for any
thing.
WIN. IL. Bayle said it was clear that sheep are
profitable and the business shou be fostercd and
encouraged. There ought to he some law 10 pro-
tect sheep from dogs. The best law he knew Of
is the Cecil county law, and after people are edu-
Gated to dog law 1t would meet the case Dogs
are principally kept us pets and for pleasure and