The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1884-04-13
SHEEP HUSBA NDRf.
Wool and sheep against Tobacco-A Few
Facts and Figures.

10 me EUttOF ~ TIC OtSputCH'
The object of this paper is to call the al
tention OF the people OF the tobaccO-e grow
ing region OF Virginia to the value and
Importance OF wool and sbeep-raising as
against tobacco. There is no State In the
Union that L. better adapted to sheep
raising than Virginia, and nowhere
can sheep be raised ut so little cost
and with so much net profit. There
are in Eastern Virginia vast quantities
of open land too much impoverished
to be profitably cultivated, which can be
purchased at from 80 to IS per acre. Sheep
thrive on these lands in the most wonder
iul manner. They are mostly elevated ana
dry, but abundantly supplied with water
by creeks and branches. sheep delight in
dry soil and dry climate, aud hence the
great adaptation OF such lands to sheep
husbandry. Sheep require very little
feeding here, and have known flock to
be subsisted the whole year round without
any feeding whatever.
In order to show how well sheep may be
made to pay here the writer will take the
liberty of giving an item in his own eXpe-
rience and in that OF one Of his neighbors.
He commenced the last season with 80 old
sheep. From these he raised IS lambs and
100 pounds OF wool. Putting the lambs ut
So each and the wool at % cents per
pound we have the gross product OF
1854. Deduct from this the cost OF
raising-say S40-and S114 Is left as
the net profit on 32 sheep. My
neichbor has done better than this.
From "a old sheep he raised SO lambs and
100 pounds OF wool, the value OF both
being 1929. Deduct the cost OF raising,
which he puts at S25, ii leaves net profit
OF Sl04. He says that all the feeding that
he has given his flock was a few ears OF
corn occasionally during bad weather, and
yet his flock Is in fine condition. These
are not exceptional cases. 1t is the usual
result with all who give their flocks proper
attention and do not allow them TO become
too large. It must be ACKNOWLEDGED that
sheep do not do so well in large flocks.
There Is no doubt OF the fact that wool
could be made an important and most val
liable industry in Virginia.
/ will now proceed to show how much
more profitable sheep are than tobacco.
There are forty-three counties in Vir-
GINA that grow tobacco as staple crop.
The crop i'm these forty-threc counties may
be safely estimated at 50,000,000 OF pounds.
Estimating the average value at Sc. per
pound, we have an aggregate value Of 81
100000. Putting the cost OF production
at &c. per pound, agregating $4,000, 900, 4
net profit OF 81 ,000, 900 is realized.
Now take sheep. In these IS counties
there are about G1,174 farms. Allowing
the very moderate number Of % sheep on
an average to be raised on each farm, we
have an aggregate Of 1,544.3j0 sheep. Esti-
mating the clip OF each at pounds, we
have the wool product OF :, 721, $50 pounds,
which, valued at % cents per pound, makes
the total value OF the wool crop 1880, $50.
Add to this amount the value Of the lambs
raised, allowing one to each eve, equal to
1,544,350 lambs, which, at $3.50 each,
amounts to S3,S60,s75. We have then as
the gross product OF both lambs and wool,
S.. 791 ,01S. Deduct from this the cost OF
raising-say 81 each, amounting to Sl.544,-
3jO-the sum OF S4,24j,66S remains as the
net profit, as against 100000 on the to-
baccO crop.
Now the excellence in these results is
that they can be reached without any or
very little additional cost and labor, whilst
the tobacco-maker can keep on making
tobacco as usual, except that he should
curtai his crop somewhat, and which he
ought to do anyhow, and make what he
does cultivate better.
But the poor innocent sheep has two
very formidable enemies, which deter
many persons from raising them. One Of
them is the dog and the other the sheep
stealer. With a little care and attention,
and by penning them at night near the
homestead and putting bells on few,
these depredations may be IN great mea-
sure prevented. This writer has been do
ing this for several years, and during this
time he has not lost single sheep by
these causes except when he neglected
to enforce the rule. Other advantages will
result from this practice--the sheep are
kept gentle. and the owner can see them
each day, and thus be ready to discover
when any accident happens. Notwith-
standing these facts, not more than one
third OF the farmers here raise sheep at all.
All can and should do it, for it would
make valuable addition to the income
OF the farm, whilst it would involve but
little additional cost or labor. w. ii.