The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1885-09-22
SHEEP HUSBANORY.
Some Reasons Why the Keeping of Sheel
is SO Often Improbable.

is SO Often Improbable.
Just now when wool is bringing low
prices the remark is frequently made
that keeping sheep don't pay" 1t is
believed, however, that sheep properly
managed will pay as well as any variety
of live stock of any branch of farming.
We may. therefore. properly consider
tIe question, how can they be made to
pay and why they do not pay now.
One reason why sheep do not pay is
that they are not kept well enough.
There is a greater tendency to over
stock with sheep than with any other
stock, and in consequence they do not
have enough or the right kind of feed.
Our common Merinos, which are
greatly the majority in numbers, need
pasture on dry soil. They do not like
rank heritage or wet soils. The latter
are absolutely unhealthy for them, and
while they may run on them in the
early part of the season, they should
not be confined TO them then, and later
in the fall should be absolutely ex-
Guided from them. Some of the Brit
ISL breeds will endure wet soils better
than the Merino. Second, although
Merino sheep will run in large focks
and do well they will do much better
in smaller focks, and unless the fiocks
are small and the range abundant thev
will do better for frequent change of
pasture. We think field divided and
the sheep turned in each half alter
nately for one or two weeks, never al
lowing the grass to get very rank, will
keep more sheep and keep them better
than if they were kept in the one large
field the whole time as they frequently
are. and yet with frequent change and
close attention the land can be well
stocked with sheep and have them do
well
Another great point is better sheep.
At this time, instead of selling off the
whole flock for little or nothing and
going out of the business in disgust,
select portion of the best of the flock
and dispose of the rest. 1t may posi-
bly, be found that those kept will pay
as much profit as did the whole flock
and pay well for keeping. On many
cheap lands sheep can not be expected
to do their best, but in sRch cases they
are generally the most profitable stock
that can be kept.
In England, on their high priced
lands, sheep have been considered as
profitable as any class of live stock;
and why should they not be? 1t has
been demonstrated that good class
of mutton sheep will grow as much
meat on the same food as will cattle,
and although mutton does not rule
quite as high in price as beef, the wool.
even at present low prices, will more
than make the difference in favor of
the sheep. This refers to mutton
breeds grown exclusively for meat.
They can be turned off at an early age
and are suited to small farms of rich
soil and good care. In such places we
belive them profitable But they need
q little better feeding and more care
than many farmers ars accustomed to
give to sheep. Of the great mass of
sheep ON Michigan farms that are of
Merino blood and are kept for wool
and in the end mutton, they should be
bred with reference to size aud feeding
quality as. well as woel and turned of
to be, replaced by younger sheep as soon
IS they begin to decline or very soon