Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1885-10-08
PRIME MUTTON.
Its Production in the United States Should
No Longer be Neglected.

the country were supplied with beef
from animals that had been kept for
economical purposes on the farm.
Nearly all steers were broken to the
yoke and used for several years in do
ing the work now generally performed
by horses and mules. fhey hauled
manure N the spring, drew the pillow
and carted in the.crops that were raised
on the farm. During the winter they
drew the grain to market, '.broke
OUT roads, hauled saw-logs to the
saw-mill and firewood to the house.
When they had become slow of motion
and well advanced in age, their labor
was ightened, their feed increased,
and an effort made to turn them into
beef" Heifer calves. if not K lied for
veal. were raised for the purpose OF
producing milk. Cows generally gave
milk till they were eight Or ten years
old. When they had reached this age
they, like the oxen on the place, Were
fattened for the market or for home
consumption. They were generally a.
lowed to go dry the summer before
rain was fed to them. Occasionally q
kteer proved to be unruly, or a heifer
kicked the milk.ng-pail over. and when
this was the case the animal was fat
tened at a comparatively early age,
and a few people en- Dyed the luxury of
tender beef, such as is generally fur
nlshed by a young animal.
English farmers set the example of
raising cattle for no other purpose than
producing beet. They advanced their
growth as fast as possible from the
time they We're born till they reached
the age of three or four years. They
allowed them all the grass and hay
they would eat. and gave them in adj
lition an abundance of grain, turnips,
peas and oil-cake. They sought TO i'm
prove the pasture where they were kept
during the summer, ard Afforded them
suitable protection during the winter.
During this time they were establishing
distinctive beet breeds, such as the
Herefords, shorthorns and polled An
gus. They also turned their attention
to the matter OF early maturity. They
succeeded in making an animal weigh
as much 1t three years of age as SIM
liar one did at six years in former
times. English beer became famous in
every country in the world. In the
opinion of some, Great Britain pos
sessed climatic advantages for produc-
ing beef not found in other countries.
American farmers. however, soon found
that by raising cattle of the breeds that
furnished the best beet in Eng and. and
by giving them similar treatment. as
fine meat cattle could be produced here
as on the other side of the ocean. They
began to adopt English methods of
breeding and fattenng cattle, and beef
became our most popular meat.
English farmers have adapted sub
stantially the same course with sheep
that they have with cattle. AS they
made the latter furnish very super or
beef. so they have made the former
produce very superior mutton. They
established mutton breeds of sheep as
they built up beef breeds of cattle
They gave attention to the matter of
early maturity in sheep, as they did in
cattle. They experimental on the best
kind of food to feed sheep in order to
produce good meat. They made sheep
raising profitable. independent of the
sum derived from the sale of wool.
Mutton was once the food of the poorer
classes in England, but it is so no
longer. Mutton-chops are generally
preferred to beefsteaks by persons who
can afford the best meat of any de-
scription the market contains. Lamb
commands a higher price than veal. es-
pecially when it is produced early in
the season. Mutton is in demand for
roasting and for boiling. 1t is no
longer regarded as inferior to beef.
There are large farms in Great Britain
chiefly devoted to the production of
mutton, as there are many there and
in this country devoted to the produc-
ton of beef. The mutton produced at
home is not sufficient to supply the
wants of the country, and large guam
titles are now imported from Australia,
Canada and the United States.
Although we have not reached per-
lection in this country in the produc-
ton of beef and pork, we have made
an excellent start and are constantly
advancing. But we are not making
equally good progress in relation to
producing superior mutton. Sheep
were introduced into this country for
the purpose of producing wool. and the
meat furnished by them was regard as
a very unimportant consideration. Our
breeders of sheep spared no pains to
obtain heavy tleeces of fine wool, and
good of the country now requires
breeders and importers who will do
for mutton what the early fiock-mas-
tiers did for wool. We have now sheep
that yield fieeces as heavy and fine as
any that are obtained In SaXonv or
Spain. We now want sheep that will
produce as fine mutton as that which
is so highly priced in England. We
hay at fay oh haf
furnish excellent mutton, but they are
mostly in the hands of breeders, and
they are of too great value to be
slaughtered As sheep multiply rap
idly and mature at an early age. it is
easy to bring up the mutton producing
quality of a flock by judicious crossing.
The only outaly will be for bucks. They
are costly, but it will be to the advan-
tage of sheep-owners to obtain them.
A large proportion of our people are
ejud ced against mutton because they
have never eaten any that was of the
first quality. Most of our sheep are
merinos, or crosses of merinos on the
inferior stock that has long been raised
in Mexico. These sheer have small
bodies and their flesh is greatly inferior
to that furnished by the distinctive NUT
ton breeds. They have long been bred
with view of producing heavy fleeces
of fine wool Few owners of flocks ex-
pect to realize much from the sale of
mutton. As rule they kept their ewes
as long as they would breed and their
wethers as long as they had teeth suit
able to deyour the food furnished them.
Most of the sheep slaughtered were
very old, their flesh was tough and
high-fiavored; what was worse, there
was Init little of it. They were