The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1885-02-20
NO.. IL.
Sheep Notes.

The Colorado LtUe Stock Record says:
We have it upon good authority that
10000 sheep have, up to the present.
date, gone from the southern counties
of Colorado to Kansas to feed for NUT ,
ton.
A Kansas farmer, who had nine head,
of sheep, put the money that came to-
him from the sale of mutton and wool
into more sheep. In nine years he had
seventeen hundred sheep, worth S5,-
000
A good shepherd dog is a great con-
venicnce for lazy hcrder, and, as the
dog costs nothing but bone, he is
also great saving to penurious pro-
prietor, who will keep one man with
his ilocks where he should keep two.
Mutton sheep require much more
care and attention than the Merinos,
but especially the mutton breeds can
not be herded in great flocks as can
the Merinos. Yet. where excellent at ;
tention can be paid, as on well-culti-
vated farms, the profits are large.
The importation of wool from Aus
tralia this year has exceeded any prior
year by about four hundred bales.
The American buyers outdid the Eng
lish buyers for the article they wanted
and got it. The demand was princi-.
pally for long staple Merino in the
grease, and extra light in condition.
1'eraS Farm and Ranch.
The statistical account of the pro-
duction of wool throughout the civil
lied world shows that in the year 1880
it was 800, 900, 900, in 1871 it was near
1000, 100000 pounds, while in 1888, in
the United States alone, the produc-
ton of wool was 320, 900, 900 pounds, or
as much as was produced in the whole
world in 1S30.-Er.
One of the most prominent charac-
teristics of the Shropshres is their fe-l
cundity. This quality was developed
by selection during the period of the
development of the breed itself-onlyi
twins being used for breeding pur-i
poses. Twin lambs are not desirable
unless the ewes are able to properly
nourish them; but the Shropshire
dams are good nurses and give a lib
eral supply of milk especially if well
fed and properly treated.
All other breeds in this country are
outnumbered by the Merino. The,
great popularity of this breed, evil
denced by its numbers. is due more to-
the superior foraging qualities of tho
Merino than to anything else. In fact, !
it may be said that the Merino is al
most necessity upon the free W esterni
ranges. But for our farms other breeds
are rapidly becoming more popular;j
and, as the conditions of sheep raising
on the ranges approach those of the
sheep industry on our farms, the Mer-;
ino must lose ground as comparedl
with other breeds, especially if the
tariff on wool remains at the present.
relatively low figure. Texas Farm and
Ranch.
A correspondent of the Rural Net1,
Yorker says: ''Sheep will thrive in
pastures and get fat where cattle would
almost starve. They also scatter their
droppings over the field, and never
fail to enrich lands where they are
kept. On poor farms they are most
emphatically the best factors for in
creasing fertility. On rich land the
same rule holds good. as they will
make them richer. By the simple
means of portable shed, which can
be moved about the field and under
which the sheep will readily congre-
gate, the poorest spot may be made
fertile, and the whole field, by fire.
quent and regular changes of the flock,
may be thoroughly enriched. This
is a well-known characteristic of the
sheep, and by such management as
above the thinnest farms
may be readily enriched and made fer
tile.
In speaking of the breeding and
rearing of sheep, the Kansas Farmer
says: The first thing necessary is the,
farm. For it is not every farm that is;
suitable for sheep, although but few
are wholly unsuitable. Rolling and
even hilly land is the most desirable
surface, and limestone gravel that is
dry and free from swamps or low wet
places is the best soil. Clear running:
water that is wholly-free from marshy
banks or borders, or well water, which
is preferable, is indispensable, be-
cause wherever there are low wet
places, there the much to be dreaded
liver nuke and the lung worm are to
be found, with lung disorders and foot
rot. and these are more troublesome
than all other complaints of sheep put.
together. The great needs of sheep
are dry footing, good grass, or other
rather short and sweet than
-Ich and luxuriant; pure water, pure,
lir and plenty of it, and shelter from
aims and SHOWS. With these needed
and close watching to avoid
accidents and dogs, sheep will always
'elie the old Virginia adage that
they are an unhappy flock" and
will pay their way better than other
arm stock.