The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1886-07-02

ss"e IVY AAy
About Horses.
SELECTING FOR SLAUGHTER.
Farmers who keep sheep would do
well OF shcaring time TO pass judgment
removed. If the fleece is light in weight
and poor in quality the probability is
that the sheep from which it was taken
is not worth keeping. II is not n good
animal to breed from, as "like produces
like, and there is no prospect that it
will produce more or better wool in the
future. 1t is not a good sheep for wool
and the only chance to make money out
OF the animal is in preparing its flesh for
food. Ii will be best to mark it to dis
tinguish il from the sheep that produce
wool enough TO pay for the food they
eat and the trouble they make, and to
place it where it will become fat as soon
as possible. A farmer who keeps q
hundred sheep can select enough at
Bhcaring time to supply his family with
fresh meat during the summer and fall
without greatly lessening the value of
his flock for producing wool. If one
fleece in every ten is very poor in quality
it will bring down the value of the Others
when the entire is offered for SALE
Every sheep keeper should cndeavor to
improve. year by year, the quality of
their wool, and shearing time affords
the best opportunity to select the ami
mails that make poor return for their
keep. by putting them into good
pasture and feeding them some grain
they can be fattencd in a few weeks at
a very small expense. The butchers in
small towns generally have trouble to
find mutton TO supply their customers,
and are prepared to buy fat sheep of
farmers who live near them. Withers
can be made fat by the LIST of July, but
ewes that have lambs must be kept till
later in the season.
AS the weight and quality of the wool
obtained ut the annual shearing should
decide whether it is profitable to con-
tinue to keep certain sheep in flock,
SO the amount and richness of the milk
given by cows during several weeks
should determine whether they are
profitable to keep i'm a dairy herd. A
milk-producer can not afford to keep q
COW that only furnishes Il small amount
of poor milk during few months of the
year. Neither will he find profit in
keeping one that is hard mixer, one
that is inclined to kick on very slight
provOcation, or one whose milking
period is quite short. Cows whose
record is bad in either of these respects
are not worthy place in dairy herd,
nor are the desirable as breeders of
dairy stock. They should be used for
filling the beef barrel and not the milk
ing pail. The sooner they are converted
into beef the smaller will be the loss to
their owners. The value of a cow as a
mixer can generally be determined dur
ing the summer after she drops her first
calf. She will probably give more milk
| the second season than the first, but if
her milking record is very poor the first
| year it is quite certain that it will never
be very good in any subsequent year 1t
is best 10 decide within three months
after COW has dropped her first calf
whether she will be profitable for a
member of Il dairy herd. An intelligent
opinion can be formed by accurately
weighing or measuring her milk, by see
ing how much cream it produces, and
by comparing them with the milk or
cream furnished by superior cows. A
COW that fills the milk pail twice day
during eight months of the year con-
sumes hardly any more fool than one
that only half ills il during a much
shorter period. She requires no more
room in the stable, and quite likely re-
quires no more of the man who milks
her. Chicago Times.