Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1886-10-29
Success With Sheep.


Success With Sheep.
That the business of keeping sheep has
its ups and downs" is a matter of COM
mon observation. Perhaps no depart
ment of farm husbandry has been subject
to so many or so great vicissitudes during
a period of thirty years as that of sheep
raising. Within this period wool has
sold as high as 81 per pound and as low
as 10 cents. Good breeding stock has
fuctuated In price in about the same way.
There have been years when carload lots
of choice young merino bucks would com
mand $50 per head. They were wanted
| for California, Texas, Colorado, Aus
| tralia, New Zealand, and various coun-
tries in South America. Within the same
| period there have been seasons when they
would not bring as much money as 1t
cost to raise them. Every few years
some English breed of mutton sheep be-
| comes fashionable in this country, and
! specimens command fancy prices. After
! a short time their defects are discovered.
or it is ascertained that they are not
adapted to the portion of the country
where they were introduced. They are
then slaughtered or disposed of at very
| low figures. Sheep-ralsing on some
| what extensive scale has been undertaken
in almost every state and territory, but
has been abandoned in the course of
few years in large proportion of them.
In many states the number of sheep has
declined as that of horses, cattle, and pigs
has increased.
While the business of keeping sheep
has fiourished and declined, rose and fell
in various parts of the country, it has re-
manned stationary In others. Observers
have more than once noticed the pros
perity of the regions where farmers have
continued to keep sheep during all the
changes in the price of WOOL mutton, and
breeding stock. Portions of Maine, Yer
mont, Pennsylvania, the Western Reserve
| in Ohio. Lake county, Illinois, and several
counties in southern Michigan and Wis
consin afford good examples of how sheep
| husbandry has benefited the persons who
have been engaged in it. They have, as
rule, fine farms, good buildings and most
! of the other things that give evidence of
| prosperity. The farmers in these sec
| tions are unanimous in their opinion that,
! in a term of years there is as much profit
| in sheep as in any animal that can be kept
! on an improved place. What is true of
! sheep keeping on improved farms Is also
true of sheep-keeping on the ranch or
| open range. Sheep kept IN large num-
| bers II the far western states and terri
! tories have, during term of years, paid
! better than cattle, and have sufferd small
| err losses. An Oregon stock-ralser ard
| shipper, who has brought about ten
thousand sheep to this market during tn
! present year, af1irms that the flock owners
are the most prosperous class in the
state.
! With all the talk about the low price of
wool, the foreign competition, and the
small demand for mutton, sheep are still
as profitable as any animals that the com
mon farmer can keep. There is now
more money in raising heavy draft and
fine carriage horses, and for persons of
! large means this business is very profit
| able. But farmers who have small places
and debts instead of bank accounts, can
not engage in breeding fine horses. They
have not the means to purchase fine
breeding stock at fancy prices or to erect
costly stables for sheltering these ami
mails. Neither can they wait three or four
! years before they receive any returns for
their capital and labor. They will find
it to their advantage to raise all the colts
they can from the mares they work in the
field, but they must devote their main at
tthIlti w Subtl's hpSS vi ShtNp hJhCSp
are less likely to disease than hogs and
are sub ject to smaller risks than cattle.
| Sheep multiply very fast and returns
come from them quickly. The lamb
dropped in March will bring a large price
in August. If kept till the following
| May it will give fleece of wool. The
owner of well managed flock of sheep
will have wool to sell in the latter part of
! spring, lambs in mid summer and mutton
! at other times in the year. In addition
| to these he can keep his table sup
! piled with fresh meat
1t is not likely that sheep will ever be
! dropped from the list of domesticated
animals in any civilized country in the
world. The prospect is that the favorite
! occupation of the patriarchs of Judea
will be the last one that husbandmen will
| generally abandon. 1t is altogether like
| " that men will continue to wear wooden
! garments long after they are drawn over
| common roads by some other power than
! that exercised by horses. 1t is as likely
! that substitute will be found for beef
as common article of food as that a
! substitute will be found for wool for max
| ing ordinary garments. As there is
| nothing like leather for making cover
| ings for the feet, so there is nothing like
wool for making garments for covering
the body.
The uses for wool are Increasing every
year. Wooden carpets are constantly be-
coming more common. Wool is now en-
ployed for making felted boolts for the
use of persons who are exposed to the
| cold. Its use for filling mattresses is in
creasing very rapidly. The demand
for mutton increases as civilization ex-
tends. The chop is fast superseding the
steak as breakfast and supper dish.
Mutton is becoming the fashionable meat
in many cities, and it will soon be the
favorite meat in the country for the reas-
on that it will be the more convenient to
obtain il.