The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1886-02-05
KENOSHA COUNTY SHEEP
BREEDERS AND WOOL
GROWERS ASSOCIA-
Fourth ANNUAL MEETING.

!, held their annual meeting on THURSDAY
January 18th, in the Methodist church
Salem. The attendance was good.
The ladies of the Aid Society provide,
dinner in the church parlors.
| After dinner the meeting was callet
to order by the President
Il The treasurer presented his report
which was accepted.
I On motion of Mr.. A. D. Cornwell, thu
incumbent officers were reelected fol
the ensuing year.
/ The officers are: President, B. III
tStocker, Salem Vice President, John
lG. Fleming. Wilmot; Secretary and
Treasurer, R. E. Roberts, Woodwork.
The President delivered the annual
address, which is as follows
Members of the Association.
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN-I have the
honol and the pleasure also Of greeting
you again on the occasion of our annual
meeting Our association is still in its
infancy, having but just entered the
fourth year of its existence. But as it
grows older every year we hope to see
it grow bigger and stronger The sheep
farmers occupation is not gone, nor is
1t likely to 60 as long as the millions
relish mutton and wear clothes. To
buy the wool we wear and the mutton
we eat Of another nation would seem to
be the ruination of our own country. 1t
is imperative we grow both mutton and
wool, and in the run of years we shall
find d profit in growing them. Sheep
husbandry, like every other industry,
has its ups and downs. We always en-.
Joy the ups /; the downs pull down our
faces. The question that concerns us
is How to grow wool at profit, and
how to increase the profits of sheep hus-
bandry. Low prices have taught us the
necessity of keeping only such sheep as
give good fleece Of wool. Light shear
ers can only be fed and cared for at
loss. Another thing we ought to have
learned by this time is, that we must
grow good carcass for mutton. We
must seek for better profits in the line
of improvement A larger carcass, bet
ter mutton and earlier maturity mean
better profits. Perhaps we can do some
thing in the way of better feeding, better
care and better handling. By pooling
our experiences and relating our meth
DDS here to-day some of us may learn
something. The foundation of q good
sheep is a good lamb. How to get a
good lamb and how to grow the lamb to
its best are important questions. We
can talk this over, and no doubt learn
something from your experience.
Another important question is: How
to market our wool and secure for our
selves the best price. Last spring the
market opened at % cents for washed
fleece, and at the close of summer had
advanced to 80 cents. The man who
sells at 80 cents grumbles and says there
no profit in wool. And if he is making
nothing, how is it with the man who
sells at % or even % cents? There sure
" is a profit in wool for somebody.
Perhaps the wrong man gets it. The
middleman who bought your wool this
year made more profit than the WOOL
grower does in five years. When the
price of wool goes below the cost of pro-
duction it is safe for the growers to hold
it. If we know what our wool costs us
per pound, we can tell better about the
price we ought to hold it at. The man
who sells his wool at % cents does so be-
cause he fears it may go lower. The
middleman buys~it because he knows it
must 60 higher. The grower sells his
wool at loss. The middleman, has
brains enough to appreciate the situation
and rake in the profits. He ought not
to be found fault with he simply goes
along and picks up the dollars we throw
away.g-sThe question of marketing wool |
will bear good deal of discussion, and |
| advise we give share Of our time to |
its consideration.
In concluding, allow me to say again
our gathering, that the object of our as
sociationis to benefit every wool grower
by counseling together, and by a free
discussion of any and all questions relat-
ing to our industry.
Discussion was had on the amount of |
hay and grain consumed by a given
of sheep.
Mr.. ]. M. Brown, Salem, was winter |
ing 800 head of store sheep. Store sheep
ewes, lambs. wethers and all
sheep kept for breeding or shearing.
Those being fattened for mutton are not
included. Mr.. Brown fed his sheep Ell
the good hay they would eat, and one
bushel shelled corn per day to each 100
sheep. The flock shears an average of
seven pounds of wool per head washed
before shearing.
John G. Flemming winters 275 sheep.
The grain ration is one bGshel oats per
100 sheep. Flock shears an average of
seven pounds washed wool per head.
Griffin Culver feeds one bushel shelled
corn per $50 sheep. His flock of 800
averages seven pounds washed fleece.
w. v. Gull winters 450 sheep. Had
improved his flock to shear an average
of seven pounds washed wool per head
Feeds good tame hay, and always feeds
more than the sheep can eat.
R. X. Hartnell feeds his flock of 800
sheep three bushels oats per day.
B. FL. Stocker keeps o separate yard
and shed for his 100 lambs. The hay
loft holds just fifteen loads of hay, all of
which was fed out to the lambs. 1t was
more than they could eat clean, and
three or four colts were fed from the
cleanings of the sheep racks. He COM
menced early in the fall to feed a few
oats and increased to one-half bushcl per
day After January LIST feeds one bush
eel oats per day until turned out to grass.
Lambs sheared an average of six pounds
washed wool per head.
|, A. D, Cornwell had frequently winter
ed 500 sheep and had carried them
through the winter without the loss of a
single sheep. He estimates the food
consumed as follows ten tons good
tame hay, some corn fodder and straw
per 100 sheep and 200 bushels of oats.
The cost of winter food and pasturage
could not be less than So per head per
year. There are no farm animals, in
his opinion, that put the land in as good
condition for raising good crops as would
sheep.
| I. P. Helms winters ITO sheep. Used
to feed that number one bushel of she'll
ed corn and one-half bushel oats mixed
per day. Is feeding now one and one