St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1888-08-18
SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL
Making Sheep Profitable,

Making Sheep Profitable.
!. Inotice that farmers entertain fear
mat we can not compete with foreign
-SW00l-grOwers il the tariff is taken of
I wool; that they can sell their wool
IN our markets cheaper than we can
1Ord to raise it here. While adyocat-
ing a high tariff and all needed home
@Protection, yet | can not see why we
can not grow wool here as cheap as
Soreign nations, if We take proper caro-
Of our sheep. We have quite as MANY
rverdant hills and rich plains, and sure
~ can be as energetic if we will. Nv
Observation shows that farmers do not
sake proper care of their flocks and
otherwise manage them to make all
the profit they might make. Raising
'sheep Is a very profitable branch
OF farming, yet few farmers give
. ~ thought enough to see
Wnether they are making profit or
that branch is an expense. MANY
farmers give no more attention to their
sneep than to feed them a little corn
through the winter season. A few
blades Of fodder scattered on their
packs or little hay composes their
iced. and many flocks are without shell.
Ter more than the sides of a barn or n
cold shed. As soon as spring sets in
these farmers turn their sheep out to
get their living "a the woods, or some
Will turn them into an old field to reno |
waite tho soil, with nothing to eat but |
Orlars and sassafras leaves.
In May, when rainy spell comes,
70 save time in clear weather, they are
brought out and their feeces taken off
gust when the poor animals need their
coats. They are then turned back in
TO the old field to continue fleecs-grow-
ang, killing out the briars and bushes
and enriching the soil. have heard
iae1en remark that sheep needed
nothing more than an old field with
plenty of briar and sassafras leaves 10
eat; that sheep loved this. and would
soon free an old field of these pests
and improve the soil. l have seen
seAep ct this so-called renovatinr tho
Z turning old fields into fertile gar
IeenA half frozen. SO to speak, looking ..
nklar to the soil they were renovating.
40 think sheep can live, furnish a
oeo and make manure to improve old
4xns. living principally on briars and
aseatras leaves, is an absurd and cruel
- believe it takes a hungry sheep
- eat briar leaves, and the stomach of
4Apngry sheep is preying too strongly q
Atbe general system to make wool or =
1nure Of any value. :
1 believe sheep are very profitable to
Fenovate old farms if they are properly
managed and cared for. but to renovate ;,
Old fields is not all the p. oft derived q
From raising sheep. In mutton
md wool is where lies the most !,
profit; still. 10 gain all the =
profit that may be. realized. sheep must :. -
be Wen fed and otherwise treated. y
md ~ their products properly cared =
lorand disposed of. Most every farmer ~
IS aware OF the fact that a sheep must
be TAT To make the best mutton. But
ew conceive the idea that a PROPERLY -
ed sheep Produces more and better w
WI AnuA q PooTly-Ieu one. he skin
4 the sheep is the soil, so to speak, 70
hat the wool grows in. and the fatter "a
he sheep the richer this soil. In this
ray wool is product from feeding. the
anne as fat and flesh. Many farmers fie
ose half the profit, or make none at all, fiv
rom neglect to feed properly with a tn
lev to the growth of wool and mutton. on
hcep. when well cared for and of a pc
God breed. are as profitable as any pl'
lock that belongs to the farm. A In;
heep should have dry, clean quarters,
Asatered from cold rains and storms. trr
srtaaaly after tho fleece is taken of. ma
Othng Injuries wool more than fihh. wi
r4nore effects the health of sheen. es- us,
ecially If their quarters are damp. tire
any times fine fleece is credited to tw
> breed, when really thers is more DO,
the feed and care the sheep receives
an m the breed. - Cor. Southern N
e y.