Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1889-02-14

wool, and | asked this question: Is not
the medium wool more profitable TO you
than the strictly fine wool? He answer.
ed. No, sir: and because of the lack OF
natural oil While the MerinO wool
would lose a greater per cent. in securing
yet in the cards and being spun and
wound it would make mere yards OF d
much finer and more valuable cloth.
These facts cannot be contrOverted, be,
cause the manufacturers have been and
will pay more for the fine MerinO WOO
in this section than for medium or coarse
wool, and can this not be truthfully said
of large part of the wool imported from
Australia, simply that they are deficient
in spinning qualities?
We should oppose washing wool on the
sheep. and for the reason that il should
retain the natural oil until ready to be
manufactured, and because it is injurious
TO the best development of the sheep
and injurious TO the health of those vino
perform the labor. The sooner the flock
master abandOns sheep washing the bet
ter for all concerned.
Our next consideration will be
THE CARE OF SHEEP.
This one little word in connection with
sheep would form a splendid subject.
have often thought that care was every
thing. Some one asks: Would you ignore
breed and individual merit in specimens
Of any breed? Not by any means. When
a young man begins to care for the kind
of breed he handles, then he advances
one step on the road to success. Be care
full to avoid making haste of your breed
ing. Do not for moment entertain the
thought that in order to become success
ful you must be continually crossing the
sheep you have underyoUr care. Carefully
and deliberately choose some of the dif-
ferent families of sheep-the one best
suited to your surroundings. They should
be registered in a public record, so that
you could study how in the past they
have been bred. Then stick to that breed.
The history of men who have become
as breeders of sheep show that
they never abandoned their chosen breed.
The careful flock master soon learns
that Improvement can only be made
from the sire. This is an open question,
but accepted by prominent breeders
the United States. Much of
the improvement OF the flock depends
upon careful selections and mating, and
we believe no one can become truly sue
ceSSful unless he individualizes each
sheep he owns by some system of mark
ing, and until something better presents
itself a metallic ear tab answers the puT-
pose.
Many practice only marking the best
specimens of the flock. This is a great
The careless person can often
point out the sire and dam of the best
sheep in his flock Yet the careful
breeder wants to be sure of the ancestors
of the inferior specimens in his flock,
and either dispense with the dam or try
some other cross, as it is the inferior
sheep that are kept at loss. Does it
pay to think? If l could reach that
great audience in Ohio, in West Virginia,
Or Pennsylvania which is not here, never
will get here-that don't think and don't
study, might ask this question fairly
and squarely in regard to sheep husband
", but to this audience | need not ask it.
There must 6e careful and diligent at
,entiOn in the purchase and afterward in
selection. To Illustrate: In an adjoining
county gentleman had purchased the
foundation of flock; he was asked if
he sheep traced to the flock of a prOmi-
lent breeder in our county; he thought
not, as he did not admire that flock in any
particular. | examined for less than five
minutes volume of the register and
showed him that in two lines his sheep
raced to that very flock, as l had reason
% suspect. Care must be taken that the
of the pedigree is fully under
stood; it is not enough that it is recorded
n given volume Of a register, but must
De traced in all lines until understood.
As the time for this discussion is linn
ted, | must not intrude on the time of
gentlemen who follow me, and will not
lllude to the daily round of shepherds
ives. You tlOckmasters of Belmont
county are familiar with the details of
heep husbandry. While a certain grade
If wool can possibly be grown cheaper
vest of the Mississippi River, yet under
he system in operation there it would be
where breeding in large tiocks
S practiced, to keep up the grade of the
heep and wool, and to this section there
viii come an increasing demand for pure
,red stock with which to grade up these
locks. We should not be surprised that
n this section we should have a Merino
heep that stands without peer in the
United States as to mutton qualities
mong fine-wOoled sheep, the result large
Y of our situation in close proximity to |
hat great center of manufacturing in !
luStries, Pittsburgh, whose butchers |
would send out and purchase the finest |
derinOS, in the section, and the breeders |
S promptly catered to the demand.
An important consideration that would |
ONE under the third and last part of our |
uDject,, namely, management-we refer
o abuses of the privilege accorded to |
gool buyers of passing on the merits of !
he clip by many growers; or, in other |
EOrdS, the farmer agrees that the buyer |
nay throw out all understandable wool |
his is wrong. Who is, or should be, |
nOre competent to decide on the merits |
f clip of wool than the man who grew |
t? We claim that at shearing time, |
hOuld you have any fieeceS of wool in |
our clip that in your best Judgment is |
understandable, place all such to them |
elves-then sell it that way, and no 9th
+. Never allow your head in the lions
Mouth. When you have $50 fieeces or
yer, have it sacked at home. and by all |
means weigh it yourselves. Is there any
eason why you should be denied this |
rivilege? Should you purchase any 9th
7 commodity from merchant you would |
xpect.him to do the weighing.
Friends, let us examine calmly our sit
alton. This section has proven its adapt-
bility to fine wool sheep husbandry in |
he past. For over threscore and ten
ears have we and those who have gone
efOre preserved this vocation as an ad-
unct to agriculture, and is there any
Ihere in this broad land a section that !
as enjoyed greater prosperity? Our
arms are arranged for sheep. We can
ot change from sheep to cattle without
eavy expenses for fencing and buildings,
nd we have learned the business: and a
adical change often means trading mon
Y for experience. Then think for mo-
1ent, can any of you call to mind farm
n which sheep have been kept in a
roper manner for term of years, which
as not improved in value. where the ma
ure was carefully looked after and judi
iously applied? No class of manure
rings as prompt returns on our farms
S that made in sheep barns.
The smoke of great political battle
as hardly drifted away, and for the
rst time in the history of wool growing
as its well being become political