The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1889-01-25
Shropshire Sheep.


paper which will tickle the ear or please the
fancy. There are those among my fellow
Shropshire breeders, who are not only sue
cessful rs breeders but charming speakers
as well; and i regret that you might not have
the pleasure of listening to such a one today.
However my subject is one that enlists my
whole heart, and shall do as well as
know how. The most hopeful sign of the
times TO to the sheepman and agriculturalist
h such gathering as this one. Here we
can work together and by the interchange
of thought, the gentle friction of ones ideas
and experiences with another's we shall do
much toward perfecting and polishing the
setting which encircles the precious gem.
Another and very hopeful sign, is the agri-
cultural papers Of today. The one hundred
and twenty-five and upwards of agricultural
papers published, and most of them fnan-
eially successful, is indicative of the fact that
the American farmer Is keeping posted on
what pertains 10 his vocation The farmer
of today is not necessarily mere drudge.
He Is mixing the labors of his hands and
brain, (some great statesman years ago
spoke of the grand future of this country,
because the schoOlmaster was abroad in the
land). The agricultural press, the great
educator is abroad in the land, and he who
neglects the advantages to be derived from
reading some of the papers will do so not
alone at an intellectual loss, but financial
loss as we'll | think there has never been
any pure bred Shropshires placed OH the
markets Of America for mutton. And it is
not justice to other breed to use breeders
prices of S25 to 500 per head as illustrations
and any person who Is familiar with good
mutton knows that it is produced from
breeds of sheep wholly different from the
one most common in the United States,
namely MerinO or its grades 1t is plain to
me j shall have to take your mind across
that vast sea of lpecac to show you the
profit on Shropshires. AS you leave Liver
pool for ride across England, should you
pass through fine agricultural region you
are reminded that you are not in your own
native land. The appearance Of the soil,
tandum, agricultural implements and the
iaborers even, all appear strange
Whatever his first impressions may he he
is sure to come to the conclusion rs he visits
from farm to farm that he is among peo-
pie who know how to till the soil, where
every available foot of land is brought into
use and the great abundance of stock to be
seen everywhere, does not accord with the
American idea that grazing and st0ck-grow-
ing can only profitably be pursued on rough
and cheap lands. The more valuable the
land the more stock it must carry, or in
versely stated, the more stock that farm
is capable OF carrying per acre the more
value agriculturally considered. Every Ell
deavor is made to make the most of every
thing. Nor is lie at a loss to account for
this as he observes the density of population
and learns the value of the land of from
5000 to $500 per acre and the annual rental
charged of from $3.50 to $50 per acre, he
thinks how are the farmers of England able
TO stand this enormous annual rental, heavy
taxes and tithes, and the tithes on good
500 acre farm is IS per week, and he is also
obliged TO practically compete on raising
wheat with our vast wheat fields of the west |
and on beef with our great ranches extend
from Texas to Montana where their land |
costs them from % cents to SO per acre and |
their climate in England SO very damp |
subjects them to the most careful shepherd |
10 prevent foot-rot and if the sheep of the |
United States were troubled with the fly |
One-twentieth as bad as they are in England |
we could count them i'm the thousands. |
Every sheep man in Shropshire is obliged |
TO keep shepherd and dogs and in the sum- |
mer season once and sometimes twice day |
round them up and look them all over for |
any the fly has commenced on, but still they |
look to the sheep and to the Shropshire |
sheep 10 keep up their farms and pay their |
enormous rents, and the Shropshire being |
acknowledged the most prolific sheep. One |
breeder in England told ME he had for the |
past ten years raised on an average of |
five hundred lambs from three hundred |
ewes, that brought him from $40 to Sl5 per |
head for mutton and another breeder who |
raised from seven hundred to eight hundred |
lambs from five hundred ewes, and as for |
their mutton that commands the top price |
in the great discriminating London markets !
Of England; their wool IL such as is worn in |
our markets as medium delain and half |
cOmbing it is very strong and fine being |
close and even without any tendancy to mat |
or felt together and for price commanding |
the top OF the market, fleeces average for |
washed wool eight pounds to twelve pounds |
and unwashed from nine to seventeen pounds |
and the latter weight of seventeen pounds |
from a Shropshire shearling owned in Mich.
and certified to as to heft of fleece and then |
secured by Stone, Atwood & Co., of Flint,
Mich, eleven pounds Of clean wool
which is the heaviest secured fleece of wool |
from any breed of sheep that i have any
knowledge of, the closest being believe
Merino shearing about thirty to thirty-five
pounds and securing ten and onc-half pounds
and leave you fellow farmers TO draw your
own conclusions as to profit on their wool,
whether 1t is the Shropshire that shears
seventeen pounds and cleanses away six or
the MerinO that shears thirty pounds and
cleaDses away twenty. Wherever they are
known they excel in strong constitution.
good feeding qualities and early maturity.
The Shropshires stand close herding In
large numbers remarkably we'll without |