St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1889-02-07
SHROPSHIRE SHEEP.

written an interesting article on
Shropshire sheep to the Lewiston
Journal. The article, which is given
below in full, contains many hints to
the farmers as well as many valua-
BILE points about thoroughbred stock.
Mr.. Harris is member of both the
English and American Shropshire So
cieties and we believe his article will
be read by a good many who are not
sheep breeders or fancy stock farmers.
We breed Shropshire sheep at THE
Null, =" for the reason that we believe
mixed husbandry to be the true poll
CIV for the farmer. He should keep
all his chances for adding to his in
come in view. When mutton is high
he should have mutton to sell, and
we believe Shropshires are better
suited to our circumstances than any
other breed.
Our holding consists of a thousand
acres, in good state of cultivation;
has always been well taken care of
and no waste land. The sub-strata
is lime rock, and we have drained the
few swamps that originally existed.
We have about fifty acres of river
bottom land, 1--WE call them meadows)
that is in natural grasses which over
flows twice yearly-and sometimes
DEMONSTRATING a choice quality of
sheep hay.
Our uplandS are well drained and
very fertile. We raise large quaint
+;ae of on I,ho crac o,,J Scotch 1yo1a fo,-
the sheep in early winter and late
fall, with turnips for the winter, and
second crop clover ensilage for the
spring, or from about March 18th.
We do ont feed grain to our mature
sheep, except to the ewes just after
Landing. We breed pedigreed sheep
and dispose of the surplus for breed
ing purposes, having large demand
for the bucks. 1t can be seen from
the above that we are situated in a
model sheep-rearing place; ordinary
care will keep the flock free from dis
ease; foot-rot is impossible; we have
never had a case of liver disease of
any kind; we never get our sheep
under shelter at any time of year,
though we provide sheds open to the
south in winter, which they can go
under if they choose. If we could
pay more attention to the sheep,
could get them in every hard, cold
rain that came, and should feed a
little more literally, perhaps a long
wool sheep would earn as much
money or more, but we cannot do
that
We keep eight men the year round,
and get better men than the average
farm labOrer, but they are not per
feet, they forget that which they
ought to remember, and, once in a
while, they would forget the sheep
when a storm was coming, and the
consequence would be a nose reek-
ing with phlegm, a thing have never
seen in my hocks.
ADVANTAGE OF BREEDING MIDDLE
WOODS.
A small farmer, or a farmer that
can afford to have a man to look af-
ter his sheep and nothing else, can
do well with a long wool sheep-an
immense rib of fat can be made-the
average farmer, however, wants to
work his man at all-round work,
and when the sheep should be driven
in, he wants his man to help secure
crops, perhaps. The small farmer,
who hires no help, wants to take his
wife for a days visit in the cool fall
months, and not be obliged to go
home if the weather changes. So the
majority of New England farmers
are better situated to breed middle
wool sheep than coarse.
|,
his flock the Shrops will not do at
all, for they will break into small
flOcks of a half dozen, or even less;
he should then breed a merinO or
merino cross, at least; they will all
get into one flock, no matter how
many there are, but outside of the
fancy" there is little admiration for
the merino. There are plenty who
write and tell what a fine mutton
sheep the merinO can be made into
by breeding in the right lines, but as
no one has ever done that yet, it is
not profitable forpractical men, who
want to lift their mortgages, to dis
cuss that. So we see that it would
be wise for some to breed one kind
and some another, and that every
farmer should look his circumstances
over and let them decide what he
shall breed.
THE SWEEPSTAKES.
What we believe is that the Shrop-
shire is nearer a general purpose
sheep than any other. Our flock
averaged eight pounds and fifteen
ounces of unwashed wool last year,
and we tie the fleeces by twisting the
neck into a rope, usingno Irvine, and
throw out all the dirty locks along
the TANKS
We send our wool to a worsted