Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1890-01-02
aassp r.rnine y 1870

Some Of The Maine papsrs sssm % regard
Mr.. Libby's present plan Of feeding o fae-
senins sheep for the Boston market - an /
This 10 NOT The eass. al 1
though the osthod has s0s besa undsrAkea |
On 50 extensive scsIe By any ene In Mains |
~ By Mr.. Libby. For as least ten ysass
past 1t has been the settled custom Of many |
fumefs along the line Of the Mains Ger
sral 10 Skowhegan, Fairfield. Clinsoa ard 1
towns to purchase store sheep |
In early fall and feed them for the Christ |
mas, New Year ADD winter markets Of Bos- |
ton. This makes q good demand for The |
bay grown 90 the farms. and many farmers
are In the habit Of growing mixed grim for |
grinding a. . specia! fastenins feed for
sheep. So lonx has this practice prevailed
that il has become . settled method With
many Of the best farmers. Selling hay On
the farms to the sheep tina. are being fat
tened no, oniy makes . safe market for il
al q good price, bu, it contributes 70 the
fertility of the farm and no farmer has
need to bay commercial fertilizers Who
sells his hay to faitening sheep. His neIds
are sure to be in rich condition. The old
Spanish proverb 10 as true nov - ever.
tina. the sleeps hoof leaves 4 golden
srack"--so fertile are those fields and pas
sares wherein sheep have grazed or are
fed.
Mr.. Libby has been feeding about two
thousand sheep the past fall on his farm At
BurnhAm. II seems . large number, and
indeed II 10 for . farmer To have in one
dock. But Mr. Libby is familiar with the
wants Of the Boston market, knows What
days To send on q few car loads just at the
right time to get q good price for them,
and knows that t~o thousand sheep 10 but
drop iu the bucket compared to the
total number Of sheep consumed. He
knows also that hay 10 low and that sheep
are cash. Corn is also low, but fat sheep
are in demand always Mr.. Libby 10 =
shrewd, calculating, far. seeing speculator.
His present enterprise may sppear Ike
bold experiment" to one not familiar with
the facts and conditions Of the market, but
it 10 not II 10 simply { shrewed business
| operation by . man who knovs what he 10
about There should be more men Of MIR.
Libby's stamp among our Maine farmers.
II they have not the money. hay, provender
/ fbruaapt ahaon in
the fall, they should fstten less. II not .
thousand, two hundred If not that number,
one hundred; if not that, fifty. Its safe
| business The surprise 10 that more Main
farmers do not engage in this busine - - .
hxed plan in farming.
As sLown by the annual review Of the
! closed, that city consumed over half . mil
| lion sheep and lambs in 1889. The actual
oumber was $40, AGO. These came from
ali over the country-Maine, New Hamp-
shire, Vermont, Canada and all through the
West-Kansas. Illinois. Wisconsin and
/ other States Canada sent dcwD over 3d.
600; New Hampshire contributed 2l,OOO
and over the little State of Vermont sent
almost 81 900; and the western states rolled
| in over 3G5 900 Name sent little over
| 10 900 head. With our fine grazing lands,
means of growing hay. and grain for prov
ender. with aearaess TO point Of eonsnmp-
| ton, Maine ought at least to have sent to
Al. Nil
| ought TO be a great sheep raisirg State.
| The kind to raise is the kind which
that great wool expert, Mr.. Geo. VIM.
Bond of Boston. long ago said all New
| England farmers ought to grow; "A sheep
that has good carcass, with the meat rel
may5led, letting the fleece become second
airy or take care of itself" Our farmers
should catch on" to these facts and emu
late Mr.. Libby in his ''bold experiment"
which is no experiment at all. And We
Or dict they will. We also predict that in
lsss than ten years so many Maine farmers
will be feeding THOUSAND or two thousand
head of sheep for the Boston market that
this numYber in one flock, or being fattened
by one man, will excite no surprise what
ever, because il will he so common. And
they will wonder why they didn't go into
this business before and thus settle the
questions of Western competition, home
markets and does farming pay3'
There are one or two qualifications to this
business, however. which call for the ap-
plicaton Of little common sense. We do
not mean exactly that every farmer should
attempt to feed two or even one thousand
sheep Some may know how te do it sue
cessfully others may not Much depends
| upon the man. And even if he 10 capable
Of feediog this number it Is = question
If the sheep would not do better
and thrive much faster In
smaller locks. As to freights-it is true We
suppose, that sheep can be landed in Bos-
ton from the west at a freight cost not
much if any above what would be the cost
of shipment from Maine. But his much 10
in our favor-the sheep would reach market
from any point in Maine. in higher and liner
condition than would be the case If brou ght
two or three thousand miles. And in the
long run the better condition in which
sheep and cattle can be landed at t1e point
of consumption is to count for good deal
In this respect Maine farmers will al
ways have the advantage.