The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1890-02-04
The Future of sheen.

| The future for the sheep and its
breeder looks well, and it is source
Of q great deal of joy to US, to think
SO and say so. Still some of the same
Influences that operate to keep down
the price of cattle are ready to operate
to keep down the price of sheep to
some extent. We speak of the beef
combine, and sometimes lead ourselves
to- think that this combine confines its
operations TO cattle, and it does prin-
cipally. But where the combine gets
It's knife into the people it is in fixing
! prices after the cattle get to the Union
stock yards. Whatever the combina
ton says shall be The price, goes and
they can fix the price of sheep as well
as OF cattle. Ii is true that they are
unable to control The price of wool.
But we believe we are warranted in
saying that the future of sheep prom.
lses well. The people are consuming
! more mutton, and as mutton becomes
better. the consumption will increase
more rapidly still. and the foreign de.
mand for American mutton is also in
creasing.
Galen Wilson, in a recent article
in The Sheep Breeder, says that in
view of the excellent prnsno~,w,tf
sheep. the question arises. w hat
kind of sheep shall be grown? This
will have to be answered each for
himself-by first considering what his
probable market will demand. MIR.
John Tucker is reported to have said:
1--WE must change our methods and
make the carcass the main stay of
sheep industry and nOs the fleece, as
We have been DOING The fallacy of
the claim that sheep should be grown
either for wool or mutton has been so
generslly shown that Mr.. Wilson says
he did not know there was respect
able sheep writer left who would have
the hardihood to advocate it. Mr..
Wilson is pretty careful observer,
and we are somewhat surprised at
that statement. There are 100 lines
written on wool growing to one on
mutton production and the average
sheep raiser and wool grower is a
thousand times more exercised over
the subject of wool than he is over
that Of mutton. We freely admit the
folly of it.
Mr.. Wilson says that it has not been
proven, nor has any attempt been
made to do so, that there is any rea-
son why large. heavy fleece of ex-
cellent wool cannot be grown ON a
large carcass of excellent mutton.
The nearest that has come to an at
tempt at such proof was by Western
agricultural paper which said: "Mut.
ton sheep were bred for mutton, there
fore it is besll" Can there be any
objection to growing twenty pounds
Of wool on 29O pound carcass Of
irst-class mutton? Yet this point has
been reached in individual cases and
can be made general. Let US, then,
discard this ''wool or mutton" theory
and use the coDjunctive land" instead
Of the distinctive "or." Some years
hence none will do otherwise. In
breeding anything it is policy to breed
tor all there is in it," 1t is feed and
care that make the mutton of the
British Isles superior to that of Amer
ca When we feed as they do we will
lave equal mutton, no matter what
Kind OF wool how much Or how little
rows upon the outside of it, and
hen they will take more of it. 1t is
wiser TO make mutton for the market
han to try to make market for the
mutton. Feed and care for alike, it
3 probable that no person can tell,
y tasting mutton chop, what breed
'roduced it.