Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1892-01-29
The ShEEP.BREEDERa.
ANNUAL MEETING OF THE VERMONT
ASSOCIATION ON WEDNESDAY.

ihc i'1i annual meeting OI Cnc YER
mont Merino Sheep-Breeders' associa.
ton, held at the town hall in this vii.
lage on Wednesday, was well attended
by the prominent sheep men of this
section of the State. The reports pre-.
scented showed the organization to be in
good shape financially and otherwise
Few changes were made in the officers
Mr. Chapman's salary was continued at
the old rate-Sl000 year.
President Ii. 5. Jackman of Watham
called the meeting to order. The re-
port of Secretary Albert Chapman was
asked for, was read by him and was ac-
copied and adopted. 1t was as follows:
REPORT OF SECRETARY.
The 18th annual meeting of the Vermont
Merino Sheep-Brecders' association finds
it in sound condition financially and
with membership still large enough
for its best good and its successful
usefulness. Our receipts the past
year have been large enough to
pay all running expenses and to add near
ly $500 to the cash in the treasury. The
sum now on hand is Sl0S0.lG. The most
our fourth volume, now nearly COM
pleted, and which would have been out
by this time had it not been for unfore-
seen hndrances at The office where it is
being printed. This volume will contain
the histories aud pedigrees of over 100
new flocks, the number in that depart
ment now reaching 1923. 1t will also
contain the pedigrees of 1856 stock rams,
raising the number in that department to
23OS. The new department will contain
the individual pedigrees of eight flOcks of
ewes. The demand for this department
has not proved as widespread as was an
ticipated, at least much fewer members
have availed themselves of its privileges
than was anticipated.
During the past year the committee on
pedigrees have dropped Is members from
the rolls and suspended So. Eleven have
withdrawn, 16 new members have been
added, leaving 4j3 members. This num-
Der can still be reduced without impair
ing the efficient usefulness of the associ-
alton. We have members in IS States,
making our register more truly national
in its scope and work than any other reg
lister of Merino sheep. With all the re-
duction of membership by starting so
many local State registers and the de-
preston in our industry, we still have
more than twice as many members AS
that of any other registry association of
Merno sheep. Since the association was
organized, in March, 1876, there have
been received for record over 200,00
sheep, the exact number being 200, 7O6;
but this does not include the rams in the
list of stock rams that have not been re-
corded in tlocks. During the same time
flocks containing several thousand have
been rejected by the committee on pedi-
grees. a number of these flocks have
been accepted by another register, called
at first the "American,' since changing
its name to "Natonal' association. No
register has been so reckless in accepting
sheep records that could produce very
little evidence of purity of blood rs this
one.
The depression in the fine-woOl indus
try is still eXcrting reflex influence upon
the breeders of Vermont, to a greater eX-
tent, it is believed, than elsewhere. The
large lists of sales that have been publish
cd lately show that sales have been gener-
ally better without the State than within
1t, in comparison to the number of sheep
recorded. How much of this is due to
the greater enterprise and better faith in
the business among breeders abroad than
among those here is a matter for our Yer
mont breeders to seriously consider.
Men engaged in this business abroad that
have been as enterprising in breeding,
caring for their tloCks and advertising
them as our Vermont breeders used to be
are making very profitable sales and write
that the business is very encouraging.
When we think the matter over and
compare the sheep industry of Vermont
with the lot of those dairymen who are
endeavoring to make money by keeping
cows yielding less than 1875 lbs. of butter
per vear--the average amount returned
by the dairy cows of the State-I think
we have cause for encouragement 1t is
a very poor flock of sheep, or they must
be very poorly managed, that does not
yield as much or more profit than such
cows do for the large amount of labor
and time they and their product require.
Very few if any ilocks of sheep in this
State get one-half the time and labor that
are absolutely required by dairy. We
have very good evidence that the sheep
industry is more profitable in Vermont
than the dairy interest; it is in the fact
that the sheep have to be taxed to replen-
ish the State treasury that the calves of
the Dairymen's association may be ena-
bled to suck out of 1t a thousand dollars
a year to sustain them. Not only this, Il
very large proportion of the money APP
propriated by the State to support the
board of agriculture and the Experiment
station is devoted to promoting the dairy
interest, very little to encouraging sheep
husbandry. One of the latest reports of
the board of agriculture, full of dairy lit
erature, had but two illusions to sheep.
One was in paper read before ii meeting
of the board by-at that time our worthy
president-who, very timidly and as
though it might be an unwelcome intru-
sian, suggested that oats were good TO
feed sheep; the other by member of
the board, who declared at one of It's
meetings that "sheep- breeding in Yer
mont had gone to the wall" Whether
the valiant member of the board thought
II safe to kick an industry of the State
because it was down or whether he had
such an antipathy to sheep that he would
like John Randolph of Virginia-go a
mile or two out of his way to kick one, it
is not for us to determine; but this much
we do know, that the sheep of the State
were taxed to nav the Der diem and ex-