Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-10-12
Written for The Evening Star
SHEEP BETTER THAN DOGS.

/ ally.
/ Written for The Evening Star
SHEEP BETTER THAN DOGS.
A Virginia Farmer Gives Some Advice t.
His Neighbors.
For many years Harrison county, Ohio, en-
toyed the reputation Of being the banner Of
greatest sheep county of that state. Lickinf
county, full of rich, fertile river valleys and
third greater in area, was its chief competitor
II is situated wholly within the rugged, broker
country fanking the Ohio river for fifty mile,
out on each side and is so destitute of plane Oh
level land that we may say its entire area Is a,
rough and billy as the exceptionally worst por
ton of our Fairfax county and of which 1t il
less than two-thirds in size. The wonder hai
often been expressed Of it. as Of portions Of
Massachusetts,, how do the people manage tc
make their bread. Though traversed by two
lines OF railroad its population is stationary.
In 1920 it had IA. 345 inhabitants in $780, 20 :
9l6; in 1910, 20,099; in 1850, %. 157; in 1860
1910; in 1870, Is. $50; in 1880, 20, 456 and in
1890, 20 $50, less number than in 1890. sixty
years prior, though its railroad towns have in
creased nearly 900 in population since 1855
the year the first railroad was constructed
within its borders.
IL has no manufactures. the farm being its
only producing interest. Yet it is the wealth
lest agricultural county in the state, and ranks
number seven in banking capital only Cincinnati
and five other large cities leading it in this re-
spect. BY the last report Of the controller of
currency its banking resources Of S2,343, 275
exceed those of the entire upper or north third
Of Virginia, an area nearly one hundred
times greater, and in which are the cities of
Alexandria, Culpepper. Charlottesville and Lees
burg. amounting to 81. 800, 4S5. Besides
fhn f.rtt rf.fth hat ~
equal amount. Leaving out Loudoun county of
this state. in what county Of northern Virginia
Is the farmer a mortgage? Where is the farmer
who does not a. a rule place the lien on his own
farm rather than on that of some other person?
The best and fairest portions of our Loudoun
county do not surpass rugged Harrison county
as an entirety in general thrift and prosperity.
THE CAUSE OF THE DIFFERENCE
Now the question stares us squarely in the
face. What Is the cause of such wonderful diff
ference in financial results in farming? Why
should one small county in Ohio. hardly hun
dredth portion of northern Virginia in area
and besides largely its inferior in general ad-
vantages, be able to contrast so strongly in
favor of its farmer? To me. who was born and
reared on those rugged Ohio river hills, there
il but one answer cause. and that is sheep.
Prior to 1910 our farmers relied chiefly on
wheat worth at from 40 to IS cents per bushel
for money getting. and that on a haul Of from
twenty TO thirty miles. But about that date
natural enemies, such as Hessian fly, rust,
nudge. &c, compelled abandonment Of wheat
growing, and our county was for the time being
as helpless Virginia was at the end Of the
civil war through the loss of her slaves.
lnasmuch as the country in those days did not
require a politician or Congress to provide q
panacea through tariff reductions or free
coinage of silver. &c. for farmers plaques,
coming in by natural enemies and changes in
I'll - e..
once covered our hills with sheep imported
from Vermont. With these came blue grass,
proving the Scotch adage that grass follows the
Sleeps foot, and then a prosperity followed
which challenge the Union TO surpass. was
stationed as an army officer at LynchburR. Va :,
from July 4. 1865, to the spring Of 1869 in
charge of the military district extending from
and including the counties Of Allegheny and
Augusta on the north to the North
Carolina and Tennessee borders the
south. Each and every county of that
immense baliwick, and, in fact, the whole
Piedmont region, is equal to. in each and all re-
spects, and beyond. is in some other respects,
superior to Harrison county for successful
sheep raising. Loudoun county, with all it's
inherent fertility, Is no better for sheep than
Augusta, Allegheny. Roanoke. Rockbridge,
Botetourt and other counties of nv military
district, and why. instead of farmers creating
banks and becoming mortgages in this mag
nitcent region, do We have territory
80 helpless and poverty stricken to require
annually a stump speaker to show that our
financial shortcomings are due to the political
bow vows instead OF refusal on our
part to adapt ourselves to the economic neces-
sites Of the situation. Had we begun covering
our good fields with sheep in 1865 and brought
in blue grass thereby. Virginia, through finan-
cial strength alone, would have resumed by this
time her old virtue Of making Presidents, and
that too. no matter whether Congress tinkered
.l.l ~. Ill H.
time rid our state Of the curse Of dogs. We
have through the unmitigated and inexcusable
evil OF dogs denied ourselves all agricultural
progress and wealth and the only superior SUBJ
stitute for the slave. Today Virginia is little
further advanced toward financial success than
in 1855. IL our stump speakers be correct in
assertion. save what her great mineral resources
have brought Us.
SHEEP AND DOGS.
own 800 acres Of land in Alexandria county
as well suited for sheep as the average Harrison
county, Ohio. farm. and yet l cannot put a
sheep on it because Of dogs While but for
this pest i would stock il with sheep to its
fullest capacity, of. saw. a sheep to the acre.
But with the precedents before me of Jury
awarding farmer full damage for his sheep
killed. and then offsettng their value by greater
proven value OF the dog doing the killing than
the worth of the slaughtered sheep, thereby
mulctihg the sheep owner in costs and
damages. and further, with the recent case
in Chesterfield county, where Mr.. James Bell
wood was promptly indicted and put under
bonds Of sl coo for the killing Of dog after
losing 1900 worth of sheep from a flock which
he had increased from a score up to 800. and
then serving notice upon his neighbors that he
would kill all dogs caught in the act Of killing
his sheep, common prudence dictates submis-
sion TO the law, with its imposed plague, worse
than the lice OF Egypt. Of worthless NANCY
rrrr .ax-an xrfth amt 4 llaa
cultural Virginia would have been rolling in
banking and mortgage wealth today had she
substituted n sheep for a slave in 1865.
Practically speaking. sheep In intelligent
hands are more easily handled than other
stock Housing them is an open question in
Ohio. A Virginia hilltop screened on its north
side by pines is far better than a house. Sheep
seek the highest spot for sleeping quarters.
Their feed must be given them in smallest
possible parcels. hundred pounds Of hay
thrown them in one lump would not be eaten
while II put into 100 parcels scattered thinly
on grass land all would be consumed. Consult
their natural instincts, fastidious tastes and
keep them away from damp lands and death
will rarely take one. Our Ohio rule Is to pu,
one sheep to the acre. 160 sheep to $50 acres o.
land. Our farms there are about three-fourth.
cleared.
The family Of ordinary economy il supported
on that farm by what it produces, outside of tn,
income given by the sheep, leaving their entir,
/ income to 60 into bank or into its equivalent
/ a lien on some other persons farm. Can sucl
/ be said Of farms where dogs bar sheep and com
pei resort to the plow for sustenance? Tn,