The Bossier banner., 1893-10-26
FARMER AND PLANTER.
SHEEP IN THE SOUTH.
Much Interest Awakened in the Subject
The Breeds.

L hO 1ollOWIHS ICLtsE ls 81 OppOTGuLc
md pertinent to the case, ard 50 terse
and perspicuous withal, that Gdti not
refrain from offering it for publication
entire, only Withholding the name and
post Office of its author, because l do
not feel warranted in giving them.
THE LBTTEH.
Permit native 81 fliddle Virginia, stran-
ger to you, one who was, in ante-bellum days
educated at Bethany college, now in West Vfr-
ginia and theTe5fter for several years farmed
in Brooke county. in the "Panhandlet' mostly
engaged in raising Merino sheep, to thank You
mist sircetelg for the kindly spirit in which
you have written OF our dcar south land in your
various communications which have been pub
lished in Home and Farm Yolr aforei
said letters on "Sheep in the South"
have been to me exceedingly interest
ing, and have been read with q good
deal of pleasure, affording much valuable in
formation on subject OF most vital Importance
t5 tho south generally Should your advice be
needed ahd followed mp sheep growing in the
near future will prove fnihe Of Wealth TO many
hard-working farmer in Dixie living upon
comparatively unproductive lands. Your let
ters are abundant in facts. rich in thousht,
clear in logic, unarswerable in argument, and
are doubtless regarded with aim ost universal
appreciation by majority Of the southern
readers of Home and Farm
In this section, LOUISA, Va, lands sfe very
cheap and generally held in large bodies, and
are well adapted to sheep-husbandry. Farms
can be purchased in many places at very near
the cost of the buildings upon them. Our win
ters are usually mild. and sheep are often win
tered with hardly any dry feed. A near neigh
Dor OF mine has a small flock Of thirty-ive or
forty, which are grazed spring, stinfier and
fall upon tie commons. In winter they are
kept in fenced field near his residence without
any shelter and with little dry feed Of any kind
given them. For several years past they have
paid him from 1915 to $4.25 for their wool and
lambs. They are the common native, long-w
stock. This is my second year on this farm
since my return to the Old Dominion to live and
to die. Herds-gra seems almost to be tudig-
enous here. l am seeding down as fast as
possible in this grass for sheep husbandry-
that is. to grow wool and lambs. have now
ninety head, and intend next year, to send to
West Virginia for French Merino rams.
Actual results of sheep keeping in
the south have been solicited several
times by northern correspondents;
hence the item in relation to il by this
able writer is timely and perth
nent. An annual average income
VI lOuI bCCLG lOI % oCA lOo
of years is an excellent showing for
common or native stock, suggesting
and warranting that much greater
return could be had from some of the
improved breeds. AS this flock had
gratuitous pasturage most of the year,
and were fed very little dry feed in
winter, the income they produced was
very nearly all profit. This confirms
what have been saying all the time
about sheep in the south. When the
improved breeds shall be employed and
lambs grown in winter that income
will be doubled easily. Two of my
farmer height bors in New York, who
raised lambs in the old way by having
them drop id the spring and taking
no extra care of them, made an aver
age income, one of them of s6sG9
and the other Sc. "A; but these were on
high priced land, and probably their
net profit per head was not so much as
that of the Virginian. This emphasizes
the advice often given: go south,
young sheep man"
Our correspondent will do well to
DGcou up WIFI IIClSh IdtiAs'
(Rambonillets). They are large and
"full of wool, mutton and quality"
They are now taking the lead on the
western plains as,an "all-round" sheep.
AS pertinent to the profit of sheep
growing in a certain section OF the
south, am pleased to add the follow
ing clipping from some paper which |
can not now identify to give deserved
credit:
''The highlands of the southern Blue
Ridge, which occupy tlie corner of the
four states-North Carolina, South Car
olina. Tennessee and Georgia-are a
typical sheep country, having a mild
climate, both as to heat and cold, the
purest water flowing in the greatest
abundance, dry soil, absolute freedom
from swamps, abundant feed, both OF
grass and wood range and at some
seasons a great supply of mast from
| the trees. There is rarely any snow
to prevent feeding from the ground in
| the winter, the soil and climate are
excellently well adapted to the growth
of all the grasses and grains, and from
some years experience it has proved tc
H. Stewart, who wrote the foregoing
from North Carolina in letter to the
Country Gentleman, that sheep may
be reared to full growth for seventy
five cents, and wool may be grown fol
ten cents pound, with equal profit tc
that in the north at three times thii
price.
Land is remarkably cheap, taxes ar
very light, and while the greater par
of the region is not supplied with eas!
transportation by rail- yet wool ma.
be grown with at least equal facilit,
to that afforded on the western plains
The sheep now kept here are of th
common native kind that have beel
crossed to some extent with the South
down, and the crosses make gooc
sheep. Recently the Cheviot and tn
Shropshire have been brought into tn
country and do remarkably vel
From Mr.. Stewards experience c
some years the Shropshire is the bes
/