The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1893-12-06
Sheep in the Sokth?

uAAA UlnCIU W DlG Case. dIINt 81 OOAOO
and perspicuous withal, that l can. not
refrain from offering it for publication
entire, only Withholding the name and
post Office of it's author, because do
not feel warranted in giving them. :,
TIE LETTER
Permit a native of middle Virginia, stran-
ger to you. one who was, in ante-bellum days,
educated at Bethany college, now in West V1r-
ginia, and thereafter for several years farmed
in Brooke county. in the 'Panhandle, mostly
engaged in raising Meriuo sheep to thank you
most sincerely for the kindly spirit in which
you have written of our dear south land In your
various communications which have been pub
lshed in Home and Farm Your afore-
said letters on sheep in the South"
have been to exceedingly interest
ing, and have been read with good
deal of pleasure, afording much valuable In
formation on a subject of most vital importance
to the south generally. Should your advice be
needed and followed up sheep growing in the
future will prove anime Of wealth to many
Woodworking farmer in Dixie living upon
comparatively unprOductive lands Your let
ters abundant in facts. rich in thouSht,
clear in logic, unanswerable in argument, and
are doubtless regarded with almost universal
appreciation nv majority of the southern
readers Of Home and Farm.
In this section. LOUISA Va, lands are very
cheap and generally held in large bodies and
are well adapted to sheep-husbandry Farms
be pur hased 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. neigh
Dor of mine has small flock of thirty-five or
forty. which are graZed spring, summer and
fall upon the commons. In winter they are
kept in fenced field near his residence. without
any shelter and with little dry feed of any kind
given thew have
paid him from $375 to 1926 for their wool and
lamts. They are the common native, long-wool
stock. This is my second year this farm
since my return to the Old Dominion to live and
to die Herds-grass seems almost to be indig
here. I am seeding down as fast
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 it by this
able writer is timely and perth
nent. An annual average income
of four dollars a head for series
of years is an excellent showing for
common or native stock, suggesting
and warranting that much greater
return COllIu DC IIdQ IfOIH SOI1S Oh UuO
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 neighbors in New York, who
raised lambs in the old way by having
them drop in the spring and taking
no extra care Of them, made an aver
age income, one of them of So
and the other Sc. "A: but these were on
high-priced land, and proba bly, 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 we'll to
breed up with French Merino rams
(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 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