The Lafayette gazette. [volume] (Lafayette, La.) 1893-1921, 1893-11-11
FARMER AND PLANTER.
SHEEP IN THE SOUTH.

Much Interest Awakened I'm the Subject
The Breeds.
| The following letter is so oppOrtunc
| and pertinent to the case. and SO terse
and perspicuo,,s xvithal, that can not
| refrain from offering it for publication
I entire, only withholding the name and
post Office of it's author, because DO
! not feel warranted in giving them.
THE LETTER.
Permit n native of middle Virginia.. n stran
ger to YOU one who was in ante-bel1um days
educated at Bethany college. now in West N1r
ginia. and thereafter for several years farmed
in Brooke county. in the Panhandle. mostly
engaged in raising Merino sheep, to thank you
mo st sincerely for the kindly spirit in which
you have written OF our dear south land in your
various commun ca tions which have been pub
lished in Home and Farm Your aforc.
said letters "Sheep in the South y
nav a1 nseh have heen xeed wiS good
deal OF pleasure afrording much valuable in
formation on n subject OF most vital Importance
to the south generally. Should your advice be
needed and followed up, sheep growing in the
near future will prove a mine OF wealth to many
comparatively unproductive lands. Your let
tiers are abundant in facts rich in thousht
are doubtless regarded with aim ost universal
appreciation by majority OF the southern
readers OF Homo and Farm.
In this section. LOUISA. Va, lands very
cheap and generally held in large bodies and
are well adapted to sheephusbandry Farms
can be purchased in many places at very near
the cost of the buildings upon them Our win
tcrs are usually mild. and sheep are often win
tered with hardly any dry feed. A near neigh
Dor of mine has n small flock of thfrty-hve or
forty. which are grazed spring. summer and
kept in fenced field near his residence. without
any shelter and with little dry feed of any kind
paid him from 49, to -. 2s for their wool and
lambs. They nre the common native. long wool
SINCE nv return to the od Dominion to i've and
to die. Hcrds-grass seems almost to be 1ndl:-
enous here. am seeding down as fast as
possible in this grass for sheep hustandrN-
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 head for series
of years is an excellent showing for
common or native stock, suggesting
and ,varranting 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
Il bout sheep in the south. When the
improved breeds shall he employed and
lambs grown in winter that income
will be doubled easily. Two of my
farmer neigh bors 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 S6.6S
and the other ST. ~: but these We're on
high priced land, and probably their
net profit per head was not SO much as
that of the Virginian. This emphasize
adv n.
young sheep man
Our correspondent will do we'll to
breed up with French Mcrino rams
{Ramhonillets). They are large and
full of wool. mutton and quality.
They are now taking the lead on the
western plains assam ''all-round' sheep.
As pertinent to the profit of sheep
growing in Il certain section of the
SOUTH am Pleased to add the follow
ing clipping from some paper which l
can not now identify to give deserved
credit:
Ridge. which occupy the corner of the
four states-North Carolina. Sout II Car
DINA. Tennessee and Georgi.-are a
typical sheep country. having mild
climate. both 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 gras ses and grains, and from
some years experience it has proved to
II. Stewart. who wrote the foregoing
from North Carolina in letter to the
Country Gentleman, that Il sheep may
be reared to full growth for seventy
five cents. and wool may be grown for
ten cents a pound. with equal profit to
that in the north at three times this
price.
Land is remarkably cheap, taxes are
very light. and while the greater part
of the region is not supplied with easy
transportation by rail. yet wool may
, be grown with at least equal facility
to that fforded on the western plains
The sheep now kept here arc of the
common native kind that have been
crossed to some extent with the South
down, and the crosses make good
sheep. Recently the Cheviot and the
Shropshire have been brought into the
country and do remarkably we'll.
From Mr.. Stewards experience of
some wears the Shropshire is the best
pure breed for improving the native
hocl<s DR.. Galen Wilson, in Home
and Farm.
Making a Farm Profitable.
have not found anything SO profita-
Bile and safe on a stony farm near the
H.