The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1898-12-20
Sh20p Industry in
North Carolina
BY C. Il. NIMSON.
Read Before the Sheep Breeders and Wool Growers As
ISOLATION of North Carolina.
THIRD PAPER.

no better III they WOuld survive at ALI
than the native sheep existing. simply
| existing under such circumstances.
these men have III their minds :;
sheep business akin to what they ina.
gIne or ranching to be, Il business very
dl1fefent from sheep farming, raising
and marketing mutton sheep. conducted
as a part of Il well regulated and prof
table working farm.
l doubt If any territory remains east
OF the Mississippi river suitable for
ranching or for an exclusive sheep run.
L am certain there is none i'll our sec
ton, and | have given the matter Il
great deal of thought, but We do have an
immense territory on which | / know NUT
ton sheep will be profitable as one or the
main branch of good farming.
You must not be deceived by these
that any me can raise Il first class
sheep in hat Way; it cannot be done.
You can, as o do now, practice.
something akin to ranching. with youl
native scrubs. but it is only in the way
of giving little or no attention to the
individual sheep, and not near as much
to the flock rs II good experienced ranch-
man would do to amy flock he has in
charge.
You cannot. III the future. AMY more
than YOU have in the past. or do in the
present, make money with You sheep in
that way; if it could be lone you would
have found the way to ito so long ago.
if what little margin you seem to get
out OF your present stock, with the
treatment YOU give them is satisfactory
to YOU. then nothing can show better
how little is known of the business: You
surely do not know Il profit on good NUT
ton sheep means.
Then keep your flock in hand and
under control. clean from filth and YER
min. and your pactures free from stag
nant pools of water. and from animals
hat will annoy and inure your sheep, or
viii aid in the spreading of the germs
of parasites to the destruction of your
flock.
Next. { gentle with your sheep. do
not drive them: teach them to be hand
led by calling, it is much easier: driving
belongs to Dad work, ranging or
ranching, but not To sheep farming.
IN America the one belongs to Il good
farming community. the other to a from
tier life, TO which also belongs poor
primitive human habitations. the sim
plest kind Of food. and oftentimes Il
. III up vi Itt L1''S h't IN IA Ah
all domesticated animals, few school
houses and bad roads.
Sheep intended for mutton must lie
kept quiet, handled gently: they cannot
be made Il part of Il system of farming
that includes restlessness, unsteadintss
and continuous changing Of conditions.
You must guard against their roam
ing about. You must not educate them,
or tempt them to learn to jump fences
by giving hem scant food and pastures,
or by practicing the lazy, shiftless Gus
tom. when taking them from one encio-
sure to another. Of laying down a feW
top rails and then compelling them to
jump the balance YOU canont continue
this practice If YOU wish to raise NUT
ton sheep with some profit. 1t Is Il lazy.
hcateniSh practice at best, even with 4
scrub, and would, in n short time, lie
stroy all the best qualities of y flock Of
mutton sheep. Put up gates i'll place Of
bars. or III place of taking down fences.
Next. 90 not ovcrStock your pastures,
40 matter how good they are. You can
rim both your pastures and your tiock>
by overstocking: always understood. al
ways be sure that YOU will nave more
pasture and feed than Your flock Will
need during the most unfavorablc seat
son.
De not think Of numLers i'll your
flock, but him and ak Of quality.
Five good. well bred. we'll kept and
property cared for mutton sheep Will
make you more money than twenty
scrubs, receiving the treatment the sheep
almost universally receive in this Il
try nov
Better sheep and better care viii,
q great deal more labor and thought
applied to them. and with much better
and Il much abundance Of feed given
them the larger part Of the year, j.
what we want. not only here IN Mitchell
county. but all over the country, 4 mat
ter ! have been trying TO impress upon
YOU i'll every one of my papers.
You must also be careful not to over
stock yourselves; what l mean by this
is. that YOU must not allow your flock
t. increase beyond the number you can
learn to know individually, YOU must
know each sheep ut sight, remember its
ancestors with all their aults. all their
peculiariticS and invidual wants. and
shortcomings. compared with your ideal
sheep. Correct the faults You find by
proper treatment. and by proper mating,
if YOU can do so; if not. discard them,
do not continue to breed from them and
thereby permanently establish in your
flock their faults.
In sheep farming you must learn to
know and deal with each individual AMI
NAL. which is the opposite from ranging
or ranchinG in which you deal with them
as Il flock in Il body.
You will see then that YOU must watch
your own capacity and keep from being
overStockod.
1t is in this way that YOU will come
to learn the business. and like it; be
come more and more interested III your
flock. and promptly supply all their
wants. When you do this well YOU
will. / think. find that your most proiita-
bic stocking will be an average of about
one sheep to the acre Of clear land. in
addition to the cows, calves, pigs, and
working animals you need to make your
family supplies. | mean one sheep to
each acre Of actual productive soil. cN-
.l.l;,. oil 1,oI-nrnlurtiEp nOTt IONS SIlCI