The Globe-republican. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1889-1910, 1898-06-02

sAssp Raisi.g in In1aeas.
In the course Of an address On tAio
subject, Hon. J. n. Bell. president q
the Illinois Sheep 1reeders' associa-
ton. said:
Fifty-ave years ago we lad the poor.
est sheep you ever saw. They would
not be called sheep now. After . while
We realized We had to have better sheep
or quit the business. When We had to
fence the sheep we got better sheep.
As time went along the business didn't
pay as well as We wanted it to. and We
had to have heavier heeces, and they
grew heavier and heavier. and then
came this depression. and mutton was
In demand. and the sheep We used to
have were not quite the thing We
thought. Then We had to have q larger
sheep. We put on the mutton attach
ment. and l found when I made inves-
LEGATIONS for the agricultural depart
ment that the men in 1889 who had
mutton in their focks were pretty well
satisfied, and the men who didn't have
mutton in their flocks didn't know
what they were going to do.
In Illinois our situation Is particu-
larry happy and particularly sorry. We
have the best land on earth. We can
raise more corn than anybody. We can
raise as much clover hay as anybody.
We can have the best blue grass pas
lures of anybody, and just as much of
them; and as you have heard Of the
excellence of blue grass pasture for
cattle SO 1t is for sheep. But we are
drifting in the right direction. We
kept sheep q long time ago and thought
We never would raise mutton in this
country. 1t is raised everywhere now
in the United States. There isn't Q
district out west where mutton is not
included in their flocks. We can beat
the world If We try, and it isn't very
hard for Illinois people to try.
We are today surrounded by corn
fields. In my own county we have
corn to burn. It is cheaper in Macon
county than anywhere else. Why?
Simply because there is no corn fed
there. Why is Nebraska so successful
and prosperous? Why are they getting
4Oc bushel for their corn fed to sheep?
They are raising the corn and feeding
it to the sheep right on their farms
and paying of their mortgages. Why
should we not do the same way? This
thing will have to be done. and I in
sist upon it we shall breed our own
sheep. 1t will pay US better to feed
our corn and our oats and our hay to
well bred sheep than to range sheep.
There are thousands of acres Of land
in this country that ought never to DO
plowed another time. They should be
put into pasture. These lands must be
kept up. These poor farms must be
recuperated, and nothing can do it 50
thoroughly and quickly as sheep. be-
lieve the time is coming. has come.
when we will have to improve our
lands or abandon them, as they have in
the older states. I have great hope In
the young men of our state. They will
catch on" to the best methods Of rails
ing sheep, adopt all the system there IL
in commercial sheep raising. study the
adaptation of breeds to the purposes
they want, and the adaptation of breeds
to soil. If we will adopt commercial
sheep raising in Illinois, with all It
means, and breed our own sheep on our
poor lands. our state will be more
prosperous than 1t has been since the
war, when our lands were newer.