Arizona republican., 1898-03-19

will probably go out to Olive camp to- day-Tucson Star.
 PRACTICAL SHEPHERDING.
 Sir Anthony FitZherbert, an English law judge, who wrote Book of Illus bandry,' in 1854, says: Sheep is the most profitable cattle that man can have" His grammar is not quite cor rect, says J. w. Ingham, in an ex- change, but I think his statement was true then, and is true now, with this one qualification-they must have eX- cellent care. Most other domestic ami mals will stand neglect better than sheep. If a person is not sure he can become a good shepherd, then he had better keep mules and goats. In an- cient times, if we can believe the rec ords, sheep received greater attention from their keepers than they do now. To prevent them from straying, from being stolen, or killed by wild beasts, or dogs, it was the practice of shep- herds to watch with their sheep all day, and sometimes (during the lamb ing season. at night also. Ouke 2S.) 1 The tendency which most sheep have | to ramble, in regions where there are no fences, renders it necessary for them to be attended by a shepherd and his dog. In the sheep ranches of America and Australia at the present day, it is as necessary for the shep- herd to attend the sheep as it was in Bible times. When a boy, my faith
 CT placed me in charge of his sheep. They ran in a hill pasture, but had learned to jump fences, and were ire quently found in the woods My busi- ness was to hunt them up every day, salt them, and count them. When the ewes had lambs. I carried a feed of 1 turnipS, potatoes, or oats to increase their flow of milk. If the feeding and salting was done regularly at the same hour, the sheep were sure to be found on the feeding ground at that hour. It is astonishing how well animals can measure time without watches or clocks. We are apt to fancy that we know more than our ancestors, and in some branches of knowledge there has
 been great progress made, but our an- cestors knew all about sheep raising that is worth knowinog. Thomas Hale,
 who published "A Complete Body of
 Husbandry" in 175S says: Great
 caution should be used in stocking
 farm with sheep, with respect to the
 breed, and in the choice of the crea-
 lures themselves; for there are in
 every breed many that are much finer than others, and these he should
 chuse. Half the profit that might be
 made by this part of the stock is lost
 by carelessness in the first choice, but
 which is inconceivable except by be- ginning over again." In a former pa ; per I charged farmers who have sheer
 to sell, never to sell their best. I now advise those who want sheep to com mence sheep raising, never to buy any but the very best that are obtainable though the price should be four-fol6
 the price of ordinary sheep. There are always sheepmen who are desir. ous to quit the business, and have , clearing out sales in which their flock. is sold in lots or singly to the highes
 bidder without reservation, and a buy CT can get the best by paying a goot l price. In buying sheep the word O ? the seller cannot always be trusted his memory may not be good, or h. i may not have proper regard for tn
 truth, but the mouths of the sheep vii never lie, so that the buyer need no g be cheated if he takes the proper pain I to inform himself At the first shear
 
 d age, sheep has two broad teeth il
 front, at the second shearing they hav e four, at the third six, at the fourtl eight. After this they will generall 9 begin to lose teeth. Two years old i =. the best age to buy them at, and the # will bear good lambs till they are sev
 en- Whatever breed is purchased le them be strong, healthy, well buil1 with soft oily wool firmly attached t . the skin. Nothing shows poor condi tion more than dullress of the eye , and 1Ooseness of the wool Any bree = will decline on coming from a ric
 paSturage to a poorer one, and the = will improve when brought from V region of scanty pasturage to a riche
 one. The farmer having decided upo > the breed of sheep whlcn IS pest fo e his locality, and obtained the numbe IS which he has fixed upon as the nuclei j. to larger flock, must next determir $ at what season of the year it will | a best to have the ewes yean or dro :: their lambs. The period of gestatio II is about twenty weeks, it may be III little longer, but if much less, the Ian II II will be weak and not likely to l1v u By keeping the ram shut up until u 5 fore part of December we formerly hs It our lambs come in the fore part .g May, after the weather had becon IS mild and pleasant, and the sheep ht T. been turned out to pasture. The lam
 came strong, happy and were qui le sure to live without much troubl Id That was before the urgent dema1 is came for spring lambs to supply u e. butcher. Now, in the eastern al Id middle states it is advisable to ha Tt them come earlier, so that they m; or obtain Qnartar size hv fha tjuno fh