The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1898-12-13

h'u IL NOT watched closely Il flock o
sneep running on it will lose more thrift
~ q Week IMAM you can gain back witt
the BEST OF feed, in a month.
You must remember that when Won
scrubs run out on the mountain. the,
have thousands of acres to roam over
and can hunt all the best parts and cal,
a living on them; but this your NUT
ton sneep cannot do, and remain in tha
condition necessary to be p%roitable: an,
II they could, you could not afford to lie
them roam and suffer the losses in in
crease, and their early deterioration. S,
YOU must keep them 10 the ground thar
gives you continuous control Of them
and furnishes them all they require.
You must fence to protect your stool
against other animals. and be sure +,
fence good enough to keep other breeds
o. sheep from mixing with yours. anG
adillterating the breed you have ~selected
to work with. Nothing is more annoy.
ine and nothing 50 quickly deteriorates
the ~alue of 4 flock as this.
Then see that your pastures are cleln
from all poisonous vegetation, all brush
and brlers that will hack I'D and pull ont
the wool. Do not allow cookie burss and
aGrllnony burrS to grow up and get into
YOUR Sleeps %feeces; if You do. YOU will
lose money on your wool clip. no matter
how good your sheep and their wool
may be.
You may say, this is all too much
trouble and labor; it is not so to \
sheep man. If you have a good flock
ana take the proper interest in it. and
The proper care of it, all this attention
and labor will be Il pleasure. and the
greatest YOU ever experienced. 1t will
also prove the most profitable. because
II VIII bring Won n LARGO Income .aJ
You can do all the work. while at nrns-
ent, III your system Of farming, Won do
nothing.
he present. almost universal practice
OF handling your farms and stock. will
ilot serve You III the future as il has in
lllc past. The word moves as we grow
older. and we can no more stav the tide
OF progress than we can regulate time
ana Keep from growing older: we are
compelled to go with the tide of progress
ana i Small space. Il couple hundred
SQUARE miles in the mountains of North
Carolina. cannot isolate itself from tho
rest OF the world. and keep down within
is boundaries the general DEVELOPMENT
ana pro9res of the s~urroun1inn
country.
No matter how much we are welded
TO the old life. We annot keep to it any
more than we can keep young: we must
advance with the army and not lurk in
the rear to be picked up as s~traeclers.
outlayerS OF cOWardly deserts. We must
cur our way to the front. and take a de-
leriiilhed stand among the foremost. DO
Eol ask what Weapons have we ot our
with which to do this? What
advantage do We have to fall hock
upon: What Resources have we to OK
pend: l answer, the only lasting and
everlasting ones are our climate and
soil. -"
We are blessed with Il fine crop of
virgin timber. which is fast slipping
from US. 1t is right that it should
be disposed Of. and something realized on
it. because it has already, in many
places. stood too long, showing signs Of
decay. and in most cases it is already
.ulled. in the same manner as the focks
IF native sheep, by taking away the
pest and leaving the poorest.
The walnut. cherry, ash and valuable
figured timbers are all taken first. and
ire fast disappearing. Then what is
Like it is in the f1ocks of sheep,
but the scrubs and culls. for
which it will be hard to find Il market.
Then the last and only recourse. and
he best we ever had to resort to, is our
oil. This we must take advantage Of.
nd use it to fight our way to the front.
Cow, how shall we do this? Why. com
by destroying the scrubs. no mat
er if found in tree or animal. clear the
round of all useless improbable TIM
er. and put it down to grass; then learn
to keep on it fiOckS of good profit
bic sheep.
] propose sheep, because these moun-
ains are not fit for anything else. You
annot compete in growing corn and
grains with the rich river bottoms
prairie lands. and your soil is too {
riable and your hillsides too steep TO t
aiSe cattle and horses with the same i
lccess that the low lands and table
Of the country can. You cannot Y
.ermanently maintain the grasses so {
'n@ as YOU ruin your pastures by al
wing heavy cattle and horses to run ]
4 them. in and out of season. poaching
rem and pulling the grasses: but can y
.aintaln them and enrich them with =
leep. if Won learn how, and then de- @
rmidedly do it. +
This mountain country is pronounced c
al practical men. and by all our :
armed theorists that have had any OPP :,
to learn enough about it. and =
infe'lieently compare it with other i
lrep territory, rs far-excelling them. \
Ill rs pre-eminontly a Sheep-raiSing :.
ction and onr experience teaches us =
@ same thing. "
Mr.. John y. Young. in his letter to Il
Q United States Department Of Ami -
al Industry. says: That twenty I
experience in manufacturing the =
Dols i'll the State. had familiarized him =
It'll the manner in which the sheep
d been cared for. and had convinced y
that without great natural advan- :
geS, their utter neglect would long
zee have eXterminated them from the s.
H. g
think for a moment: he is not u
uding to the mountain sheep especial lie
but TO sheen in parts of the State &c
lere better care is taken of stock and III
'ere stock can take better care of it "
f. if neglected, than here in the III
and if this is true there. how IL
'ch more So is it true Of the f1ocks CO
re! How much more does it speak ht
the natural advanta geS here where la
" cannot f1I.n ~ p nf fhnn,Sn1vnc CD m