The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1898-12-13
8h90p Industry in
North Carolina
BY c. h. NIMSON.
Read oefore the Sheep Breeders and Wool Growers As
ISOLATION of North Carolina
SECOND PAPER.
To- the Sheep and Wool Growers Asso-
citation OF Mitchell County, North

tI1IiOH III NIJItUpii 1OunJN. \Orti
Carolina:
GeutIemen-In my last paper I closet
the subject, leaving you a suppose
sheep raiser, with a small flock of native
ewes and Il ram of the breed selected
r., work with.
The neXt thing you must do, ] say
must" because | believe that no ono
in this. or any other section of this
country, can successfully raise muttor
sheep and get them in d proper condi
1fon TO market ~proftably, without doing
what | say in these paper, must be
done.
Some one may say, we have raised
sheep long before he came here" but this
is not so: the sheep YOU have had, with
H. very few exceptions, raised themselves,
and now after they did that much for
YOU. YOU failed to make money out Of
their product. If YOU had done so. the
industry never would have been so neg
t.cted. and in many cases abandoned. Us
If has been.
These failures. after so long Il trial, are
he hest proof possible that the course
you have been and are now pursuing is
the wrong one. and must be abandoned
if you want to raise mutton sheep that
viii pay you a profit. SO | say ''you
must"
You must next erect some sort of shell
ter for the accommodation of your flock,
"a home as it We're, and You must aban-
ion all such treatment as You are ac-
eustomed to give your sheep now, which
belongs to Il half domcSticated ANIMAL;
vou must treat them more like you
would u human being, in whom YOU
have the same interest.
- 49,, 1865, ,:,I 49,. ,l.14,,.
srant feed. and Indifferent care for five
#unths in the year, then run them out
,n the mountain. away from their home.
I'll" other seven months they cannot pos
silly be much more than half domes-
ticlted-a conditio nthat is not a part of
a profitable system Of mutton sheep
farming IN any section.
You must give them 4 home all the
year around where they can 90 and
remain quietly; Il place where they are
protected against wind, rain and snow.
This shelter should be in some inclos-
IRE that would afford them protection
a~~ainst other farm animals. and where
tA Y could be confined for Il few days
ut a time. if necessary. or suited your
eHlyenience: the whole constituting Il
>l.ep barn with q yard aroun it.
S1ch a building should always be 10
on the highest ground in The vi
entity YOU find it most convenient to
build and to attend to. so as to insure
drainage. dry bed. and constant
and attention. especially in bad.
stormy weather. summer and winter.
The building must be roomy. It mat
.ers not what kind OF sheep YOU select
o work with. YOU Will always find that
he smaller the flock. and the more space
occupied by each Individual sheep. the
rore thrifty they are.
Most all farm buildings afford accom-
aodatioE> for Il few sheep. besides the
compliment Of other farm animals,
without special provisions for the sheep;
such conditions sheep will pros
ler so long as the flock remain small.
within keeping of such favorable
,u~rroundingS, but wait and see the flock
ucreasz without increased provisions be-
made for them, and what Will yOu
.earE Why the owner will tell you. =
,>od 10 have the best of luck with sheep,
MT somehow. Of late. they are not do
50 we'll SO he concludes that he
not have the right kind of sheep.
is at once ready to drop in the old.
Id folly Of changing to some other
reed. He can think no other way out
his troubles. and either makes the
-tA -t VI dbtii'IOllS III bINilltSN III oio
| think the latter is the best for the
.a"ep interest. because he would not
min another flock by making the change:
he did change. he would keep III the
old rut. croWding them INTO close
-arters. forcing them TO live in the
"sr unsuitable condition..
Then build your sheds roomy. apd
-c your pens large: do not crowd the
a-an. and do not keep too many to-
.a-ler in one flock.
Next see that they do not suffer for
amt IF water. Sheep never drink much I
# 81 time. but they want to drink often. 4,
>ee that their water is good, fresh, ,
lt II possible from Il live. fast running :
Ir"am: %stagnant pools or sluggish creeks f
lang rouS to sheep. ,
Mo-" having your barns, and your 6
.es-s, and your water supply for them, |
" Ie their pastures for summer, and j,
.9Te all things. see in time that You !
e a sufficient amount OF good nour- /
Eng fed for ali winter: do not try to q
Isft taem on late cut. hard woody :
-~9.a| hay, but have your winter hay n
-a-e early and always from grasses in :
When say. feed for all winter" l
20. q because. during my ten years of h
-,"ee NJ Cranberry, we never have !,
winter that mutton sheep should y
nave been fed more or less from +,
w. ~F~t Of December to the first Of 8
can keep scrubs without this. as (,
nave always been doing for a cen Il
.-- You cannot raise good mutton
III that way. that will pay you II fl
l"u must keep up the feed and n
Tn. Y,
.,+, i'IilerS Of old England are best W
faIsers and feeders in the world. W
nave tn" best climate, richest pas h;
..,r- ,td their other feed is the most u
.ba 'ot with all these advantages on ;.
oI 1and, and the disadvantages on Il
.roffalf'' 'hr pest managed and most 81
III aag.+: AocES are fed daily other food
lI..> ''''u 10 their grazing and root SIM ~
l..s~ Iced. feed, feed all the time. no ~
MIA, fr lo| wen bred a sheep is, or of w
f.'5 II Is, it must nave plenty of So
% 1HAI