The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1899-03-21
LIVE SEoCE
The BEST BREED OF sHRRP.

The BEST BREED OF SHEEP.
Prof. W. F. Massey, of the A & NJ.
College, Raleigh, N. c., in a recent
article commenting on q number of
letters regarding the best breed of
sheep, says:
1.-The very general endorsement Of
the Shropshire sheep shows how this
breed has captured the American
farmer of late years. Much Of this is
due to the wise selection Of breeding
animals made by those who have been
chiefly engaged in the importation of
this breed. Anyone who has seen the
wonderful specimens Of the Shropshire
exhibited by DR.. Davidson, of New
York, at the various State fairs can no
longer wonder at the popularity of the
breed. And as to the quality Of their
fl 5sh, we a speak from experience,
for we have never found better mutton
than the Shropshire makes, if as good.
Years gone by we favored the long.
wooded Cotswold, and they certainly
gave heavy f9eces and big lambs. But
we found that they were not SO eff
GENTLY protected from our winter
rains by their long wool as the denser
WOO ed Down breeds. ALL the Downs
have their champions, and no breed
has been in the past more popular than
Southdo IN, and none has left stronger
impress on what is known as the ma.
tive" stock, for in many sections these
natives are really degenerate South.
downs, ard soon respond to the infu-
sion of a little pure blood. Oae of the
best crosses l have ever noticed In the
South is q f-ck IN South Carolina,
which has been changed to mutton by
the use Of pure bred SouUhdOwns on
derino ewes. This has been continued
for years, until Low to the casual OBJ,
server the flock is pure Southdown
But the quality Of the wool from this
flock is such from the old Meriuo
blood, that it brings a higher price
than Southdown wool. Then, too, we
noticed a denseness Of fleece that
ad6pts the sheep to resisting The effects
of Southern winter rains. Not that we
do not condemn the practice of letting
sheep run out winter and summer,
with no shelter but the forest, but it is
lucky for the sheep if he has a faece
to turn the rain, and does not part his
hair in the middle. OF the Oxford
downs we know but liGtle. There are
some fine specimens of this breed in
Talbot county, Md, and elsewhere,
and in the lower Counties Of the
Shore" the leicester left an impress
years ago on the hJCks that was good.
OF the Lincoln we know absolutely
nothing, and do not remember to have
ever even seen one. The Craze for the
D lrset, that some have tried to get I'D.
has about died out, we believe The
presence of immense horns ia not, to a
biologist, an indication of high breed
ing in any animal, but rather an evi
dence that the animal is not far re.
moved from a wild state, in which
horns are given by nature as a defence
Such appendages grad daily disappear
as the animal is refined in breeding. 1t
is far better to take care of the sheep
yourself than TO trust any breed taking
care of itself in the presence of dogs ,r
wolves. As to the dog question, we
have long ago given it al our opinion
that every sheep farmer should be a
law unto his own premises, and that
the shot gun and a little strychnine
are worth more than all the dog tax
laws that were ever framed. We be
lieve in treating all wandering dogs as
wild beasts of prey, and destroying
them as we would wolves. In some
States there have been laws giving
prizes for the scalps of wolves, and in
Missouri we remember that the old
wolf scalp certificates became so nu
merous in the tax collectors hands
that money was a for public pur
poses in some counties. If there was
q pr re offered for sheep killing dogs it
would do more good than a law taxing
the ours"
Refuse coal tar sprinkled about the
poultry house and on rOosts ia said Tn