The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1900-12-29
SHEEP DIPPING.
New Branch of Business at Chicago
Stock Yards.
(Chicago Times-Herald)


Contrary to public opinion, all the
cattle, sheep and swine arriving at the
Chicago stock yards are not slaugh-
tered for packing purposes. An i'm
mense trade is row being done in han
ding Livestock for feeding and breeding.
This is particularly true of the sheep
trade. Within the past few years there
has been a great increase in the snip
ping of live sheep and lamps 20 all
parts of the Union from Chicago.
The development of the trade has led
to government restrictions to prevent
the wholesale transferring OF sheep
from spreading any disease that may
exist in the fi0cks. To this end the
| dipping process has become a regu-
lar feature of the industry, and one of
the queerest and most interesting
sights of PackingtOwn is the daily inn
mersiCn of thousands of sheep in a So
luton of water, sulphur and nicotine.
Seventeen men are required to give
the sheep their necessary bath. Long
before the first animal is thrown into
the tank work has been in progress
heating the water for their reception
and adding the proper quantities of
/ sulphur and nicotine. The sheep swim
I through tank ninety feet long, five
| feet deep. two feet wide at the top and
| six inches in width at the bottom. The
/ tank contains 200 gallons of water
heated to 40 degrees. The boss of the
working gang adds fifteen pounds of
sulphur and one quart Of nicotine TO
/ every 100 gallons of water in the tank.
/ Then an assistant takes a stand at the
4 end of the runway leading from the
pens, and as the first sheep comes with
/ in reach he sends it sliding and slipping
/ into the water, couple of feet below
/ the runway Wondering where its
( leader has gone. the second in line
/ md I'd 70
/ isfy its curiosity, only to find itself
! the next moment floundering in the
/ narrow channel In a minute or two
! from seventy to ninety sheep are stTug-
/ Cling in the tank.
/ The number is limited to the size of
the bathers. The sheep, as q rule, swim
/ quickly and in a short time No. 1 rises
/ dripping on the receiving platform at
( the end of the tank. Each sheep car
! ries one gallon of liquid in it's coat as
/ il leaves the tank, and bathing at the
rate of 1000 an hour it is necessary to
refill the tank after about one and one
half hours work
Government officials inspect the dip
/ ping" Of the fiCcSs at frequent inter
walls to see that all provisions of the
law are respected. Each sheep is
dipped at a cost to the owner Of 8
cents. The tank is filled at a cost of
about $50.
There has been an enormous increase
IN the consumption of mutton, and the
installing Of the dipping" tank result
ed mainly from this fact. 1t is esti-
mated that the sales of mutton have
quadrupled since 1885 The increase
has been made largely within the. last
FIVE years, and the present year shows
the largest gain on record. In 1899,
1908, 59S sheep and lambs were received
here, as compared with 1862 832 in 1895.
About 100000 were sent east and west
last year for feeding and breeding pur-
poses. and every one Of them passed
through the sanitary tank. The ship
ments usually begin early in the year,
reach their height in August and Sep
TENDER and decline during the winter
months. At present about ?, 500 sheep
are dipped daily.
For the present year to Oct. ] there
was gain of $1,000 in the live sheep
shipments. The high prices obtained
for mutton during the winter and
spring. and for wool, coupled with the
abundance of feed now on the farms.
has caused feeders to place enormous
orders in Chicago for sheep and lambs.
So great has the trade become that
changes are being made to increase the
capacity of the tank. It is proposed
to make the dipping facilities capable
of handling 10000 sheep in a working
day of eight hours.