Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1903-03-11
REPORT
FORPAST YEAR
-Four and one-hslf Million Sheep, Of
Which Nearly oneSovrth are in
Fergus County.
cHoTeAu COUNTY NOW LEADS
Year Was One o. Profit 20 the In.
cvs,ry and Outlook ls Most En-
e~oyrssins Throughout

The annual report u the state board
" siesp comm ssfOners Just issued
shows that Montana is still IN the lead
vi all the states 10 he union AZ q VOL
producer Last year the state pre-
d1red % }I7Tl7 pounds Of wool which
brought an average price u l3 cents
q pyync.
The humber u sheep On hand IN ,hC
state March ]. 1907, were $3.50 231
whlct Is a substantial Increase over
tie previous year. Since March J.
lsDg l~s73,GS5 lambs were dOcked
willie 81 SEQ sheep were shipped into
lbe state since that time. Since March
J. Of last year ss3,3s9 sheep were
slaughtered, sold and shipped oIt Of
The state. There were ssG,sss pounds
VI pelts sold which brought an aver.
age Of sh eeDts a pound. During The
year 1891, III pounds u wool were
consigned. II brought al advance u
l01z cents. There were J,l75 sheep
killed by wild animals in Montana last
year These iscts are contained in
the report u Cornelius Hedges. Score.
tary Of The board. The report Sas 10
have been submitted ~ the lsEt meet
Ing u The board. but. owing 70 the III.
ness of the secretary. il was delayed.
The year that ended NV. 80 IL over.
ed by the report.
Chotesv in the Lead.
Fergus county is ~ longer the ban
ner sheep county Of Montana. This is
shown by the statistics given which
show ina, the number u sheep IN
Chotesu county, counting larbs acd
all are l,lJs ,O72 while Fergus county
county has l,035,sB u 1883 head
less than Choteau county. Last year
The latter county pushed Fergus hard
and this year beat il badly. Meagher
county comes third In the list with
sQI ,igC sheep.
The sheep commissioners report tie
sheep IN the various counties 10 be IN
the best NJ health. No scab exists and
Only d few cases were AT hand dur.
ing 'be earlier pan Of the year which
were stamped out. In Cho,eau county
there were repOrts "a sheep dy'
ing from poison and tape worm.
The report ssys that during the past
year j. +. platt OF Billings was ap'
pointed deputy sheep inspector for
Yellowstone county and has served &C
ccptably AZ such. II then goes on and
gives the business of .4e meeting vi
the Pacific Northwest %oOlgrowcrs'
association which Ret In Helena last
year. II tens 0f the new quarantine
pTDcla nations and gives u in full in
another part
In speaking Of the conditions Sec,
Rotary Hedges says.
Disease In Carbon County
The trouble tor some years feared
bat happily ayerlcd heretofore, was
experienced the past year IN the out
break ii scab in Carbon county nea
Va" Wyoming line.
Thousands pf sheep winter IN
Northern Wyoming. crossing th'
range in Montana during me winter
season. II IN often "A difficult mattel
tD gel The D~n"rs 81 these migfatorl
bands ~ report for inspection 10 OuI
Montana deputies, In some instances
they have travelled hundreds 81 mile
within our borders aud moi been az
pretended. Ia Tho manner il ls be
licycd that The outb,eak Df the seal
was introduced ln Carbon county
Z Oug efficient state veterinarian, Dr NJ
! T. Knowles. and his assistant bot
j spent many weeks In that section, CIV
! Ing personal attention 10 inspectio
! and dipping Of ia" exposed and infec.
. ed sheep. and the present outbreak
I now believed, after an interval q
I several months. 10 have been who'll
: %cradlcatcd.
. But for the prompt and ylgOrot
action Of our state veterinarian, "A pr
tracrod and serious Siege OF the di
caEr would doubtless have resulted.
I'm rhpteau coun'y, where troubI
was cgprctcd with scab a year az,
the inspector ID. a. Smith. has wOrI
cd faithfully, aud reports having u
disease under satisfactory control, al
rs far as we know completely Grad
Gated,
Conditions are Encouraging.
The conditions elsewhere continl
most encouraging among not only %
growcrs, but purchasers ns well.
THE warrants drawn against Il
= sheep inspector and indemnity fur
of the state for the year ending No
3O l.9U2 amount to S3,50l.SJ, bciI
considerably In cxccss of last year
l..... ,h... h.In. an incrna,