The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1903-01-30
sHEARER's DAYS IN CUSTER
ABOUT NUMBERED.
AS IN YELLOWSTONE VALLEY
Northern Montana Men Try Winter
Feeding Of Sheep With
Good Results.

shearing will be done in Custer o.
ty this summer, as the old method
promises to be superseded by the
more modern one .of machine shear
ing. One of the flockmasters from
Miles City was here a few days ago
and said that eastern parties were
then going over the ground with the
view to erecting a plant Of 80 ma
chimes en- the north side Of the Vel
lows o and only a few miles from
the city. The same parties intended
also to look over the field in the cen
tral and southern parts of the county
and if they obtained the desired en-
enlargement would erect plants
there, probably on the Powder and
Tongue rivers.
The gentleman quoted said hat the
sheepmen of his county had come to
the conclusion that the employment
of machines was much more salts
factory all around than the old way.
Not only was it regarded as being
cheaper, but there was none of the
usual trouble about boarding h
shearers, chickering's over tags, likeli-
hood of strikes and the many other
annoyances always looked forward to
at the beginning of the shearing sea
! son, He said that the machines pro-
posed to be put in were capable OF
being graduated SO as to cut as close
or long as desired, while the danger
of manning sheep was reduced to a
minimum. According toghis way OF
thinking very few shearers will hnd
employment in his county this sea-
son.
Last fall several men interested in
the sheep business in the northern
part of the state visited Billings for
the purposeI of gaining knowledge
concerning winter feeding, some OF
them having concluded to follow the
example set in Yellowstone county
and try the experiment OF fattenlng
mutton for the eastern winter mar
ket. Among them was A. S. Lohman
of Chinook, who spent a NUMBER OF
days looking over the feeding pens
IN the valley. So favorably was he
impressed with what he saw that ne
decided to make a trial on his own
ranch. The outcome has just been
learned.
Toward the end of November a lot
Of about 1000 two and three-year-old
wethers were turned owe to him and
C. Fl. Merrill, the agreement being
that the original cost of the sheep and
the cost of feeding and caring should
be charged against the market price
of the band when loaded for shipment
The average weight of the sheep
when feeding began was 1O5 pounds
They were fed on alfalfa and WILD
hay until January Is, a period O
about. seven weeks and at the enc
of that time the average weight was
1927 pounds, a gain of % pounds pei
head, much larger than is usual with
the same class of sheep when Zee
ON mill screenings, the increase II
the latter case being generally only
about 10 pounds per head a month
During the time the sheep were Zee
they consumed 1876 IONS OF hay valuee
at Sc a ton, and the cost of labor an6
incidentals was about $156 for the
seven weeks.
When the sheep were loaded a
Chinook for shipment east a settle
ment was made by the owners ant
feeders and Messrs. Lehman ant
Merrill found that the net profits o
the experiment were $772, which the.
divided between them. The comb
ton of the sheep was such that Whel
loaded three4fourths of them were
pronounced to be fit for slaughte
and would probably have sold at $4.5'
per cwt., as the market then was
The remainder needed only a littl'
finishing on screenings.
VThe local markets will probably b.
soon supplied with a new wrinkle
in cookery-cocoanut lard. An agen
of the makers is headed this wa!
) with a sample of the stuff and is show
) ing the dealers what it looks like
He carries a %five-pound pail fllet
with the article and is said to be tax
ing many orders. The lard is a for
eign product, being made at Singa
;. pore, and is said by those who hav'
-a 10 ho whita and firm