The Athena press. [volume] (Athena, Umatilla County, Or.) 18??-1942, 1909-02-05

had no lambs, and what lambs there
were did not amount to ANYTHING
| These old PETERS evidently came west
in the SOS, and it makes me swear like
sixty when | think of them. 1t was !
| bad deal, and no farmer should buy
one at any price. An old, worn-oul
range sheep is the nearest thing to
lnothing at all there is on earth.
Result on Lambs.
There were also number Of lambs
about a year old or less. This brought
my average down to seven pounds
lhe next year was the same. only
lots more young lambs. My proper
ton OF very young and very old was
away above the average, so it dropped
to 81 pounds. This is just the aver
age sheep fleece in the United States
Idaho going trifle better. can say
right here that good. fair, coarse wool
mutton sheep will shear close to 10
pounds.
In 1908 and 1907 my wool was sold
to a hide buyer, who made several
cents pound on it without doubt. In
1906 is was sold direct to a wool
buyer.
The lambs for these three years are
as follows:
1so5-Lambs $3.50, wool $155, s4.o5.
l906-Lambs $275, wool $1.40, $4.15.
1907-Lambs $500, wool $1.24, $4.24.
he lambs were sold to local BUTCH
ers in Nampa and Boise, and weighed
from rs to 100 pounds. The average
income for three years was $415, or
call 1t $4 even up. This is counting
lambs at 100 per cent increase; it
will average close to that with care.
lhis does not count losses of ewes, of
which there will be an occasional one.
Now, we find we can pasture 13
sheep on an acre. and one acre of al
falta, counting four tons of hay to
acre, will winter 20 sheep, and this
hay land will also furnish pasture in
the spring while regular pasture is
getting start, and also in the fall.
These two acres, one of hay and one
of pasture, will keep an average Of
16t, or say 16, sheep the whole year,
or eight to each acre, and an income
OF $4 each sheep makes $32 income
per acre.
Another thing, these sheep harvest
their own crop on three out of every
five acres. Now, every farmer knows
1t costs good money and lots of sweat
to put hay in the stack.
One OF the strongest points in sheep
l. II.
trouble most of the time. For about
eight months they will run on pasture.
You only have to keep little water
running and corral them at night.
When evening comes mine are all in
or close by, and all there is to do is
shut the gate and open it in the morn
ing. Even this is not necessary if you
have coyote tight fence, but we
sleep better when they are corralled,
and most of them like to go into their
house.
In winter farmer has only to feed
them hay, when they have to be fed,
and only when lambing has he really
to give them much work; but still they
are always under his eye to see that
everything is going right.
Revenue From Wool.
People say sheep and wool have
been away up and you can't make such
returns very long.
Well, let us see. | sold my last
wool for 10 cents This same farm
wool in Ohio brought 80 cents. We
shoull get the same, less freight, or
&c or 28 cents, instead of 10, and we
will get it when enough farmers raise
sheep SO it will be worth while for
wool buyers to look it up. AS long as
we have only few hundred or thou
sand pounds scattered all over the
country, we will have to be content
with the best range prices. The same
holds true of lambs. My lambs, if |
had enough to ship to Chicago, would
have brought me from $4 to Sc net
last year instead of So. With plenty
of sheep on the farms, buyers would
be here every month, taking all the
lambs ready to go, at prices away
above local, or the farmers could pool
and ship themselves and get full re-
turns. The more that go into it the
better, so you see | am working for
my own interests as we'll as neigh
bors' in this discussion. If we can
ship east, prices can drop SO per cent
and still we can make good money, or
we can even cut the prices | got right
in half and still make more money
than selling hay at $4 in stack. / sell
my hay TO my own sheep at $8 per ton
and they gather tbree-fifths of the