The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1910-08-14

average Legislators and their sollcltude
for&the comfort and well-beinE OF the
voters dog, the shecp-raising indnstry
in this section is OF considerable lnl-
fportance, and is quito profitable.
The owners {of good pastura ge IN the
kivanna district are finding out that
at is lust as easy to increase the
.lamb crop" without enlarged expense
as 1t Is to thus Increase the corn crop
( or the hay crop or any otner crop
without cnlarglng the expense &C.
count. s
professor "A. l. Everett and W. G..
fShackleford, Jr. have told me now
they nave accomplished that reat, and
the object Of this letter Is to tell the
story to the readers OF the Industrial
Section, although have depressed.
having most naturally run into the
shecp-kilnng. "yaller, dog subject.
I will Just record Shackleford's ex-
5perience as he told II to me. He and
Professor Everett discussed the SUB
jcct OF improved sheep several years
ago, and concluded that inasmuch as
healthy ewes sometimes give birth
to twin lambs. and sometimes trlplets.
stock OF sheep could be bred that
might be depended upon to always
produce twins. and In that event tho
would be exactly doubled without any
additional cost to the breeder and
shcep-ralser.
Successful Demonstration.
Shackleford was so impressed with
the iden that he decided to begin busl-8
ness at once AT the time ho had
not more than half-dozen sheep on!
his farm. and so the first thing to-
do was to select stock and In the
selection OF young ewes he was care
ful to buy only such as were known
to have been twin lambs. In 1909 he
bought fifteen ewes OF the shropshire
breed. and known to have been born
twins. and also Dorset buck, also O
twin. From these fifteen ewes
raised that year twenty
four lambs In 1904 from eighteen
ewes he raised thirty-five lambs. all
OF the mother sheep except one hav-
ing given birth to twins. and he re-
moved that one from the flock. He
continued the sheep Industry along
these lines, although he has not yet
attempted 1t on very large scale, he
having so much OF other business re-
curing attention. and his main object
prolific sheep than the one-lamb va
riety can be bred. Accordingly, he
q
turned out for breeding purposes only
twin ewes and preserved only such
rams as were born as twins or as
This year he started out with
twin ewes, and from these
he raised forty healthy lambs and sold
thirty OF them on the market for IS
per head. The others he sold to other
farmers for breeding purposes. and at
fancy prices, getting as high as $40
and S12 for the bucks. He believes
that from now on his well-bred ana
well cared for Shropshire-Dorsets can
be relied upon to give birth to twins.
and sometimes to triplcts.
"A Very Prolific Mother.
From his old stock, and not In.
Guided In the above ngures, there is
eve which has record that cannot
be beaten In the State or out of It..
She is now winding up her eighth
year as mother. In the eight years
she has produced twins four times and
triplets four times, making twenty
lambs she has furnished her owner in
that period. OverShalt OF the lambs
were sold to the butchers at Sc per
head and the others to breeders at
from So ITO $40 per head. Is there d
fold In Virginia or any other Slater?
II 50, let her stand up and be counted.
Professor Everett has not been al-5
together as successful as Mr.. Shackle-
ford. but he has done remarkably we'll,
Ind has vel ldemonstrated that sheep
'aising pays handsomely, and would
pay more abundantly II the cur dog
industry could be curtailed in Abe
narle county.
"A dozen or more farmers In the Sec
Ion OF Albcmarle In which have
,een loafing around for the past two
weeks have taken lessons from
and Everett, are following
heir methods, and among the sheep.
'aisers generally in this region twin
Iheep and trlplets have become quite
! fad. and what grand results might
low from the fad but for the miser-
Lble dogs!
can we'll understand how an igno>
ant country negro may form an at
aonment ror q cur dog. but Tor u
White man who is supposed to love his
ountry and good mutton to form such
n attachment is to me inexp1icable.5l
)og-gone q cur dog anyhow. and
oubly dog gone q white man who
I'LL own one. 81 rs