The Brattleboro reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1907-1912, 1911-06-23
SHEEP HUSBANDRY

II has been mystery in this office 70
many years why the sheep industry shoul,
not thrive and make profit IN Vermont
There is plenty of feed upon the thousands
of acres of practically waste land ON all tn,
hillsdes in the state. Much of this land is
good for nothing else EXCEPT possibly t.
grow to forests The tariff, one would
think would help the sheep industry. but
the higher the tariff the less sheep, That
is the case not only in Vermont, but all
over the East,
The summer feed for the sheen would
cost little; in some cases practically moth
ing on the lands we have named, The
winter cost is not large. There were once
many great flocks in the state, more than
double the present number. AT one period
there was great profit in the breeding and
sale of blooded stock. There are farmers
in Vermont that make good profit from
sheep. Only n short time ago a Lamollle
county farmer discussing sheep SAID he
made as good profit on his sheep as on
other stock Another farmer, on being
asked to tell what was the trouble with
sheep hrsbandry in Vermont, answered
laconically. dogs" He went on to tell
how the farmers near him suffered from
that pest, the useless dog. burlington
News
Surely there are farmers in Vermont who
make money raising sheep These farmers
are not combining themselves to merinos
either The farmer with flock of coarse
woods in Vermont has an easier task to
go in for specialties such as dairying, sugar
making, Embarrassing, etc The breeding
of coarse-wool sheep if taken hold Of with
the intention of making it one of the agri-
cultural industries of Vermont would add
more dollars to the bank accounts of small
farmers than almost any other line that
the farmer might embark in. One need
not go west to learn what can be done IN
the sheep-raising industry. New Hamp-
shire farmers especially in Merrimack. Bel
KNAPP and Grafton counties are raising
grade coarse-wool sheep and selling lambs
at prices sufficiently aluring to make the
wool production a matter of secondary i'm.
portance The price Of beef and pork
products ought to be an incentive for New
England and especially Vermont farmers
to breed sheep,
The initial cost of flock of coarse wool
sheep is far below that of a herd of stand
ard bred, registered dairy cows. Dairying
is one of the principal branches of agricul-
ture in Vermont but it requires more
money to engage in it and more money to
maintain an equipment than it does to en-
bark in sheep raising with an equipment |
sufficiently large to make a living for the |
owner and his family. Vermont is pecul. |
iarly adapted to sheep raising because of
the topography. Land is cheap-the kind |
necessary for sheep pasturage. The climate
cannot be excelled The distance to market |
makes it possible to put sheep and lambs
on the tables of Boston and New York at
a price that makes freight charges Of little
account in figuring profit
That the so-called worthless dog" is the
bane of sheep raisers in Vermont is ac-
by many but not by all sheep
raisers There is a considerable difference
of opinion regarding the dog question as
it applies to sheep raising in Vermont.
The farmer with a shotgun and few nun
utes of spare time can reduce the dog ques-
ton to one of little importance. The law
gives the farmer the right to use gun and
the state will pay for the damage done by
dogs to flock of sheep. 1t isn't the dog
question that has caused the decline of the
sheep industry in Vermont so much as the {
inclination of the farmer to seek something
new as profit producer. Farmers, follow
the example of several Windham county
farmers and breed sheep--coarse-w