The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1911-08-10
SHEEP FARM PROFITS
Many Valuable Services OF AMI
NAL Not Fully Credited.
Need Variety Of Feed, But Will Do
Great Things In Kidding Place Of
Various Weeds-Three Az
enues Of Manipulating.
(By w. A. M'KERROW.)

By w. A. M'KERROW.)
The most profitable and pleasant
kind OF farming is that which embraces
the growing of live stock. The farmer
who is continually taking fertility
away from his land by selling grain
crops is robber of the soil. In trip
through rural community We will in
variably find that all the most pros
porous farmers are growers of live
stock in some form, and the far-sight-
ed ones, those that intend to leave
better farm than they found. have
sheep. Sheep serve a threefold pur-
pose and many of their most valua-
BILE services are not fully credited.
They have been one of the chief fac
tors In the development of British ag-
riculture, and wherever given an op-
portunity have done wonderful things
in our own country. The fame OF the
sheep as killer Of weeds and general
sAavenger has in many cases really
done them harm. 1t is not possible to
make b. flock of sheep pay and make
them suDsist entirely on weeds and
rubbish which other animals will not
eat. This must be distinctly under
stood but on the other hand. they
want a variety and will do great
things in Kidding a farm of weeds.A
They relish young buTdocks, ragweed,
dandelions and Will eat thistles If
sprinkled with salt. Their three most
Important avenues of profit are:- First,
mutton production; secoid, wool pTo-
duction and. third. the preservation Il
soil fertility.
Mutton as food Is gradually becom-
Ing more important and prices should
remain steadily on the increase re-
CARELESS of the increas of supply.
There Is no reason why the Ameri-
can people should not eat as much
mutton per capita as the English, and
this would mean practically doubling
Of the present consumption. Further
more, the big flocks on the western
prairies are gradually decreasing and
this deficiency must be supplied from
some other source. There is bright
future for the farmers sheep. The
cost of maintaining a flock of sheep Is
very light, and with fair wool prices,
the fleece should nearly pay for the
years keep. Then we have the lamb
as profit and pay for our time. The
time spent In caring for the flock is
small item, and In summer should
be considered as recreation. Lambs
of some good mutton type should be
ready for market at from three to
seven months old, depending on the
trade which they supply. The small
flock owner will usually find a good
local demand, especially for the early
or Easter lambs. Any man located
near a large city will find 1t profitable
to grow early lambs. to be dropped
In January or February and marketed
about Easter time. The selection OF
good ewes and pure-bred ram OF the
right type are essentials in this Dusl-
ness and are great factors in the sue
cessful flock, no matter what the aim
ia. We must have breeding before
good feeding can help US. The best
eve lambs must be retained and ewes
mast their usefulness discarded. 1t is
impossible to set any definite age at
which ewes pass their best. for It Is
largely a matter Of individuality.
The second source OF revenue or the
maintenance fund, as we call 1t, Is the
fleece. Wool prices have been rather
discouraging this year, but there are
numerous causes for this. and 1t Is
rot likely to occur again Tarin agi-
tators and the manufacturers have
both been working against the poor
grower and consequently prices have
been low. But taking normal prices.
we find that good clip becomes quite
an item. 1t is possible to get fairly
heavy fleece without sacrificing NUT
ton conformation. and this is the type
that is most profitable. Length OF
sfaple is necessary, but the fiber
should be fine and of sufficient density
to shed rain. The sheep with long,
coarse, fleece that parts along the
hack az soon as wet Is subject to colds
and other relegated diseases. The time
for shearing and marketing the wool
Il subject entirely to local conditions.
but we do not think there Is any dan
ger Of not finding ready market at
the current price American WOODEN
manufacturers import large quantities
IT wool each year. and even without 9
tariff could afford to pay higher rate
than the present price. Last. and Of
great importance to the farmer y the