The Taney County republican. (Forsyth, Mo.) 1895-1992, 1915-04-15

nent pastures. In particular. the use
Of a succession tl forage crop pastures
will prevent stomach worms, one oI
the most prevalent and disastrous
scourges Of young stock, and will en-
able the farmer 10 market BY the end
OF June or the first Of July, when mar
ket prices are usually the highest, the
lambs that were born in the late winter
or early spring. Handled under such
conditions and on high-priced farm
land, the Importance OF small flock o!
sheep cannot be overlooked.
In addition to pointing out these
facts, the bulletin already mentioned,
The Sheep Killing Dog" discusses
the possible means Of preventing in
the future the loss from dogs. At the
present time the various Stale laws on
this subject differ widely, some states
using the money obtained from dog
licenses to reimburse sheep owners,
while others permit the sheep men to
recover damages from the dog owners
and two offer thtm no recourse what
soever. Dog, however, are very sci
dom caught in the act OF killing sheep.
1t is always difficult to determine their
owners, and where the damages are
paid by the state directly from the
dogtax funds the money very lre-
quently is far from sufficient to meet
all the claims.
A remedy that is suggested for this
situation is uniform State dog law
embodying the principle OF a dog tax
sufficiently heavy to discourage those
who are not willing to take care Of
their pets from keeping them. Under
this plan all dogs over six months Of age
must be licensed each year, the tax
paid at the lime Ct licensing and
metal tag bearing the license number
attached TO the dogs collar. Any
dog found without this tag, unattended
and off its owners premises, may be
killed. When found Unattended on a
farm where sheep are kept the dog
may be killed whether it has the tag
or not, and under any circumstances
dog caught chasing or killing sheep
may be killed. All dogs which can
be proved to be sheep killers must be
killed whether caught or not, and
reward of SIS should be offered for any
one identifying a sheep-killing dog.
The money received from dog taxes
should be devoted to reimbursing
sheep owners for their lost stock and
the county should in turn recover this
money whenever possible from the
dogs owners. A special license
should be issued for kennels where
large numbers Of dogs are maintained
under such conditions that they can
not possibly do any harm to neighbor-
ing hocks.
While some such plan as this is
probably indispensable to the full
development Of the sheep industry
in the United States, there are cases
where the flock master will find in its
absence the use Of dog-proof fences
very desirable. The grazing Of sheep
upon comparatively small areas Of land
sown to forage crops, instead Of upon
permanent pastures in larger fields,
materially reduces the area to be
fenced and makes this practicable
precantion. In the West fences baye
been built which Prove a satisfactory
defence against coyotes, and the
fence that will turn aside a coyote will
turn a dog A fence Of this character
can be built as follows:
The posts 7 IL feet in length, set
Q IL leet in the ground and 10 feet
apar'; a barbed wire stretched A t to
the surface Of the ground; 8 inches
higher a 36in woven.wire fence hav.
ing 4-inch triangular mesh; S inches
higher barbed wire: inches higher
a second barbed wire; inches above
this a third barbed wire. Total
height 81 inches.
II is important 10 remember how
ever, that the bottom strand OF barbed
wire must be stretched fit on the sur
face Of the ground at all points. II
necessary the ground should be grad
ed before the fence is built. There
after such small holes as appear may
be filed ia. II is not always neces-
sary to fence the entire pasture, fol
dogs usually attack sheep at night
only. II a sufficient area can be fenc-
ed to give the flock protection dur
ing the night, therefore, they may be
safely left in uninclosed pastures