The Little River news., 1916-09-02
GROWING ANIMALS ON TIE
 FARM
No. 7 Sheep and Goat Raising. By Ii. E. Dvorachek, Professor of Ami nal Husbandry, University
of Arkansas

N -Aiiii"i ihduSIIy or the l.. ;. De. partment of Agriculture shows that the sheep industry has been on the decline during the last few years. The prices paid for mutton lambs on the markets during the last two years would Indicate that such must be the case. tat lambs have been selling around l2 cents per pound this year. and the demand seems to be greater than the supply. Wool also shows an increase over prices of say, two years ago We also fad that goats shipped rom the Southwest to Kansas City nave found ready sale as mutton at falf prices whore they reached the market in good condition It would seem that an increase in production of both sheep and goats might well come from the South and the South west.
 The sheep is serving it's best purpose as sort of scav.nger on the farm. keeping down weeds in pastures and on the farm in general It is not uncommon to See well established pas lures put under cultivation here in Ar kansas for no other reason than tna, noXious weeds had become so well established that the more desirable grasses were crowded out. A few sheep would have saved such pasture and made mutton and wool in doing so. Enc goat, on the other hand is at it's best among the brush and hTi2TS with ybinb rI, l,;l r, Qbandantly covered. Whether enc wishes to put such land under cultiva. tion CT into permanent pasture. the first problem is the removal of the Hnderbrush.
 While the sheep is generally con. sidefed as @ seayanger it is not best to treat it as such and make it depend upon what it can find in the way of weeds for living.
 X few sheep will serve the triple purpose of keeping the farm clean of weeds, furnish mutton, which is one of the best sources of meat supply for summer use and produces a fleece which at present prices should show neat sum as clear profit. The mutton value of the sheep would easily cover cost of production. Fall lambs for the Christmas trade are possible in this climate and their production would add to profits.
 The goat, especially the Angora, ,e essentially 8 browser, although after being used for a time on brush it has been found that they gradually take to grass and neglect sprouts Where it is the desire to brush the land goats should be used instead of sheep Goats which have not been used too long for such purposes should Ee SO lected as they have proven more ce structive to the underbrush than old brushes especially if there is any grass growing on tbe land One year of brushing with goats is not suffi- cient to clear the land completely as new sprouts will shoot up from tre root. Two and even three years are necS Sssary to Kill brush completely As a producer O. meat the goat is increas ing in popularity, Large numbers of goats have been killed and sold for mutton in the past The number IS increasing and il is found that the quality of the meat is not inferior 10 mutton. In fact the claim is made that il is superior 10 mutton, especial, ly when the goats are young and tat. tened on the sprouts. A game flavor is present which has lead to the usa of the term "VenisOn" to distingu sh it from mutton. The fleece from the Angora has always commanded higher price per pound than wool TEis mohair, as it is called, when oi good quality sells al several times the price paid for wool. t is true, how. eyer. that the weight of average feeces is less than that of wool feeces. As a producer Of meat and mohair, and as valuable help in brushing land, the Angora goat should part of Arkansas.
 The greatest drawback to the sheep and goat raising seems to be the sheep-killing dog. Not that so many are actually killed, but because the fear of losses keeps many prospective breeders from going into the business. States where the industries have pros pered have enacted dog laws which made the owner of the dog liable, or at least made it possible to put such dogs out of the way. Such a law has a tendency to stimulate interest ln the venture as fear of losses is part " overcome, and loss can actually be reduced
 Il is the opinion of some that dis eases common to sheep and goats would be more prevalent should tne industry be developed because of ell matic conditions. The industry has not developed extensively enough to show that such would or would not be the case.