Daily Kennebec journal., 1917-01-23

Maine Agricultural Experiment sta
ton gives out the following interesting
article which is timely concerning
sheep raising:
Are Sheep Profitable in Maine?
The Council of the Maine Agricul-
tural Experiment Station. at its meet
ing in April 1914, authorized the pur
chase of grade sheep sufficient to
stock Highmoor Farm for the purpose
of studying the question as to wheth
er sheep can or cannot be profitably
raised in Maine. The sheep We're not
to be of fancy type or be pure bred
so that none of the animals could be
sold at a fancy price. Nor We're they
to be early bred to produce "hot
house" lambs for the high price of the
early market. They were to be just
plain sheep such as any ordinary
farmer could carry While care was
to be exercised in handling the sheep,
no high priced labor was to be used.
Nor was special Shepherd" to be
employed.
The sheep are grade Hampshire but
are so nearly pure Hampshire that
only an expert could tell them from
pure bloods. They are as fine flock
of sheen as one cares to see. The
farm superintendent is an experienced
man with sheep and they have excel
lent care. A year ago the results of
the first years trial were published.
This trial showed that tho sheep were
kept at a large loss. This publication
led to the receipt of many letters and
to the publication of some newspaper
articles. 1t was evident from these
that many sheep owners thought they
were making money from them, but no
one was found who was keeping a
flock of about 100 sheep who knew
from actual figures whether they were
or were not being kept. profit Al
! the recent convention ..,ot the State
Dairvmens Association a paper was
read that showed a profit on small
flock. but many of the data were estl-
mates. 1t Is probably true that on
most farms few sheep would be
nrofitable, because they would be
cared for in time that otherwise
would not be profitably employed, ana
the sheep would be fed more or less OF
l1Inmarketable produce and hay' SET
of books in which everything was
charged and credited would propaply
not show the balance ON the cfedl'
side Nevertheless, most farmers VINO
are equipped for them would be better
off with a few sheep, because of the
SALVAGE. of time and materials tha'
might otherwise be wasted. 1hlS VIZ"
sbeep is the same as in the case OF
few swine. small flock OF hehs'
small area devoted to garden crops ete
INT with certain well known eNceptlohs
very few OF the farm items, charelht
i1abor at what it costs. food at what II
10 worth and taking fixed charges into
account would show book proht
Nevertheless. on every hand there are
for,nars who with incomes derived
from small focks, small herds aho
sn,al, areas devoted to crops, 1--we com
fortablv. educate their children aho
accumulate some bank surplus.
The trial with sheep at Highiilooi
r.rn, for the wear from November 1
I1q15 to october 81. 1916, was earned
out entirely freed from the LOSSES '''''
occurred the preceding year ~
There will always be an eNpehae ~
fitting I'D and maintaining pas'uie9
buildings. etc. for sheep that VIII va
on different farms and with dliIeien'
farmers The overhead charges, sucl
- interast taxes. and the like Will alsc
,,arv with varying conditions. In an
,-nor;,,ont conducted by the STATION
,rbare II is necessary to keep mdlvldua
records buttons for the ears ana tiliis
involved in note taking are expense
items that the ordinary FARMER hee1
not no at For these and similar rea'
SONS the cost of fencing the pastures
erecting shelters in the pastures NJ
ti,,r ,n tbe barns for winter quarters
ovnenses for piping water, water
troughs. sheep dipping tanks, snearihs
machine, gas engine, root anu ieel
cutters. rent of land for pastures ant
crops for the sheep, Whlle hecessai
expenses that must be taken ihto ac'
count bv the practical farmer are
omitted from the following statement
The amounts included are the lnVen'
tory value of the sheep. the cost o.
labor inicaring for the sheep, cost OF
the food purchased, the value OF tne
hay and straw at the barn, the cost te
grow the roots used. The credits are
the sheep and wool sold and the IN
yentorv at the end of the year.
The flock inventoried November
1915. as follows: So ewes at so, S345:
33 eve lambs at SO. s99; 3 registered
bucks at $25 each, SIS; making a tota
inventory value of s519. Obviously
the flock is inventoried far below its
actual market value. But this does
not directly bear upon the experiment
as the numbers of the sheep at the be-
ginning and end were not very differ
ent.
The cost in labor as shown by actual
record and a fair charge for all neces-
sary time actually spent in caring fol-
the sheep was s153.54. The cost OF
grain purchased, the value at the barr
of the hay and straw consumed, but
including no charge for pasturage. was
s669.6S. Medicines including salt and
dips for ticks, cost $500. Gasoline fol-
running the engine to cut roots and
drive shearer cost s5.13. Thus the
amount invested in the sheep, the cost
of caring for them, and the value ot