Arizona republican., 1917-09-01
SHEEPMEN CLAIM
 LAMB SAVING |S
 NOT ECONOMICAL
(By Theodore M. Knappen)

RENO, New, Aug. 3l.-The recom- mendation of the California nssocia- ton of Practical Farmers that Herbert Hoover add a practical farmer to his staff is a good one.
 MT. Hoover is big man, but he can neither do nor know it all. He thought there was nothing simpler than the proposition that it is more economical to turn lambs into food via mutton than as lamb. Wherefore, he urged the public to refrain from eating lamb and appealed to the growers to sell only mature sheep
 Now comes the western sheepmen and demonstrate that to cut off the consumption of lamb is simply to re- duce the supply of food. The range is limited. The possibilities of win ter feeding are limited. It is the practice of sheepmen to utilize their entire range and feeding capacity with breeding ewes. If they carry through the winter the lambs that would ordinarily be marketed they must reduce the number of ewes, which, of course, means fewer lambs next spring and fewer sheep thereaft- er That in turn means less sheep meat in the end.
 The sheep men say that the only logical way to handle the situation is to make the range carry every eve that it possibly can. They have laid their plans to do so. Nevada will pro- duce 10 per cent more sheep next year than this if their plans are carried out. but not if the lambs are held over.
 American Eat Little Mutton
 Besides, the American people do not eat mutton. They don't like 1t. Lamb Is the standard form of sheep meat. It is the finished product of the sheep raising industry. The case of veal and beef is entirely different. Veal is luxury
 Both the cattlemen and the sheep men of Nevada and all the range coun- try are putin forth the greatest pos sible efforts to increase their output. They declare that their efforts are largely inspired by a patriotic desire to do their part. The difficulties that confront them are great. Reliable help is hard to get and sufficient help Of any kind is impossible
 The men of the ranges are natural soldiers, and they have swarmed into the recruiting offices. Their places have been taken by the wandering hobo type of labor-the man who car ries all his earthly belongings in a blanket roll slung over his back and considers ten days in one place long stay. These men get twice as much as good men got three years ago.
 Feed is costly, and so is every item of supply and equipment. It costs twice as much to produce beef now as it did three years ago, whereas, the price of beef to the producer has gained only one third. Moreover, the homesteader has aggravated the prob lem by undertaking the hopeless task of turning the desert into a dry farm. Ha nothing of any importance
 Fattened Amid Sage Brush
 One of the mysteries or Nevada is the sight of fat cattle in sage brush deserts. You cant see any grass ex- cept, by minute examination under the sage brush, little punches here and there. But there is enough feed to keep a limited number of cattle fat Also, the small. white sage makes win ter feed. section of land may main- tain twelve steers. That isn't much, but it is better than a section of dusty plough land that ends in nothing but disappointment and loss.
 Something like 200, 1000. 900 acres of public land has been homesteaded in recent years. Much of it will never Ee farm land.- Some day it will go back to the range, but in the meantime it produces neither flesh nor grain The sheep men are talking of the pos abilities of the cut over and burnt over forest lands of Minnesota. and Wis consin as possible hope for the con- tinuation of their pursuit on a large scale.
 Neither irrigation nor dry farming will ever conquer the whole of the last stand of the Great American Desert Thank God for that. There will always be some place for refuge from the loneliness of croWds-some place where Mother Earth will be free from the use and abuse of her mightiest offspring.
 be able to increase this saving some