Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1919-11-14
SHEEP THRIVE IN
NORTH WISCONSIN
Cut-over Lands Furnish Fine
Pasturage For Sheep.
Raising Wool Very
Popular Industry.


mutton and wool and at present
prices sheep production offers good
opportunities. Land is available at
reasonable cost or rental prices
Sheep can be bought, and established
flocks bred, and reproduced to good
advantage.
Men in northern Wisconsin are sue
cessfully and profitably taking advan-
tage of this opportunity.
Follow plan that adapts itself to
Northern Wisconsin sections and one
recommended by men experienced in
the business. The following sugges-
tions have been made:
Choose land from which the timber
has been removed and that has been
burned over, well seeded to grass.
Too much green brush and too many
trees in the pasture prevent the pro-
duction of frst-class mutton and may
result in failure.
Seed burned over land to timothy
and alsike, it hastens the production
of an abundance of grass.
Sheep keep brush from growing and
eat many weeds. They assist in
cleaing land of brush, but it takes
good grass pasture for profitable
mutton.
Choose land that is more or less
rolling and billy. Low, wet land is
not adapted to sleep.
Buying sheep or lambs in the spring
when the prices are high and fatten-
ing and selling them in the fall can
not be recommended as money
making undertaking, even though
the sheep fatten well. The general
practice where the business is at all
extensive, is to buy ewes in the fall,
breed them to the best mutton type
rams, have them lamb late in The
spring, the last of April and early
part Of May, and keep both ewes and
lambs grazing through the summer
on luxuriant pastures.
Sheep do not require warmth ex-
cept at lambing time. Having ewes
lamb early in May makes it unneces-
sary to provide expensive shelter.
Sheds or barns that keep sheep dry
and offer protection against winds
and cold drafts are all that is needed
in the sheep industry Buildings
that supply sufficient storage space
for hay and other winter feeds, are
desirable. Good clover hay, cut
when just coming into full bloom and
fed night and morning at the rate Of
II pounds per head daily, in addition
to II pounds of rutabagas per head
daily, provides ample and suitable
feed Tor breeding ewes up to within a
few days of lambing time. Two to
four pounds of good silage may be
substituted for roots. Alfalfa or
mixed hay, wild hay, pea and oat hay,
all constitute roughages that are fed
more or less. A grain mixture con-
sisting of two or more feeds like oats,
bran, peas, barley is suitable for ewes
as they approach Landing time and
until they are on the best of pasture.
Fencing may be regarded as one of
the necessities for successful sheep
production. Woven wire 26 to 81
inches high with one wire on top,
makes a good fence for pasture.
Brush fences may be utilized but
they are expensive in labor and are
liable to be burned by fire. A suitable
yard or corral should be fenced in a
manner to be dogproof. The dog has
been menace to the raising of
sheep, but the menace is overcome by
always corraling the sheep at night
in dog proof yards or stables.
Sept. 1st to Nov. 1st is the best
time of the year to buy ewes. Com
mission firms at live stock markets
handling western ewes, and men en-
gagged in sheep production are the
best sources for buying ewes. Rams
for breeding purposes should also be
purchased at this time from reliable
breeders of pure bred mutton sheep.
Flocks that have been established
and which have produced lambs,
should be culled and culls and lambs
sold during the period from Sept. 1st
to Dec. lst. Should lambs be
dropped in March and well grown, it
may be desirable to market them in
August or early September. The
market demands good, fat lamb of
about so pounds.
Sheep require comparatively
small amount Of labor. They fit nice
ly into the system of farming on land
that is being cleared and where there
is pasture room to spare. The in
come from sheep where the flock and
equipment have been established is
regarded as the easiest money the
farmer makes.
Exercise the right kind of care.
Keep sheep off from low, wet lands.
Rotate the pasture fields to prevent
parasites. Corral sheep nights TO
prevent losses from dogs. Watch the
market conditions to insure selling at
the best time Shelter them from
spring rains and do cot oyerstock the
available pasture land.
These precautions overcome losses