Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1922-06-13
AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION
BY: DR.. ANDREW M. SOUEE 4@=z=.@s.

surface of the soil so plants will be
able to come up"
8. To keep down weeds, which
may use a great deal of the avail
able moisture, and plant food that
! might have been used by the crop
| plants.
&. When plants are young, you
may cultivate fairly deep to admit
air and loosen up the soil, but when
| the plant roots fill the soil deep
cultivation should not be practiced.
Let us keep these facts in mind
relative to the main reasons for
blowing and cultivating. 1t makes
the task easier to perform, and II
we have the ends to be accomplish
| ed in view we can perform the
| labor involved with greater dis
patch and efficiency. 1t may be said
in passing that the land will meas
ure back to us just about the de-
gree of intelligent effort which we
put into the methods of plowinG
| and culttvating.
Everyone who has studied agri-
cultural conditions in Georgia is
familiar with the fact that our
sheep industry is on it's want. We
are now thirty-eighth Of all the
states in the matter of sheep pro-
duction, and we have only about
72, 900 Of these animals in the whole
state. This seems to be a pitiable
situation, because we have thous-
ands of acres of land adapted to
the maintenance of sheep. 1t looks
as though we might have capital
lied the cur at the expense of the
sheep, but" dogs with all their val
liable qualities do not feed or clothe
our people, and we need now to
make every cutting edge count.
Let us give more attention and con-
/ sideration to the sheep with its
golden hoof. There is no reason
why we should not capitalize this
measure which will add millions of
dollars to the revenues of our peo-
! pie. We can start in the sheep
| business with a comparatively small
outlay of capital and soon establish
foundation stock. Prof. G. P.
Sage has offered some timely sug-
gestions along this line.
The farmers of Georgia are neg
lecting one phase of livestock that
should prove profitable. That phase
| is sheep raising. Georgia has IT,
900 sheep and ranks 38th among
! the states in sheen production.
The state of Georgia is very we'll
adapted to shoop growing, north
Georgia seems particularly well
suited to the business. while in
South Georgia little more care
should be taken to control parasites.
There Is plenty =" land in each Sec
ton to warrant the keeping Of
large numbers of sheep.
The marketing of spring lambs
should be the object of sheep rails
ing in this state. Spring lambs can
| be made to weigh seventy pounds
| by marketing tir'" and should sell
for an average of fifteen cents per
round. The fleece from the ewes
will pay fer the grain they eat dur
ing winter.
The expenses of keeping sheep are
comparatively small, and the crop
of lambs should average one twenty
five per cent. Of the number of
ewes, that is thirty ewes should
raise thirty-eight lambs.
The man who has had no ex-
perience with sheep should not start
with too many sheep. Ten to fit.
teen ewes would be sufficient for
a beginning. Addi+:~~r can be made
as he has gained in experience.
The best way for man to get into
the sheep business is to breed up
the native, or scrub - ~ by using
pure bred rams. These native ewes
can be bought more cheaply than
pure bred ewes, and will dren eX-
cellent lambs when bred with pure
bred rams. Of course, by keHoing
some of the best eve lambs for
| breeding the flock can be gradually
| improved.
Too much attention cannot be
given to the selection of the ram. A
good pure bred ram is the best pay
| ing Investment that any flock owner
can have. A good ram will pay for
| himself in one year in the additional
wool and mutton produced when
used on a flock of 35 ewes. The
breed of ram to select depends main
ly upon the preference of the owner
since the object is going to be pro-
duction of early spring lambs it
seems that a mutton breed, which
will also produce a fair amount OF
wool, should be chosen. The South.
down, shropshire and Hampshire
| Down are considered best for, the
south. The ram should be strong
in constitution, bald and masculine
in appearance of straight lines, and
we'll fieshed in thealoin, back and leg
of mutton. One ram should be pur'
chased for every thirty-fve ewes to
be bred.
| Sheep have been bred in greatest
| numbers in the western and mid
western sections Of the United States
These sections are being more thick
ly settled than heretofore and of
course, the large ranges for sheep
are being cut up and put to other
| uses. If the United States is to con.