The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1922-11-03

4 WHAT In0 Van 10
1t appears advisable FOR farmers
generally, particularly on the poorer
lands, to increase as rapidly as pos
sible their holdings of sheep. Re-
Gently certain cross breeds have
been developed which produce both
excellent wool and mutton, which
eliminates the old objection TO sheep
raising, namely, that II wool sheep
were raised the mutton was coarse
and IL mutton sheep were raised, the
wool was of inferior quality. More
over these cross breeds are adapted
to the small farm flock a. well as to
range production on a large scale
which Is a good feature as the ranges'
have been broken up, and, without
an enormous upheaval In agriculture.
Will never be seen again Ia this
country. lUron the> rapidly with
farmers increasing their holdings,
and others beginning the raising OF
sheep, depends the success of the
sheep industry in this country.
Sheep Growing In Ninth District
! The Northwest as repres ented by
the Ninth Federal Reserve District
has suffered the same setback in the
sheep industry which took place in
the United States as a whole. In
| 1920 there were 3,7S0,00O sheep in
this district and in 1922 there were
3,41S, 900, or a decline of 10 per cent
in. the two years. The story is much
more striking of the decline In the
! ten years, 1910 1920. In these years
there was a decline of SO per cent
from the 6,192,000 head held in 1910
The decline between 1910 and 1920
took place entirely in Montana
where the great sheep ranges were
being broken up and the impetus to
raise sheep>on the newly organized
Harms was lacking. In Minnesota
products of diversified farming, the
number of sheep. Increased in the
10 years through Che gradual growth
of farm fiocks. While there are
large range holdings of sheep in
southwestern Montana and north
western South Dakota, the number
of sheep held in the sections of the
country where diversified farming is
practiced is greater than the number
of sheep held in the sections of the
country where grain farming alone
is practiced. To show the diversi-
fled farming districts for comparison
with the strongholds of the sheep
industry, maps showing the 1922 dise
tribution of cattle and swine are re Z
produced opposite to the sheep maps.
1t remains to be said that owing
to the unsatisfactory price situation,
the recent severe winters which
have left sheep 10 a poor state of
health Causing large losses in the
lamb crop) and the extensive drouth
tailed the supply of forage for win
ter feeding, the, holdings of sheep in
all four states of this district de.
clined between 1920 and 1922.
The Sleeps Place on the Farm
Generally speaking, a flock Of
sheep is one of the farmers greatest
assets. The sheep is the most eco-tI
nomical OF all grazing animals. II
can eat the poorest vegetation and
thrive on 1t, and II is able to crop
the grass closer to the ground than
other animals SO that It can find
forage where cattle and horses could
find nothing. Moreover, its tastes
for food are not highly cultivated
It will eat weeds and wild grasses
which other animals will not touch.
IN other words, the farmer can FEED
the sheep the poorest crops which
he grows and the fence corner. pat
ches of weeds, while other animals
navy bdC bSlICl CtOPo
are expensive to feed. A second ad
vantage Of sheep raising is that
there is no special building required
for winter housing. A rough shed
is satisfactory. for the only shelter
required by the sheep during the
winter is wind break to protect il
from sleet storms. In fact, II a
warm barn is provided. the sheep.
which are very warm FLOODED, will
crop their wool during the winter. A
third advantage is that flock OF
sheep can be counted on undeE ideal
conditions to double every yeah As
so per cent of the better ewes bear
twin lambs. this fact more than OF -
sets losses due to exposure, disease,
and barren ewes In other words.
the farmer may make one hundred
per cent on hts investment every
year. although most farmers realize
but 75 or 80 per cent on the average
In addition there is the\ wool to clip
which should pay the Expense of
handling the flock in normal times.
However, sheep raising is not to
be advocated for every farmer in ev.
cry section of the country Where
the farmer is close to market and
has soil fertility and proper climate
to raise born and other feed crops
to good advantage he might better
stock his farm with cattle, hogs, and
poultry; but where his soil is nearly
barren and where the feed crops do
not grow abundantly flock of sheep
is generally great asset. This
statement, OF course, should be-
modified to fit conditions.
The water supply is very impor-
tant Over much of the territory
where dry land farming is practiced,
the scattering wells which are drill
ed will provide water for only the
smallest practicable number of live
stock. These will naturally be
horses and cattle.
Also~sheep require a largeO area
of pastuage than the other animals
which do not crop. the grass so
closely because 1t takes longer to
renew the vegetation after sheep
have grazed in a pasture. Further.
more, over a considerable portion of
the Northwest, grasses abound
which produce needles at maturity.
These needles catch In the sleeps
wool, work into its skin and cause
sores which lessen the value of the
mutton and impair the value of the
fleece.
Notwithstanding limitations upon
the successful raising of sheep which
have been noted above, it should be
emphasized that in many localities
a flock of sheep, either small or
large, can be OF great value. There