Show THE SHEEP INDUSTRY I The Condition the Herds Because Be-cause of Drouth In conversation on the above subject Mr Isaac J Riddle of Lao Piute County stated to a representative of one of our southern exchanges that the great drouth the past summer has been very severe on the grass and sheep are not so fat as they were years before and therefore not in a condition to stand a hard winter which some people seem to think is sure to follow such a dry summer but such may not occur Most people would sooner have a hard winter with a large quantity of snow than to have another an-other dry summer follow the one we have just had which Mr Riddle thinks would be fatal to the sheep industry in that part of the country in order to withstand the possible hard winter he thinks it bad policy to shear sheep in the fall as they are then in a poor condition to withstand the cold weather snow and the scarcity of feed that would as a consequence follow Mr P 0 Peterson who has had an extensive sheep herd heretofore but is now out of the business also expressed the opinion as the former gentleman and considered fallshearing a bad policy any time the expense of shearing shear-ing the smaller clip of wool In the spring the ewes being weak and notable not-able to suckle more than one lamb when a great many of them have twins and raise them when they are in a good healthy condition The spring clip is longer and not so full of dirt and sand j when it is not cut in the fall and brings a better price on that account Many of the sheepmen express the opinion that the sheep industry has arrived ar-rived at a point where it cannot pass without ruining the business The ranges are being eaten out and flocks have to move further away to get sufficient suffi-cient food and then they run in conflict con-flict with the cattlemen and other sheep herds and thus cause trouble and bad blood The scab is not nearly so bad as it is in the north of the Territory yet sheep men are fixing up dipping vats and dip their sheep in a solution of sulphur salt and lime which they say is the best preventive yet discovered and by a determined effort the scab they assure as-sure us may be got rid of entirely These vats are surrounded by a floor inclining all around to the vat in the cntre where the sheep are left sometime some-time to drip the dripping running back into the vat very little of the solution is lost The expense of the ingredients used in the wash amounts to but a few cents per hundred head We understand Bishop Gottfredson of Vermillion has erected one < > f these yats for his own use but will hire it out to his neighbors or dip their sheep at a reasonable price There is a strong tendency just now among small farmers to procure a small number of sheep twentyfive to 100 liead aid keep them around home and feed and shelter them in the winter when it may be cold or wet weather thus being able to have mutton for their tables at a lower figure than buying at a meat mark taud provide enough wool to J clothe their families without having to purchase imported flannel goods Indeed In-deed a great many of the farming population pop-ulation spin a quantity ot wool at home t for stockings linsty for women and childrens wear Lrl 1 the Jike which should never be n leced when it can y 39 one without imposing on the good louscwife but joun4 women W3 believe ieve can make od wages spinning stocking yarn Sheep fed and housed during the winter will give twice as much wool as t03e left exposed to snow and cold and on a small scale no doubt will pay as well as any farm investment in-vestment we snow of |