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Show SHEEPRA1SING HAS SEVERAL ADVANTAGES I BB OvflBBBBVBBBBfl UMHWUHlnU-MsVYl Kc&f &'' fjez W $JV & :VJrBBBBBViVBBBvBHI3BnBVrPBMBBBB "Brought Up on the Bottle." Much has been written nnd said of tho enormous profits to bo mnde fiom the keeping of a few sheep on tho corn belt furm. Somo havo figured that It costs from two to threo dollars per year to keep n sheep and that tho fleeco would Just about pay thnt. Others, pessimists, say that tho losses from keeping Bhecp are bo heavy that thero is no profit because of tho ravages ra-vages of disease, vermin and Internal Inter-nal parasites, lletwcen theso two will bo found tho middle way, that seems to catch tho bulk of tho sheep raisers. As a working basis, let us take pas-turo. pas-turo. 1'asturo is at onco tho best and tho most economical sheep feed known. An aero of crass, accordlnc to tho country stnndard, will support ono cow, or Its equal in weight of other gra7lng animal. In other words, on aero ot good pasturo land will maintain main-tain 1.000 pounds of cow, sheep or' horseflesh. Tho averngo corn belt owo will weigh, say 125 pounds. This means that an ncro of land will fur. nlsh nourishment for eight ewes during dur-ing tho entiro pasturo period of six months. If tho land rents at eight dollars per acre, as it does In this part of Illinois, wo havo tho cost of maintaining main-taining ono ewe as a dollar a summer. Wo may count clover hay ns a standard stand-ard winter feed, and glvo plenty of nlco clean clover hay; no other feed Is needed. Our yield of clover hay In tho corn belt for two cuttings is about threo tons per aero. On good farms tho yield Is more, but wo may tako this as representative. Threo tons of liny per aero means 0,000 pounds of clover, counting that each sheep will eat threo pounds of hay dolly, which Is a big allowance; al-lowance; eight sheep fed 180 days, three pounds per day, will cat considerably consid-erably less than what ono aero will yield. In fact, an ucro of land worth eight dollars por ncro will furnish enough hay to feed nt least ton hend of sheep. Cost per head, 80 cents. If we allow one-half pound of oats dally dirrltig tho months of February, March and April, before thu owes nro on pasturo, while suckling lambs, tho cost will be 4! cents at tho prlco of oats at present. In conclusion it may bo safely eald that tho cost of maintaining main-taining a herding owo In tho corn belt farms would bo about two dollnrs and twenty-flvo cents, exclusive of tho labor la-bor Involved, which tho good fnrmer la glad to glvo In oxchnugo for tho manure ma-nure he secures. It tho flock gives a ten-pound clip, which any well-mnnngcd flock should do, It is rendlly apparent that tho fleeco will about pay for tho sheep's keep. In good Shropshire flocks tho owes roll an average of from one and onoi nl&rtor to ono nnd ono-hnlt lambs pen1 ewo. I'laco It conservatively at ono Iamb por ewe, worth at weaning tlmo from six to eight dollars, which may bq said to bo tho prollt for ono owo. Of courso, thero nro Iobscs in tho owej flock that will cut down the profits;) ewes dio and must bo replaced by youngQr owes. Somo ago und lambs, must bo supplied In their place; bulj oven then tho good shepherd can count on a profit of from four to Ilvo dollars for ovory ewo kopt. SInco tt requires two ncros of land for eight sheep tho lncomo per acr from tho sheep would bo nbout twenty dollars not. A very fair lncomo comj pared with that oven to" bo mado from, tho cultivation ot corn. Sheep raising has tho nddltlonnl advantage ad-vantage of involving less labor than does tho cultivation of soil, Then, too, tho land used for tho sheep becomes dally moro productive, whllo that given over to corn growing becomes poorer end poorer euch year. |