.        'A    '
70L. XIX.
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., SATURDAY, MAY 3,1884.
NO. 18.
HMJHA WOOL GROWERS.
vi.-liu.nal Meeting—Sheep Shearing
Festival.
The members ot the Indiana Wool Grow-
,V Association held a regular semi-an-
:_il meeting in one of the rooms at the
fiposition Building on Wednesday of
ist week.  There was an average attend-
3-e, but it was evident that the majority
,_ie there to attend  the sheep shearing
.tival, not thinking the meeting was to
■a held in connection therewith. After
■ouie discussion it was agreed to go into
regular session. Accordingly President C.
T. Mion took the chair and called for the
pron-am. As the meeting was unexpected
;„e program that had been announced
..mil not be followed, and so it was con-
•_n_ed over to the next meeting, to be
:.]_in January, with but one change,
rit: that Mr. I. N. Cotton will take the
-lice of Mr. Nixon as essayist. The present called upon a number of those present for their experience with      .;,'-;   .
SHKEP DUB-NO THK PAST WINTER."
They replied as follows: ,
I. E. McGaughey.Harion Co.: My sheep
bsve gone through the winter in an excellent manner. Twenty of my ewes had 28
limbs, of which I lost eight; the rest are
ill right. I think my sheep are somewhat
muMed with ticks. I wintered them
i*out hay stacks, without any other shelter, till lambing time, when I put my ewes
under the shelter  of a roof.   A neighbor
(mine with 80 ewes saved but 32 lambs,
ind I attribute his loss to the entire absence of shelter for his flock. I keep a
aiitureof Cotswolds and Southdowns.
Last year they averaged 9% pounds of
wool at dipping; do not think they will
doquitesowellthisspring. Some of them
hire lost a little wool in spots, from what
ittse I do not know.
J. (i. Byars, Simpson ville, Ky.: My
.lick of Southdowns did as well last
winter as I ever had any sheep do. They
ire in excellent condition and thrifty. I
.-lowed them to run out in favorable
weather, but sheltered them at the lambing season and in stormy weather. The
Limbs came mostly in February. I always
breed for that month and think it the best,
ill things considered. About 10 per cent
'( the lambS were lost. I have found
»>me ticks upon my sheep and will dip
ihem as soon as shorn. -.
Thomas Nelson, Parke Co.: I have 100
ffi-tton sheep and 100 last year's lambs
wd breeding ewes. They have been out
n the weather all winter, except at nights
ia lambing time, and have done well.
lhey are kept in three separate flocks.con-
sisting of lambs, ewes and mutton sheep.
lo breeding, I placed a Merino buck with
v> ewes last fall, allowing him to' run with
•hem two days and keeping him out two,
Ornately, for 20 days. My lambs come
'Jie last of April, and so fat I have lost but
we. 1 gave my sheep rough feed through
lbe winter, and on the first of March be-
pn feeding grain. I will shear early and
pat my mutton sheep on the market in
fee and July. The wool average from
aJ flock will be about 8}_ or 9 pounds.
f» sheep have been considerably troubled
with ticks, which I think is due to the
wet weather. This sheep shearing festival is, in my opinion, a good thing. We
had one in onr county once, and it awakened a great interest in the business and
quite a demand for sheep. The reduction
of the tariff had a very depressing . effect
upon the wool business. The bill introduced in the House by Mr. Converse, of
Ohio, was about the right thing but was
brought forward at the wrong time. It
should have been wltheld till after the defeat of the Morrison bill, which I consider
certain.
Mortimer Levering, Tippecanoe Co.:
We have 400 sheep, and keep a register of
all sheep, both ewes and lambs. All dates
(of birth etc.,) are properly recorded, and
by rpfering to our books we can tell the
history of any animal in our flock. Only
60 per cent of our ewes got with lamb. At
breeding we put the ram with the ewes at
night only, and it may be owing to this
fact that so many of them failed. About
10 per cent of the lambs were lost. 'The.
Shropshires have more twins than Cotswolds. Our new Shropshire Association
promises well. There, is a great interest
in this class of sheep and the success of the
society seems assured. Next year the Association will exhibit some sheep at the
shearing festival, if one is to be held.
Jacob Whitesell, Marion C».: - I have
cross bred Cotswolds and Southdowns.
They were wintered on corn fodder, and
came out well, although they are s ome-
what troubled with ticks.
S. R. Quick,Bartholomew Co.: Some of
my lambs came in January and Febuary;
of these I lost 40 per cent, and the rest are
doing well. Other lambs came in last of
March and first of April; of these I saved
90 per cent, and they are in better condition than the earlier ones. My Cotswolds
are losing their wool, which is due,I think,
to the ticks, of which there are more than
common. The outlook for prices is not
good. Buyers in our county are offering
to engage wool for 16 @ 17 cents a ponnd.
Last year we obtained 22 cents, but this
was partly the result of an organization by
the farmers of the section, who sold their
wool in bulk and thus got an advance of
two or three cents for it. We cannot raise
sheep for wool alone at 17 cents, but
for wool mutton, with a fair price
for the latter and 17 cents for the
wool, the business can be made pi o Stable.
As a preventive against ticks I feed my'
sheep sulphur with their salt. I leave the
salt and sulphur, mixed, where they can
get at it at all times. This year I neglected
the use of sulphur and my sheep have
been troubled with ticks for the first time
in several years.
Mr. Byars: I use the same remedy and
with satisfactory results. In Kentucky
we are offered 20 @ 23 cents for our wool,
which seems to be four or five cents better
than your offers here.
 , Indianapolis:   I was four years
in the sheep business in Texas. I started
on a small scale with 125 head of Merinos.
Four years after, I sold 600 sheep at $4.25 a
head. Last year was very severe on Texas
sheep, as there was very little pasture.
My lambs came about the first of March
and I lost a good many. I lost J600 on my
flock. One man lost $1,000 in lambs. As
they never feed their sheep the Texas
wool growers always suffer great loss when
grass fails, as it did this year. It is best to
keep mutton sheep here and wool sheep in
Texas. "The sheep business there has heretofore been better and easier than the cattle business, but. now the former is rather
depressed and not so surely profitable.
J. ___.. Thompson, Grant Co.; The cold
weather coming so suddenly last fall made
the past winter unusually hard.on sheep. I
lost more sheep and raised less lambs than
generally. The dogs got away with a good
many sheep. Usually our farmers get 26
@27 cents for their wool. The tariff reduction has had a bad effect, and this year
I don't think we can get more than 20@
23 cents per pound. The decrease in tariff
and the recent uncertainty in regard to
legislative action have both conspired to
lower the value of wool. In Grant county,
many sheep raisers sold out last year and
many more will do so this year. They are
discouraged and have given the business
up. I am by no means discouraged,
though undoubtedly the outlook is not as
promising as it might be, and I shall continue to raise sheep as long as I can see
hope in the future.
Col. Fielding Beeler, Marion Co.: The
past season was unusually hard on sheep,
and I lost a great many lambs. My ewes
don't seem to have enough milk. The
grass last fall didn't seem to have any substance to it; it was watery and washy and
caused a deal of scouring. The outlook is
discouraging. The lowering of the tariff
has hada damaging effect,but it is not alone
to blame. The Increase in wool production
of Australia and in our own country has
had much to do with it.
Mr. Thompson: Every man ought to
keep a few sheep whether he realizes anything on wool or not. They will pay for
themselves in other ways. To keep a great
many at a profit he must make something
on wool.
Uriah Privett, Decatur Co.: We need
not be discouraged yet, though the prospect is not as bright as it might be. I
think the shearing festival will have a good
effect in stirring up the   interest In sheep.
Col. Beeler: I doubt whether sheep as a
specialty on high priced Indiana land will
pay, but every man ought to keep a few as
gleaners.
C. T. Nixon, Marion Co.: Much has been
said about ticks. I think it is not always
ticks that cause the difficulty. A neighbor
of mine found hundreds of lice on his
sheep. Another found the same pests,
which came, he thought, from some wool
sacks he had obtained frem the West. I
think the wool falling off is caused by
these lice, rather than by ticks.
E. S. .Butler, Ridgeway, O.: My breeding sheep are Merinos. My losses this
year have not exceeded one per cent, although the losses in the State have been
comparatively heavy. As a remedy for
ticks I sprinkle sulphur on affected sheep,
being careful to select a dry, warm day
for the purpose.
Mr. Harkless, Henry Co.: My success
haa been better this winter than usual.
My young sheep have some ticks which I
will destroy after shearing by dipping. I
breed to have lambs come in February. I
feed under shelter and give bran, corn and
oats, always feeding the ewes well just before lambing, In order to give the lambs
a vigorous start. My sheep last year averaged 11 pounds of wool.   To prepare a dip
for ticks, I make tobacco ooze in a tub,
making it strong enough to kill a tick, "but
not strong enough to make a lamb sick.
J. Q. Prigg, Henry Co.: There are a good
many ticks on my sheep which came from :
some new ones I bought. I use prepared
carbolic dip in a coal-oil barrel and rarely
have any trouble with them. Last fall
was a bad preparation for winter. The
grass was washy and not nutritious. I
have lost 40 percentof Iambs this years;
the rest of my sheep are in good fix.
TOBACCO DIP.
Mr. Byars: I use a tobacco dip for both
sheep and lambs.
Mr. Privett: I use one pound of steins
to three gallons of water for the dip, make
it as hot as the sheep can bear it, and dip
soon after shearing.
C. A. Howland, Marion Co.: My sheep
are full of ticks, although I dipped them
soon after shearing last spring. It Is good
policy to make the dip strong.
Col. Beeler: You can kill lambs by having it too strong, as I know by experience.
Mr. Levering: I dip every year, and
don't think I can can -well make the dip
too strong. I have a regular tank and dip
the whole sheep in it, holding the hand
over its nose.
TARIFF.
Mr. Howland: I wish to say a word
about the tariff. When the reduction was
made on wool, it was at the same time retained on the manufactured goods, and so
the wool grower loses and the manufacturer gains. Still the tariff is not the only
depressing factor. Wool has declined, but
so has wheat, and the reason is the same in
both cases; the demand is less than the
supply. If the"tariff on the manufactured
goods were lowered to correspond with the
reduction on wool, it would not hurt the
sheep raiser at all. If he keeps not more
than 100 sheep he will save the difference
in the clothes he buys. I am not a free
trade man, but I want a tariff for revenue
placed where it will protect the weakest
industry.
Mr. Nixon presented a resolution in-
dorsing,ln the strongest terms, Hon. G. L.
Converse, of Ohio, for his effort in Congress to restore the duty on wool, and
thanking the Indiana members who supported the bill. The resolution was unanimously adopted.
I. Thalman, of C. E. Gelsendorffd. Co.:
Indiana as a wool growing State now ranks
about as high as any other, and by agitating the subject may be made to take the
first place. Some States raise finer wools,
but for medium and medium long Indiana
cannot be beaten. Our wools are growing
in favor everywhere. Ohio and Pennsylvania wool growers generally take better
care of their sheep than those of Indiana
and so have cleaner wool, but no better
than we can produce with the same care.
The prospect is that prices will be about
the same this year as last. I don't think
the tariff will be changed, and nothing
else is likely to change values, so far as
can be seen now. As to what kind of
wool to raise, I would not advise any particular one. Styles are constantly changing, and every new style creates a demand
for some special grade of wool. We can-
riot predict the styles and so we cannot say
what grade of wool will be most in demand at a given future time.
CONCLUDED ON  FOURTH PAOE.