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★ LIVE STOCK AND DAIRY ★ THE SHEEP THAT HAVE GOLDEN HOOFS. How One Virginia Farmer Raised fio and 912 Lambs Al most Entirely on Winter Cover Crops, Sown After the Summer Crops Were Removed.—The Profits Good, Common-Sense Farm ing May Pay. By A. Jeffers, Oceana, Va. I HAVE CAREFULLY read the article on sheep, by Dr. Talt Butler, In Issue of May 7th. The points he makes are all conservative and impress one with the thought that tho figures given are under, rather than up to, the full facta In tho case. I believe that sheep almost any where In the South, at all intelligent ly managed, will pay considerably better than Dr. Butler's quoted fig ures indicate. Here is a case that can be verified, ratified and certified: A gentleman in tidewater Virginia owns a fine farm, a few miles from the city of Norfolk. On the farm he raises fine crops of corn, potatoes and peanuts, for his prin cipal money crops; also a number of smaller crops for home consump tion and for the local markets. He also has cattle, hogs and poultry. A year or so ago he concluded to try sheep, making the early lamb a spe rial f f* Jit 11 r<* I nut ttntnmnr 1 QAQ Via had gathered a flock of about 125 ewes, all grade DorBets, costing him. In round numbers, |4 per head. His two registered Dorset bucks cost him 1125. His crop of 1909-10 lambs began coming along the last week In October. He raised fully as many lambs ns he had ewes. The last week In December he commenced to ship his lambs to New York on a special contract, sending them at ten weeks of age, and at n weight rang ing from 40 to 4 5 pounds each. For these lambs ho received |12 per head for most of them, and not less than |10 per head for the balance of them, shipping about 70 lambs to the New York market. The balance he Is now seadlng to our local Norfolk market at 10 to 12 cents per pound, and every lamb on the farm, even those dropped since Christmas, will tip tho scales at 80 pounds. The fleece and fertilizer from the ewes, with his management, will easily pay for their keep, and also pay a good round Interest on the money Invested In them. All through the months of November. December. January, February, nnd most of Marrh, his ewes were grazing every day on green feed, literally up to their eyes In crimson clover, rye, vetch, rape, turnips and alfalfa. Ills lambs required no feed from hand; the udders of the ewes having In most cases to he relieved by hand nfter the lambs were sold. The ewes received a handful of corn once a week, and. In case of storms In win ter, were fed dry forage, on which they would nuturally feed but spar ingly. The wool from the ewes sold for an average of $1.20 per fleece. The bucks were fed two bushels of oats and one bushel of corn, having access to green feed and dry forage same as the ewes. This gentleman raised these lambs In connection with other farm stock; giving the sheep no spoclal care, ex cept In lambing time, and no arti ficial heat or extra expense whatever, excepting a little extra care by a regular farm hand with the young lambs. With these facts, figures and features, what was the coBt of these lambs per head; and what the preflt on his flock of sheep? l.et’s get out our agricultural arithmetic und figure, some rainy fifty, and see If It does not make one fairly hug a sheep. I may state further that the gentle man is a liberal user of marl, wKh which his farm is underlaid, and also aims to cover all his land with cover crops during the winter. He mixes crimson clover seed with rape, rye, vetch, and turnips, and sows the mixture upon the land from which he has taken an annual crop. It is upon these cover crops that his sheep graze all winter. About the middle, or last week in March, he takes the sheep off, and lets the crimson clover, vetch and rye get fully one foot high, and turns them under, say about last week in April. The crops, therefore, that support the ewes, that give the milk, that fattens the lambs, that bring such fine prices in the early markets, are what may be termed catch crops, or stolen crops. They are crops that Improve the soil. uy covering u up snugiy an winter. They improve the stock that graies thereon. Then, when turned under, they further Improve the soil; and Qnally they Improve the bank ac count of the owner. PleaBe remember that these lambs and these ewes were not handled by #ny recently discovered plan or pro gram. They were simply good nheep, had good feed, had shelter from the storms of winter, had the Rame intelligent management and supervision that any good stock should have. The colored man who looked after the sheep was paid 94 per week and rent of his cabin; and also looked after the other farm stock, milked the cows, cut the wood and worked regularly on the farm. No "high farmin’," no "hlfalutln’," only good sound sheep management. An Alabama Creamery. Messrs. Editors: In The Progres sive Farmer and Gazette of May 7th I read Mr. Poe's article on Wiscon sin creameries and the one-crop method with considerable interest, from the fact that we have Just be gun to operate a creamery here in Washington Co., Ala. Mr. E. Har tell is the moving spirit, being a Wisconsin man himself and having learned buttermaking up there, and through hla efforts he has succeeded In Installing a flrst-class. up-to-date little creamery with a capacity of 50 pounds of butter per day. We are now making an average of 26 pounds per day and have been oper ating but three weeks, with a stead ily Increasing patronage which threatens to overtax the capacity of the plant before fall. Another very gratifying thing is, Mr. Hartsell Is able to And a ready market for his product and at such a price that he Is paying 30 cents per pound for butter fat. While the farmers have as yet not improved their herds and are de pending on the plney-woods stock as milkers, they are receiving about $1.30 per hundred for their milk and get their skimmed milk back. Their milk tests from 4.8 to 6.4 on a Babcock tester. The people here are becoming considerably interested in the pros pects of a dairy, and much talk about better cows can be heard from all sides. We believe now that the creamery will help to better agricul tural conditions for our community. A. H. MOORMAN. Editorial Comment: A small plant for manufacturing butter from such milk as is available in a community is no doubt a good institution, and If the Southern people would take hold of dairying on this conservative sort of a basis, there is no line of farming that will bring more satis factory and permanent results; but we must again caution our readers against the building of creamery plants costing about $3,000 for . which some creafnery promoter charges them $5,000 and against building large plants for which suf ficient milk can not be obtained to make it possible to run them proflt bly. B^LMOST all wagons look alike—when they sw. Their strength or ess lies mainly in parts >u do not see when you You must depend a good n the reputation of the , for that is your only real o buying the ri ght wagon. 5 other manufacturer has the experience, reputation, and manufacturing facilities that are back of the I H C wagons. Others may know how to make quality wagons hey haven’t the I H C wagon facilities. And the large places I H C prices very little, if any, above that of ■y wagons. Make it a point to get a good wagon this time, t one of these well known makes—to be absolutely sure. V Weber Columbus ^New Bettendorf Steel King For more than 6S years, or two generations,the Weber has stood in the first ranks. It is a well known fact that every Weber wagon built has the same excellent materials and the same high class workmanship as a made-to-order wagon. Only the finest quality materials are good enough for the Weber. Every part is rigidly inspected—all through the process of manufacture. * The Columbus wagon is a synonym for high quality in wagon service. The gears are made of selected, properly seasoned wood—the thorough iron ing and superior workmanship are ample reasons why every owner stands up for his Columbus wagon and why the Columbus stands up for him, year in and year out—under the heaviest loads, over the roughest, longest roads. The New Bettendorf is the standard all-steel wagon of the country. It is a wagon for all purposes and all climates. The steel gears with one f»iece tubular axles give greatly increased strength and capacity with no ncrease in weight or draft. A new all-steel wagon in the I H C line is the Steel King. It will be found up to the I H C standard. It will pay you to call on the International dealer in your town. He will show you a wagon that will best meet your needs. Or, if you prefer, write direct to us for a booklet of the wagon in which you are most interested. INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER COMPANY OF AMERICA X (Incorporated) _CHICAGO USA Continuous Travel. THE ROYAL LINE OF HAY PRESSES Before you buy a bay press be sure you are get ting one that is honestly built and will bale smoothly, quickly and economically without break ing down or getting out of order. We make this kind of Hay Press—4 of them—The Royal, Roy al Junior. Royal Keonotny and Now Chicamamga. Lightest Stromr- l Write us today and let us prove to you that one of ^ * * these Is the one you should buy. eat, Cheapeat. Chattanooga impimmint a mfg. co.. Doyartmont T, Chattanooga, Terns. CONDENSING ^ PACKER *»naiou»K