Oklahoma Farmer (Guthrie, Okla.), Vol. 18, No. 22, Ed. 1 Wednesday, November 3, 1909 Page: 1 of 16
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Vol. XIX.
GUTHRIE, OKLAHOMA, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMEK 3, 190 9.
No. 22.
. 4
?•
i
SHEEP ARE GOOD
MONEY MAKERS
OKLAHOMA IS ADAPTED TO SHEEP R\'ING,
FARMERS TAKE ADVANTAGE 0 VENDITIONS
RAISE LAMBS FOR
A LARGE PROEIT
CROSS BREEDING UNDESIRABLE
(By K. J. \Vr.)
Specifically cross breeding; means the
mating of a ram and a ewe of two dif-
ferent breeds. Generally, it implies the
mating of a pure bred male and a high
grade ewe.
This sort of breeding: was employed
early in the formation of nearly all
breeds of stock. II was practiced because
11 was found that in combining- different
bloods many nf the characters that go
lo make up an animal were disturbed,
and greater variations resulted, permit-
ting greater selection for t lie distinci
type of animal desired, \fter such a
shaking up of the blood lines all sorts
of latent characters and types made
their appearance. A few of the progeny
bred true to type, but by far the greater
portion did not, and so the task of es-
tablishing' a new type was nothing short
"f monumental. Years had to he spent
in breeding- and selecting before animals
were ;i t last gotten that would breed
true. Many a man has
spent his entire life working
on a problem of this sort.
and thankful should we be
for it.
Now in the early history
of live stock this cross
breed to establish new types
was essential; hut today we
have so many breeds and
runny types that the aver-
age sheep grower can find
one that will suit Ids pur-
pose admirably and for him
to spend his time on cross
breeding* is more than a
waste of time ; it is a waste
of money. True it is there
is always room for improve-
ment; but leave it to the
moneyed, and scientific ex-
perimenter to work up new
breeds by cross breeding,
and seek to get improve-
ment in your liock by select-
\ng the best types you can find of the
loreed you already have and you will
.progress a great deal faster.
The average? sheep grower has no
lundeirstanding at all of the results and
principles that cross breeding involves.
He thinks his sheep are small, or lacking
Jn wool, for instance; he sees sheep of
some other breed that are larger or bet-
it er fleeced; so straightway he thinks
tie'll cross the two breeds—and he will
•get what lie wants. He ni ver stops to
ihlnk that the undesirable features of
that other breed are going quite as
likely, if not more so, to express them-
selves in the progeny as is that one
desirable feature; nor does he realize that
the progeny in nine cases out of ten
will fail to breed true even If they should
show a few of the features he so much
admires. His stock so crossed if bred
and rehired will .lust keep going from bad
to worse, until in the end # he is likely
to have stock that resembles nothing in
heaven above or on earth below and is
worse than useless as a breeding flock.
Now in any one vr the breeds of sheep
will be found those that are large, that
is, large for their breed, or those that
have good fleeces,, and if these are the
features that need to be Improved in
your flock, the thing to do Is to search
Many years ago sheep began migrat-
ing from Ohio to the westward. Thous-
ands of Ram'bouillets. Delaines, Shrop-
shires and sheep of other breeds left Ohio
and journeyed to Oregon, Washington.
Idaho, Montana, Colorado and even as
tar as far-off Mexico. There they throve
amazing and their d.oseendents cover
maiw :i hill and s read out over many a
fhe W.st. Now their
oming back again, and
f
are
grassy valb
descendants
it is good.
What nerve some r
men have! Dan \\\
splendid Oregon ewes;
hardy bodies he will
lambs from which he will
f these corn belt
muck has 1,800
lie says from their-
grow a crop of
select a ear-
PREPARING LAMBS FOR MARKET
germs
it is
guard
weary
A BUNCH OF WES7LRN OKLAHOMA SHEEP
for individuals of the same breed that
show them to a marked degree, and use
them for breeding until the features be-
< ome firmly implanted.
If by clianqe you have, througji ignor-
ance of the different breeds, chosen
one whose normal characteristics do not
suit you, sell all of your stock, and get
new of the breed you like; don't try to
cross the two. Switching around from
one breed to another is at besj. expensive
business; but is far less expensive than
are the results of cross breeding. If
men would make a study of.tlie various
breeds of sheep, and become familiar
with ^lieir characteristics . before they
bought any, they would lie a great deal
more likely to get what they wanted in
tlie first place, and the temptation to
cross breed would be much less strong.
In nine cases out of ten ro doubt ama-
teur cross breeding is directly traceable
to an ignorance of breed types which
led one to get sheep whose characterist-
ics do not suit one. So altogether too .
many men. in the start, believe a sheep
is a sheep, and anything .that walks on
four legs and is covered with wool is.
that sheep. Later they waken to the
fact that there are different kinds of
sheep and then they seek to change by
cross breeding, with results too disas-
trous to the flock to narrate. *
The only, time when cross breeding
is to be at all countenanced is In a great
ereingency, when no ram of the same
breed as the flock can be gotten, and
when all the offstpring is to be sold. It
does sometimes happen that meat qualify
seems to be improved by cross breeding;
so it can be risked in the lambs are
to be sold as mutton. But under no.
• ircumstances should cross breeding be
practiced to get breeding stock, by any-
one save a man with money and a life-
time to devote to a scientific study of
the same.
WESTERN SHEEP IN CORN BELT
(By Joseph E. Wing.)
It Is a sign of the return of good
things that sheep are coming back into
the cofttbelt. Ohio has always had a
god many flocks, yet even here sheep
thinned out amazingly of late years and
men plowed up their pastures. Now
they are awakening to the value of sheep
and the money that can be made with
them; they are bringing them In again,
and how only from the great range of
the West can the supply be round to
restock Ohio farms.
load of International winners. Other
men have smaller flocks; the dealers sell
100 to a man. or 200. rarely more than
the latter number Ohio. Indian** and
Illinois are not well adapted to ranching
no .t hods. 'I rue, these western ewes coine
to us clean of parasites, 'hut the
are nlready in our old pastures;
well to be on our
against them.
TIow should these
pilgrims from the West be
treated on their arrival at
their new eastern homes?
First of all they should be
carefully dipped; not that
they are scabby, but they
have 'been exposed to scab
infection on cars or in ship-
ping pens. Kentucky sheep
scab comes from the West.
It is not so much the fault
ol the West; it is tlie fault
« t careless Kentuckians. Dip
T>io with care—that first of
all. And if you can do it,
turn those western ewes on
fresh glass where no para-
sites have gained lodgement.
Do not let them run with or
after infected native ewes.
Curiously enough westerns
perish from parasites if
once they get them sooner than natives
do. Remember, they come to you clean;
keep them from infection. Then select
good rams for them. Breed themnot to
Merinos, but to mutton bred sires, *good
Shropshire, Dorsets *oi Lincoln—any sort
of good Down ram you like best. Lamb
them early. Feed them liberally, but not
with much corn; better with grass, good
clover or alfalfa hay and a 'half pound
a day of oats or wheat bran during the
winter, unless the grass is unusually
good. And when the iambs come push
them. Market early, before parasites
show* up. There is good gold in the old
ewes. Welcome to corn'belt pastures.
• -THE TYPE OF SHEEP TO BREED
(Leo c« Reynolds.)
There evidently prevails a wide varia-
tion of opinion among tlock owners as to
tiie size ol - sheep to breed to produce
prime mutton and wool of good weight
and quality. During the past three weeks
I have had occasion to drive over a
large area of my county and while pass-
ing along have closely observed a large
•number of flocks of sheep kept on the
farms. In most instances the lambs have
been weaned and tin breeding ewes that
are to comprise thi next year's flock
(Continued ou Page Ji )
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Greer, Frank H. Oklahoma Farmer (Guthrie, Okla.), Vol. 18, No. 22, Ed. 1 Wednesday, November 3, 1909, newspaper, November 3, 1909; Guthrie, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc88260/m1/1/: accessed April 24, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.