· · . 1
C|Rcu1.AR N0. 18.  
KENTUCKY’S OPPORTUNITIES AS A   ‘
‘ ‘ ` SHEEP STATE. e
By L. B. MANN.   4
The production of sheep in the United States has becoine ~   I  
of increasing importance, not only to the producers but also  V ,
to the consuming public in the way of both meat and cloth- ·   ·  
ing. Wool and lamb are two indispensable commodities in our ‘i  I  
present system of living. The sheep industry, however, has  @7 E
not kept pace with our increased population and, as a result.   i  
this year sees almost undreamed of prices for both lambs and     rf
wool.   A
XVith the breaking up of the great. western plains region. . ‘T_ ir,
due to the influx of homesteaders, and the rapid depletion of      
the southwestern semi-arid districts, due to large irrigation    
projects, the sheepman has been pushed farther up the moun- i    
tain sides and on the desert. These conditions, together with  
considerable loss from disease and hard winters, have wrought  
i great havoc with the large flocks in the VVest. _  }';_`.fij_i 
The past winter and spring, range shepherds suffered  
losses of 20 to 50 per cent. of their entire flocks, mostly due to  
cold, stormy weather immediately after shearing. One big   ,_,_  
firm reported the loss of over 18.000 head out of a flock of 40,000.  
In order to maintain anything like the normal production .  
of wool and mutton, the sheep industry must find some other  
region for its further development; it must come back to the  
small farms of the East and central Southern States. The day ‘  
5  
 
.     .il  
I    .2
  .  p.v<·t._,.·;,..RL 1-.,; S . ;g?zg.,_g_·?;.¤r;».~._,... _..?,_c._,.., . . _, .v . ..7 ., .. _ . .,, . -3 'i;.»_