The Rural Voice, 1980-10, Page 23FARMING IN THE PAST
"Shearwork"
BY ADRIAN VOS
After many years of trying to promote sheep raising in
Ontario, the efforts of the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and
Food, (OMAF) seem at last to be paying off, as slowly the
number of sheep farmers seems to be on the increase.
Sheep have been around since the earliest days of recorded
history. The development of England as a nation can in part be
attributed to the wisdom of feudal English lords.
The most prosperous county of the Middle Ages was Flanders,
and it, too, had to credit much of its affluence to the English
sheep. Because of the presence of a substance in the Flemish soil
the Flemish were in a good position to dye the wool they bought
from England. It was only natural that they also would weave the
dyed wool, and a great industry developed in both countries
which lasted for centuries.
In the days of Elizabeth 1, breeding stock of sheep was
stringently protected. so much so that "the exporter of sheep
was, tor the first offense, to forfeit his goods forever, to suffer a
year's imprisonment, and then have his left hand cut off in a
market town on market day, there to be nailed up to the pillory.
For the second offense he should be judged a felon, and suffer
death."
This didn't seem to have been sufficient to shut out the
Flemish wool merchants, for Charles ll enacted a law that said
"that no person within fifteen miles from the sea should buy
wool without permission from the king; nor could it be loaded in
any vehicle, or carried, except between sunrise and sunset,
within five miles of the sea, on pain of forfeiture."
Early settlers in Canada and the USA brought sheep with them
when settling the country. This is not surprising, since sheep can
provide clothing and food on very little feed, and their
nitrogen -rich manure adds to the improvement of the soil.
Slowly, however, the raising of sheep has been overshadowed
by cattle raising. At one point the cattlemen of the American
west waged war on sheepmen, because the sheep could graze
where cattle could not, thereby preventing range pasture from
restoring itself.
But the advent of cotton and synthetic fibres has diminished
the need for wool to such an extent that it has become a
by-product of the sheep industry.
This was not the case a hundred years ago. Every town had its
woollen mill which was only closed in recent times.
John Read, farm journalist and author, wrote in 1880 that
"Mutton is easy to digest, and is more healthful than most other
kinds of meat. There is a saying to the effect that as the standard
of civilization in a country is raised the use of mutton will
gradually increase."
From a business point of view sheep are also attractive, he
said. "The returns are both sure and quick. A lamb dropped in
January or February can be in good condition for the market
the following June or July. A sheep can be sheared in the
summer and fattened on grass and roots so as to be sold in
December, or it may be fed with grain during the winter and sent
off in March or April. With cattle the case is very different. The
calf must be kept from two to four years before it can be sold for
full price as beef. If sold while a calf the price per pound is below
that of a lamb, and the cost of keeping him the five or six weeks
required to convert him into good veal will be greater than that of
keeping the lamb until it can be sold."
Read said that in England it was said that even it production of
mutton and wool should not be profitable in itself, sheep raising
would still be gainful because they improve the land
considerably with their manure and weed eating habits. The
profit would then be in the crops raised subsequently on the
sheep pasture.
Get a
move on
Get a Series 84 tractor
and go gangbuster on
tough, demanding jobs.
"Name the Date — We'II Demonstrate"
SEAFORTH 521.0120
FARM EQUIPMENT LIMITED
SEAK)6'IH • AYP • C AMR6'Ir't.I • Nit��
THE RURAL VOICEIOCTOSER 111111 P411. IF