NEW SHEEP FOR THE WEST 179 can be called typical and that will not deteriorate among natural surroundings in this country. Here steps in Uncle Sam with a remedy. It is known that Nature is ready to adapt animal life to all circumstances, if given half a chance. So the government has established an experiment station at Laramie, Wyoming, in the center of the great Western sheep belt, and is endeavoring to produce a typical range sheep that will thrive among the comparatively harsh conditions of the high plains country and that will yield a maximum amount of wool and mutton. COUNTRY. deterioration of imported sheep in the West ABANDONED PENITENTIARY AT LARAMIE, WYO.. WHERE GOVERNMENT SHEEP BREEDING IS BEING CARRIED ON The importance of such an experiment is easily understood, when it is estimated by experts that raising the average wool clip of this country one pound a year would increase the value of that crop $10,000,000. Doubling the wool clip, which is not impossible under scientific improvement of American sheep, would render many millions of dollars' worth of wool importations unnecessary and would practically put the nation in an independent position in that respect. The sheep imported for breeding purposes generally come from humid regions. The Rambouillet sheep, for instance, will thrive in the seacoast states, where climatic conditions are not unlike those of France. But transfer the same sheep to the West and there is another story to tell. The dry soil, heavily mineralized and charged with alkali salts, is entirely different from the moist soil to which the sheep has been accustomed. The grass of the high plains region is short and scanty, and contains less water, more mineral matter, more protein, and less variation in nutritive qualities throughout the year. The sheep must "rustle" in order to keep off hunger, for this short, rich grass, which literally cures itself on the stem in the dry atmosphere of the West, is thinly distributed on the plains. The slow, heavy sheep from the humid regions, being used to little exercise, soon shows the effect of constant walking. It loses flesh and puts on heavier bone. The climate, too, begins to work changes in other ways. The air is dry and clear, and there is greater wind movement. The changes in temperature are sudden. There begins to be a marked variation in the wool production. While the nitrogenous grasses favor heavy wool production, and the cool climate increases growth, the dry IMPORTED RAMBOUILLET LAMBS BEING FED ON A WESTERN SHEFP RANCH. They fail to live up to their pedigrees when compelled to "rustle" on the range. ness of the air and the severity of the winters decrease the amount of "yolk" in the wool. The natural oils, which go to the fleece in a mild climate, especially where humid conditions prevail, are given to the body to increase the animal warmth. This decreases the weight of the fleece, and does much to account for the startling variations of the wool clip in various Western states, the average fleece in the southwest going as low as six or seven pounds, while Western Oregon, owing to its mild, comparatively humid climate, sometimes averages nearly fifteen pounds to the fleece. Sometimes the flocks on the Western range in this country must go for two or three days without water. Many of the NEW SHEEP FOR THE WEST streams and water holes, too, are heavily impregnated with alkali. Most of the sheep herders in Wyoming, who know the evil effects of alkali upon the human, system, are never without a supply of vinegar. By "cutting" the alkali water with a liberal application of vinegar, and then adding sugar, the herder fills his canteen with a drink which is not unpleasant and which mitigates the evil of alkali poisoning. What can be accomplished by persistent breeding of high-class sheep was shown by a Wyoming ranchman, who, several years ago, became alarmed at the poor condition of his flocks. He spent several thousand dollars on fine imported bucks, and in ten years increased the clip from a third of his flock to more than fifteen pounds-something phenomenal for Wyoming. Such private experiments 181 have shown the plastic nature of the sheep, and have proved that it is possible to achieve astounding results under scientific direction.. At the government experiment station at Laramie there are many splendid examples of the finest varieties of sheep. The finest were taken to the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition and won forty-six first premiums, besides several secondary prizes. All these sheep were fed under typical range conditions near Laramie. The physical changes that are being wrought in the government's flocks are recorded with the minutest care. It is desired to produce an animal that will retain its "rustling" qualities, but which, at the same time, will produce a maximum amount of wool and mutton and that will not have to be constantly "built up" through fresh importations. Wisdom of Publius Syrus ¶ Even a single hair casts its shadow. ¶ A fair exterior is a silent recommendation. ¶ He sleeps well who knows not that he sleeps ill. EQUIPPED FOR THE EXPEDITION INTO THE MORE SPARSELY SETTLED REGIONS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA, WHERE CANADIUM WAS FOUND. CANADIUM-MORE PRECIOUS THAN GOLD A By DR. LEONARD K. HIRSHBERG SKED to name the five great events of the year recently closed, President Taft enumerated the treaty with Japan, the demonstration of the complete success of typhoid vaccination, as proved by the treatment of 150,000 troops; the prospective arbitration treaties with Great Britain and France, the progress on the Panama Canal and the court decisions in the Standard Oil and Tobacco Trust cases. Yet none of these compares in importance with the discovery of a new substance, Canadium, which marked the very opening of the new year. The name Canadium was adopted for the substance in honor of the country in which it first was found, the discovery having been made in British Columbia. By its discoverer, Andrew Gordon French, the element is placed in one of the two vacant niches between platinum and gold, long predicted by Mendeleff for completion of the noble group represented by platinum, gold and silver. Mr. French in telling of his marvelous find promises that within a short time he will present specimens of the metal and a paper upon the treasure to the Royal Society of England. The details of the discovery and an exhaustive analysis of the new metal then will be given to the world of science, and the unbounded commercial possibilities for |