More Sheep In Washtenaw Than In Any Other County

They Are Thick in the South West Portion of the County

Half the Farmers of the County Own Sheep and They Average Nearly 50 Each

Washtenaw county contains more sheep than any other county in Michigan.  The sheep census of 1902, or in other words the secretary of state's report, shows 78,494 sheep in the county.

Of the 3,529 farmers in the county, 1,610, or nearly half of them, own sheep.  Each farmer who owns sheep will average 49 sheep and there is an average of 22 sheep to every farm in the county.  The next largest sheep county is Eaton, with 69,924 sheep.

There was a decrease in the number of sheep from 1901, when 82,928 sheep were sheared in Washtenaw, the clip being 645,339 pounds of wool.

The sheep section in Washtenaw is the southwest portion, although sheep are scattered all over the county.  But the seven townships of Manchester, Bridgewater, Saline, Sharon, Freedom, Lodi and Lima contained 42,891 sheep to 35,603 sheep in the other 13 townships.  No other township came anywhere near these seven townships in the number of sheep, and it will be seen that these townships are all closely joined together.

The largest number of sheep are found in Saline, 6,765, and the smallest number, 701, in Ypsilanti township.  The number of sheep in May, 1902, and the pounds of wool sheared in 1901 in the various townships, were as follows:

Ann Arbor: 1,713 sheep, 13,313 lbs sheared

Augusta: 1,206 sheep, 8,753 lbs sheared

Bridgewater: 5,991 sheep, 44,845 lbs sheared

Dexter: 2,976 sheep, 23,540 lbs sheared

Freedom: 6,530 sheep, 51,015 lbs sheared

Lima: 6,221 sheep, 48,427 lbs shared

Lodi: 5,969 sheep, 54,169 lbs sheared

Lyndon: 3,162 sheep, 31,072 lbs sheared

Manchester: 5,006 sheep, 48,049 lbs sheared

Northfield: 3,253 sheep, 24,108 lbs sheared

Pittsfield: 2,826 sheep, 23,856 lbs sheared

Salem: 2,700 sheep, 18,218 lbs sheared

Saline: 6,924 sheep, 54,794 lbs sheared

Scio: 4,231 sheep, 35,447 lbs sheared

Sharon: 5,509 sheep, 44,366 lbs sheared

Sylvan: 3,314 sheep, 25,230 lbs sheared

Webster: 3,789 sheep, 30,986 lbs sheared

York: 3,667 sheep, 37,244 lbs sheared

Ypsilanti: 701 sheep, 5,109 lbs sheared

The average number of sheep per farm runs from 4 in Ypsilanti town to 40 in Lima.  By townships it is as follows, discarding fractions: Ann Arbor 14, Augusta 5, Bridgewater 26, Dexter 26, Freedom 39, Lima 40, Lodi 35, Lyndon 23, Manchester 29, Northfield 15, Pittsfield 15, Salem 14, Saline 38, Scio 32, Sharon 33, Superior 14, Sylvan 19, Webster 25, York 17, Ypsilanti 4.