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agricultural obsolescence Archive
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Luisa, Get Help!
Posted on May 10, 2013 | 18 CommentsWorking Border Collie snobs like to reiterate that sheep work is serious business, but the truth is that the business of sheep is in serious condition with an unfavorable prognosis.... -
The U.S. Sheep Industry is Belly-Up
Posted on May 9, 2013 | 20 CommentsThere are fewer sheep in America today than there were 200 years ago and one tenth the number of sheep seen at the apex during the 1940s. The wool... -
Border Collies Bred Like Alaskan Sled Dogs?
Posted on March 6, 2013 | 15 CommentsAlaskan sled dogs (often called huskies) are unique in that they are an ad hoc breed–some say type–bred to pull sleds over snow, sans registry, that still exist entirely outside... -
Domesday Reloaded Border Collies
Posted on August 18, 2012 | 2 CommentsIn 1085 William the Conqueror commissioned a survey of England and Wales to “find out what or how much each landholder had in land and livestock, and what it was worth.”... -
Hobby, Lifestyle, or Profession?
Posted on July 14, 2012 | 13 CommentsWestern Culture likes labels, boxes, and boundaries that divide and categorize people into conceptual groups. We avoid a continuum mentality. We like fractions more than percentiles, we like our device... -
This Is Not A Pipe
Posted on January 11, 2012 | 33 CommentsIt is the nature of Evolution and the human mind to repurpose what exists into what could be: to innovate, experiment, and sometimes to improve. The fate of such change... -
Usage Drift
Posted on January 9, 2012 | 6 CommentsThe development of the humble toothpick and the development of the dog share an amazing amount of symmetry. You might find the prototype of the cocktail stick in the reeds... -
They Rent Sheep, Don’t They?
Posted on December 27, 2010 | 19 CommentsFurther evidence that my common refrain (sheep sport is growing, sheep work is dying) is true, the New York Times reports about “bored collies” getting just what they want for... -
The Vanishing American
Posted on November 29, 2010 | 6 CommentsThe Vanishing American is a 1924 film and book by Zane Grey about the cruel and inevitable clash of conflicting cultures. History, as portrayed in this film, has been a... -
Too Many Working Dogs, Too Little Work
Posted on December 4, 2008 | 17 CommentsFrom Donald McCaig’s The Dog Wars, you’d swear that there were too few working dogs and too much work to do, thus the dire need to “save” the entire breed...


















