Sn eet a a ee en ooo . ~ - ww. =e a = = : —_ > > a I a ‘7 vee > my ‘* — boy . ee =? “ roe Ay, SHEEP HUSBANDKY; AN ACCOUNT OF THE DIFFERENT BREEDS, AND GENERAL DIRECTIONS IN REGARD TO SUMMER AND WINTER MANAGEMENT, BREED- ING, AND THE TREATMENT OF DISEASES. UHith Portraits and other Gngrabvings. BY HENRY 8S’ RANDALL, LL.D, LATE SECRETARY OF STATE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORE. WITH HIS LETTER TO THE TEXAS ALMANAC ON Poli HUSBANDRY IN ‘TEXAS, AND GEO. W. KENDALL’S ON SHEEP RAISING IN TEXAS. NEW YORK: C. M. SAXTON, BARKER & CO., 25 PARK ROW. SAN FRANCISCO: H. H. BANCROFT & GO. 1860. G&L ee! ea ee ae Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1860, by C. M. SAXTON, BARKER & CO, In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court for the Southern District of New York. EDWARD O. JENKINS, Printer & Stereotpper, No, 26 FRANKFORT STREET. PREFACE. So full and complete is the exposition of the subject as discussed in the following pages, and so clearly are the scope of the work and the circumstances which prevailed with its accomplished author, to pass it through our hands to the public, explained in his own « Iyrro- DUCTION,” that only in compliance with a common custom in book- making, might any thing have been deemed necessary in the way of preface ; were it not to acquit ourselves of the obligation to tender thus publicly to Col. RANDALL, not our own thanks merely, but those of the agricultural community, for the great benefit which must ensue to it, in the proportion that this instructive contribution to the stock of our agricultural knowledge and literature may command the atten- tion to which it is, on every account, so well entitled. An agricultural correspondence, reaching far back, and spreading widely over the Southern States, to which has been more recently added considerable extent of personal observation, had with us, already established the conviction, that in no other part of our coun- try, perhaps, does there exist a resource at once so fruitful, and so little availed of, as that which is possessed in that region, for the pro- secution of this—one of the most interesting and important branches of Husbandry that any country can enjoy. But while it has been easy to perceive this defect so apparent in their agricultural economy, amounting in the aggregate to a national loss of no inconsiderable magnitude; it was not so easy to expose, as Col. Randall has done, the fallacy of the difficulties that were sup- posed to stand in the way, or to indicate how the real impediments which do exist may be overcome, or materially mitigated. Something of these imaginary difficulties, for successful Sheep Husbandry, may, as we believe, be assumed to have their origin in the prejudices engendered in the minds of Southern agriculturists, by the sweeping condemnation of it to be found in the celebrated and deserv- edly popular essays of Arator, by Col. John Taylor—clarum vene- rabile nomen! and it may be that these prejudices are referable in a degree, also, to the concurrent opinions of the no less celebrated John Randolph, «of Roanoke,” who, even on the floor of Congress, gave them utterance in vehement and bitter denunciation against the harm- y 3 4 PREFACE. less animal itself—going so far in his animosity to it, and to all en- couragement of the great industry which it was formed to subserve, as to declare, that he would at any time go out of his way “to kick a sheep!” Nor would it be unreasonable to apprehend that these im- pressions against the policy and profit of sheep-breeding, as an import- ant object of attention for the Southern land-holder, have taken root the more kindly in the minds of a people unaccustomed, if not na- turally averse to that careful and minute attention which the successful prosecution of this business demands—a people whose sons, it may be feared, still find it easier, if not more commendable, to follow in the venerated footsteps of their sires, than to encounter for themselves the labor of investigation, and the trouble (together with some expense of new arrangements incident to every new employment of labor and capital. The general impression, in fact, is, (the reader will judge how far it is just,) that cultivators of the soil everywhere are, of all classes, the least apt to embark in any new enterprise, however pro- mising. They talk and talk about it, but rarely go about; and per- haps it may be better that it should be so; yet it is well to remember that precipitancy is one thing, and torpor quite another! We once knew a farmer (so called) in Calvert county, who, being told, as he sat toasting himself in the chimney corner on a cold winter’s night, that the house was.on fire! without moving from his seat, answered, «call the people !”’ Tn opposition to all that has been urged or imagined against Sheep Husbandry in the South, on the score either of ill-adapted climate, deficiency of suitable forage, want of adequate demand for wool, or other obstacles, the whole subject has been so admirably and thoroughly canvassed in the work here offered, that further argument would be superfluous ; otherwise we might oppose to the hitherto prevailing be- lief, if not prejudice, the experience of some, on a limited scale, and the well-settled opinion of yet many more among the most enlightened of our acquaintances in that region—gentlemen uniting ample oppor- tunities with close habits of observation on all questions of rural economy, and who have not hesitated to express the confident belief, that profitable and interesting as has been the growing of cattle in western Virginia, an equal amount of capital and attention, devoted to sheep and wool growing in the same section of country, would he yet more remunerating. Looking for reliable information yet further south, and back to a period more remote, even anterior to our decla- ration of independence, it may not be out of place to quote an evi- dently careful and intelligent author of a work on the climate and products of each of the then English colonies. Speaking of Georgia, and her well-ascertained adaptation to the growth of silk, the vine, the olive, madder and wool, he remarks: « Wool, we [England] take PREFACE. 5 in large quantities from abroad, because it is of a kind we cannot pro- duce in England: our colonies on the continent of North America, South of New York, produce a wool entirely similar to the Spanish. No staple they could produce would, therefore, be more advantageous to Great Britain. It is well known that a piece of fine broadcloth cannot be made without Spanish wool; it is also known that the Spaniards have of late years made great efforts to work up their own wool; if they should succeed, or if they should by any other means prevent the export of it, our woollen fabrics, though they might not be stopped, would at least be burdened with a fresh expense and a new trouble; all which would be prevented by encouraging the import of wool from America: and at the same time that this good effect was wrought, another would be brought about, in cramping the manufac- tures of the colonies.” Unfortunately for the agricultural interest of our country particu- larly, the desire to « cramp the manufactures of the colonies,” here so candidly avowed as the settled policy of England, not only survived the Revolution, but has been so well fostered by our own subserviency to it, as to render our independence, in respect of this and other no less important industrial pursuits, rather nominal and fictitious than substantial and true; nevertheless, with the odds of pauper labor and immense capital against us, thanks to the ingenuity and enterprise of our people, we need not despair of final success with any thing like fair consideration on the part of our own government. Tor this opinion we need have no better authority than that of SAmuEL LAWRENCE, the enlightened and liberal proprietor of the Middlesex Mills, at Lowell, who says, «the business of manufacturing wool in this coun- try is on a better basis than ever before, inasmuch as the character, skill, and capital engaged in it are such as to defy foreign competi- tion.”” Occasional revulsions, such as the present, will occur from causes abroad over which we have no control, but let not the wool grower relax in the care of his flock, for the same far-seeing manu- facturer has declared that he could point to articles of wool now im- ported, that will require thirty millions of pounds of medium and fine quality to supply the demand. After all, then, on viewing the importance of the inquiry to nume- rous friends for whose welfare we profess to entertain unaffected con- cern, and the great extent of the district which seemed to us to be so well adapted to the growth of sheep and wool—the magnitude of the interests involved swelled upon the contemplation, begetting a conviction that as a question of practical agriculture, it was not to be worthily and well treated by a few hasty and superficial essays, or by more elaborate compilations in relation to the oft-repeated natural history of the ani- mal, its prominence in scriptural annals, &c., unsustained by that 6 PREFACE. nn laborious and discriminating comparison of facts and authorities to illustrate its uses and its value, and by that fulness of personal ex- perience in the breeding and management of the various races, ‘in sickness and in health,” which constitute the excellence of these let- ters to Col. Allston. Under all these circumstances, the reader of the work here pre- sented may well judge how fortunate that it should have been under- taken, con amore, by a gentleman so well prepared by general scholar- ship, by exact practical knowledge, and by extensive inquiry into the mercantile and manufacturing, as well as the agricultural bearings of the question. It is due, however, no less in justice to ourselves than to truth, to add, that in urging him to undertake it, we had no idea of committing the author to such an amount of labor, even had we foreseen that being, ashe says, a “labor of love,” it would have thus ended in pro- ducing, asin our judgment it has, decidedly, the best work on the sub- ject of Sheep, that has at any time appeared in our country. May we not refer, for the soundness of this opinion, as well to its originality and strictly American character, as to the comprehen- siveness with which it presents the subject in its various relations, in- structive alike to the merchant, the manufacturer, the political inquirer, and the legislator; as to the practical farmer? Nor is it to be characterized alone by its utility in these respects; for the reader will agree with us that its entire fairness and freedom from narrow views and local prejudices, much enlarge, in a moral and instructive view, its title to general confidence and favor. Finally, as far as the public judgment may be anticipated in refer- ence to a production originally appearing disadvantageously, in de- tached parts, and not until now finished and embodied; if we may conclude from the favorable manner in which such portions have been reviewed and recommended, by some of the leading journals of the country, the writer may well felicitate himself on having rendered a most acceptable service not only to his brother farmers, but to his countrymen generally; while we may unaffectedly, and, as we think, confidently add, it establishes for Col. Randall himself a claim to stand in front of those whose pens, some of them under high motives of patriotism, have been engaged in illustrating one of the most impor- tant of all our industrial pursuits; nay, one which may be considered essential, in an eminent degree, to our national independence. J. S. SKINNER. INTRODUCTION. Tue subject of Sheep Husbandry has recently attracted more attention in out Southern and South-western States, than at any previous period. The want of a staple or product, the cultivation of which should render productive the capital in- vested in millions of acres of mountain and other lands, which do not now yield a farthing of income, and which, from their soils, situation, or other circumstances, are unadapted to the growth of any of the present Southern staples, has struck every Southern man, as well as every traveller of ordinary intelligence, who has passed through the regions indicated. The want, too, of some class of domestic animals . to constitute the basis, or pivol as it were, of a system of convertible husbandry on the tillage lands of the South, to take the place of the present imperfect rotations of crops, and new and old field-system, has become apparent to many of her more investigating agriculturists. The fact that the mountain and other unproductive lands alluded to cannot be made to profitably yield any vegetable products but pasturage ; that for the present, and for a long time to come, at least, the bulk of them will not afford a pasturage adapted to the support of large animals; could not but suggest the growing of wool, as their best, if not their only available staple. The similarity of their general cli- mate, too, with that where wool is most cheaply grown on the Eastern Continent, was a consideration promising favorably to this husbandry. And, finally, it had not failed to strike men of ordinary commercial intelligence, that of those animal staples, to the production of which a Southern climate is adapted, the Sheep fur- nishes a vastly more marketable one than any of the larger grazing animals. The superiority of the Sheep over other animals for supporting the fertility of tillage lands, by converting a portion of their products into manure, was not so apparent. Butthe well-known fact that they receive the preference for this pur- pose, in some of the best agricultural countries of the world, made it sufficiently probable to demand a full investigation, before adopting an adverse conclusion, espe- cially as what has been said in relation to climate and the marketableness of animal staples, was as applicable to these lands, in the South, as to those adapted only to grass. But Sheep Husbandry as a system, and especially a system tested by experience, was scarcely known in any of the Southern States excepting in western Virginia. Whether the theoretical considerations and natural circumstances which apparently favored its introduction would be met, in practice, with unforeseen obstacles, was a matter calling for grave circumspection. The Southern agriculturist is ever wary of innovation, and very properly averse to rash experiment. He knew, it is true, that his roving and untended “native” sheep obtained subsistence, and found no 7 8 INTRODUCTION. enemies to their health but the wolf and cur, onall the Southern zones. But whether the local climate and herbage of those different zones—the low, level, Tertiary sands of the Atlantic plain—the granite hills of the middle, and the ele- vated Paleozoic or Transition regions of the mountain zone—would be found to agree with the more valuable breeds of sheep; whether their wool would retain its qualities or degenerate in these several localities ; whether a greatly increased sup- ply of wool would find a remunerating price in market; whether the mountains could be converted into sheep-pastures, and wool produced on them without an expense which would absorb all the profits; whether Sheep Husbandry could be made a substitute for “ resting,’’ or expensive artificial manures, in restoring to the cotton, tobacco, and grain lands of the middle and tide-water zones the fertility withdrawn by tillage; and various other important correlative questions were all problems to him. And to add to the difficulties of forming a correct opinion, and especially of instituting safe and satisfactory experiments, he was ignorant of all the practical details and manipulations of Sheep Husbandry: he knew little of the various breeds, and their respective adaptation to his wants. For information on the subject of practical Sheep Husbandry and breeds of sheep, there are a multitude of European, and several American works, of great value. But for the answers to the questions in the preceding paragraph, which involve the particular bearings and adaptation of this husbandry, of the different breeds, etc., to the agricultural circumstances and wants of the various regions of the. South— where was the inquirer to find the desired information? Some well-written letters, embracing portions of these topics, have appeared from time to time in our agricul- tural journals. They have been of great value in drawing attention to the subject. But they have not usually occupied limits sufficient for the examination of more than a single phase of the general subject, or they have been mere coup d’cils of that subject, omitting all but a few important facts and considerations of a general character. They have, too, usually been replied to, or published contemporaneously in the same or other agricultural journals, with contradictory statements—some- times with crude and erroneous speculations—caleulated to confuse or mislead the inexperienced inquirer. Beyond these occasional Letters in the agricultural jour- nals, nothing, so far as I am aware, has appeared on this subject. A practical farmer, I have bred nearly all the approved varieties of almost every sind of domestic stock—of every kind commonly kept on Northern farms—and have been familiar with the details of their management and husbandry. I have owned flocks of sheep, and been more or less familiar with them, from my child- hood; and for the last fifteen years have made their economy, their habits, their comparative profitableness with other kinds of stock, and the comparative value of their breeds, matters of careful and constant observation and experiment. When Corresponding Secretary of the New York State Agricultural Society, a few years since, the facts drawn out by me in an extensive correspondence with eminent Southern agriculturists, united to what knowledge I had previously ob- tained by reading and personal observation of the Southern States, led me to th impression that there were numerous considerations and natural circumstances strongly indicating the expediency of introducing wool-growing extensively into those States. But at that time, my attention, in common with that of many if not most, of the Northern flock-masters, was turned towards the prairies of the North- west, as a region capable of sweeping away all American competition in this branch of husbandry. Glowing estimates and calculations had been predicated on very partial experiments. ‘The value of the natural grasses, the character of the winters and general climate, and the general facilities of the prairies for wool-growing, were then little understood here, and had been made the subjects of much favorable exag- INTRODUCTION. 9 geration. Facts subsequently ascertained, have, it cannot be denied, materially changed the impressions of our flock-masters on this subject. Whether correctly or incorrectly, they no longer fear Western competition in growing fine wool. My own coincides with the popular impression on this topic, if we consider that com- petition in its relations to a period not far distant in the future. The adoption of these views led me to again turn my attention, never entirely withdrawn, more particularly to the capabilities of the South for this branch of hus- bandry. My conclusions and the reasons for them will be found in the following Letters. Ina letter to Hon. Robert J. Walker, Secretary of the Treasury, pub- lished in his Treasury Report of 1845, and. in a series of letters published in the Virginia “* Valley Farmer,” the same year, I stated some of the general conclu- sions I had then arrived at on this topic. These publications were followed by letters from gentlemen residing in Virginia, North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Arkansas, making farther inquiries, and usually impart- ing more or less local information on the subject. Some of these were practical men, only seeking information on practical points; others, eminent for intelligence and legislative experience, embraced a more comprehensive field of investigation, and sought from me, as probably from other sources, to ascertain by a wide range . of general facts and statistics, the probable bearing, now and in future, of an exten- sive system of wool-growing on the Agriculture, Commerce, Manufactures, domes- tic consumption—in short, the whole domestic economy of our Southern States. Answers to these questions demanded careful investigation, and involved a great variety and complexity of details in the practical department of the subject, ren- dered far more numerous by the wide differences existing between the soils, esta- blished husbandry, and even the climates, of the three distinct and well-defined zones already alluded to. The location of some of my correspondents was on the mountains of Virginia, the Carolinas, and Tennessee—others on the hilly zone of the same States—others on the Tertiary sands of the tide-water zone, and the Cre- taceous plains of the Mississippi and Arkansas. To give opinions on all the topics referred to, and in reference to natural circumstances so various, supported by even a respectable show of corroborating facts, was an undertaking requiring considera- ble time and labor: to repeat them separately to each correspondent, was wholly out of the question. Requested by Mr. Skinner, a little more than a year since, to prepare a series of Letters on Sheep Husbandry, and especially on Sheep Husbandry in the South, for The Farmers’ Library, it occurred to me that a compliance with his request would enable me to answer each of my correspondents by once writing; and moreover, I could feel, under such circumstances, that I could properly afford to bestow an amount of time and elaboration on my communications which I should otherwise find impracticable. And I confess, I also thought if the information I could impart would prove of value to my personal correspondents, it might also prove so to many others among the numerous readers of a popular agricultural magazine. The liberal offer of the Publishers to provide all such cuts as I should choose to direct, was.an additional inducement to adopt this medium of communication. I have often felt the want of these in agricultural letters of my own, and in reading the works of others. In describing a breed of sheep, for example, to a person who has never seen them, the best chosen words convey but a vague impression. In many other cases also, cuts exhibit at a glance what it would require much circumlocution to describe ; and they in many instances convey ideas to the mind with a definiteness, correctness, and exemption from possibility of misunderstanding, which words alone never could. The cuts include portraits of all the breeds which I supposed could of possibility possess, or claim to possess, superior value, for any region or B 10 INTRODUCTION. locality within the United States; all the necessary anatomical figures, with those of the less known insect and parasitic enemies of the sheep; and finally, represen- tations of every implement, fixture, or process employed in Sheep Husbandry, where J thought they would convey important information—and particularly new information—more clearly than it could be done by words. Many of the latter class of illustrations have never before been, so far as I am aware, attempted; and, representing as they do the results of years of inquiry and experiment, I trust they may prove of service to beginners—particularly in regions where Sheep Husbandry has been hitherto little known. The Letters were begun and concluded exclusively as a “labor of love.” To possess the consciousness that even a limited portion of my fellow-men have been benefited by my labors, would be all, and the noblest recompense to which I could aspire. Nor do I feel, that in attempting to benefit the agriculturists of one section of our country, by urging them to appropriate a branch of industry now giving sub- sistence to those of another section, lam seeking the good of the former at the expense of the latter. Every region has natural advantages, or those resulting frem the natural course of events, for different branches of industry. A right to these advantages enures from a right to the soil; and the former is just as natural and sacred a right as the latter. To attempt to wrest them from the holder by legisla- tion, is oppressive ; to withhold from him any knowledge necessary to the enjoy- ment of them, is unfraternal and unmanly. If Virginiacan grow wool, or any other staple, more cheaply than New York, let her doit. She will only foree New York to fall back on the production of some other staple, or to adopt some other branch of industry. And why not? Why should there not be a division of production, where it is called for by natural circumstances, at least within the limits of a com- mon nation? It is doubtless well for every region, whether extensive or limited, to produce its own necessaries of life to the greatest economical extent. But an attempt to force Nature against her manifest capabilities, for the sake of attaining a“ fancied local independence, is to inflict a real evil, in the hope of attaining an ima- ginary good. History is full of instances where the prosperity of large masses of individuals, and even whole nations, has been crippled, in futile efforts to upbuild this or that branch of industry, in spite of natural obstacles, or against the compe- tition of regions possessing greater natural advantages. Among the foolish, selfish, and even iniquitous legislation of past ages, there has been none perhaps productive of more real mischief to human industry than the intermeddling enactments of go- vernments, ostensibly designed for its benefit. Masses of men, because divided by a rivulet, speaking a different language, or owning the sway of different potentates, have aspired to that physical independence of each other, and of the whole world, which the God of nature rendered economically, if not absolutely impossible. The vexatious restrictions on trade and commerce imposed in pursuit of this object by one government, were met by retaliatory ones by others, until international eom- mercial legislation became a confused labyrinth of enactments—their absurdity only equaled by their mischievousness. And like the elephants formerly used by bar- oarian nations in battle, they nearly as often trampled down their friends as their enemies. The era of these things is rapidly passing away. That patriotism which includes only a province or State, among one common people, is beginning to be recognised as narrow and sordid: nay, among intelligent men, that philanthropy is beginning to be thought meagre and unexpansive which stops even at the boundaries of Nations. In preparing the following Letters, I have labored under disadvantages insepara- ble from the circumstances under which they have been prepared. I have written them from month to month, amid the hurry of other pursuits, with little idea of what INTRODUCTION. 11 would be their ultimate limits—usually with one or more of the immediately pre- ceding numbers in the hands of the printer, and consequently not under my inspec- tion. I have not therefore had that opportunity to proportion the space devoted to the several topics, avoid repetition, and correct errors, possessed by him who com- pletes and revises, before any portion of his manuscript is rendered unalterable by stereotyping. ’ ' Reliance on insufficient authority has in a very few instances led me into errors, but fortunately, so far as discovered, they have been of trifling importance, and in relation to matters of no especial moment. Those thought worthy of notice have been corrected in subsequent parts of the body of the work. The causes I have named, therefore, affect rather the literary character of the Letters, than their general accuracy. In stating important facts and conclusions, I have consulted such writers of repu- tation as were within my reach. Among the foreign ones who have prepared works on Sheep Husbandry, or expressed important opinions on some of its separate topics or facts, or who have alluded to the Sheep Husbandry of particular countries or nations, reference has been had to the following, either by consulting their works, as I have in most instances been able to do—or by quotations from them found in the works of other writers of reputation;—Anderson, Bakewell, Barnes, Barrow, Bischoff, Blacklock, Bourgoing, Bright, Carr, Coventry, Culley, Cunningham, D’Arboval, Darwin, Daubenton, Dick, Ellman, Gasparin, Gilbert, Goese, Harrison, Hogg, Hood, Howitt, Hubbard, Jacob, Lang, Lasteyrie, Leeuwenhoek, Lichsten- stein, Linneus, Low, Luccock, Maitland, Malte-Brun, McCulloch, Moffat, McKenzie, Paget, Parkinson, Parry, Petri, Pictet, Powell, Reaumur, Rédolphi, Sinclair, Slade, Southey, Spallanzani, Spooner, Stephens, Swaine, Trail, Trimmer, Valasnieri, Vanderdonk, Von Thaér, Walz, Western, Willmer & Smith, Youatt, Young, and some others. Of our domestic writers, I have aimed to consult all of the most prominent ones. It is not necessary to enumerate them, extending, as the list would, to hundreds. The examination of these writers, foreign and domestic, has been no recent under- taking with me. For years, I have found it a source both of instruction and plea- sure, to peruse their works. Where they have proposed any thing new to me, which I thought promised favorable results, I have usually sought the first opportunity to put their propositions to the experimentum crucis of actual trial. I have often thus learned valuable facts. But I have nearly or quite as often ascertained that what may be true of one breed, in one climate, or under one set of circumstances, is not true when all or a part of these conditions are changed. The English and German systems of management, for example, I regard as almost wholly inapplicable here, on account of the entire different relation which the prices of land and labor beat toward each other in those countries and ourown. And I sometimes have had the conviction forced upon me, that writers even of reputation have assumed positions in relation to practical matters, which they must have derived from other sources than direct personal experience. While I have carefully reviewed and collated the opinions of other writers on doubtful practical points, I have in all instances, as will be seen in the following pages, preferred the results of personal experience and observation, to adverse authority, however eminent. Compilations, it seems to me, are sufficiently abun- dant, and I have thought it better to give my own opinions, leaving them to stand or fall, as they shall be found accurate or inaccurate. Where I have found it necessary to rely on others for any fact, or have quoted their opinions, I have uniformly given them credit. To my kind correspondents, particularly my Southern correspondents —many of whose communications are not published on account of their reluctance 12 INTRODUCTION. to be cited as authority for facts, where their modesty leads them to underrate their own comparafive knowledge and experience—I tender my thanks for their assistance. I have addressed the Letters to Col. R. F. W. Autston, of Waccamaco Beach, near Georgetown, South Carolina—a gentleman to whom I am indebted for much valuable information on the subject of Southern Agriculture, and who has ever evinced a most earnest desire to contribute to the improvement of that Agriculture. * HENRY S. RANDALL. CONTENTS. P LETTER I. ont Errzcr or Crimare on THE Hearts anv Woot-propucine Quatities or SuzEp.15 LETTER II. Ervzcr oF CrrimMaTE (CONNUC) .....srceccsscvccevcvccrsccssvcsssccsesccecssessRd LETTER IIL. ADAPTATION oF THE Sorts, Henpace, &c., or THE Soutrnenn Srares To SHEEP Huspanpry.—l. Or THe Low or Tipe-waTer REGION... 2... ccc cece cee cce se BO LETTER IV. Tae Apartation or THE Sorts, Hernwace, &c., or THE SourneRN STATES To Saerr Hussanpry, (continued.)—2. Or razr Mipprte or Hitty Zone.— SLO THE MOUNTAIN, IUEGLON:iclcns cele cate abdceic'sasicbeccasiaeaae Gicreceaclvehas «42 LETTER V. Prorits or Surer Huspanpry IN THE SOUTHERN Sratres.—l. Direct Proritr PME CURP EAT EMV-E SDE Ds cie's/sjo sone vale iste/e’aterdieras:- ois eeiare: ig he chances oaue atte seta aie ce LETTER VI. Prorits or Saree Husspanpry IN THE SoutHERN States.—2. As THE Basis or AMELIORATION IN Naturatty STERILE anpd Wonrn-ovuT Solus ..........2---66 LETTER VII. Pnorirs or Saerp Hussanpry 1n THE SournEerRN Srates.—3. By Gryinc to Sournern Acricutture a Mixep ann Convenrtisite Cuaracter.—4. By Fornisaine tHe Raw Marertat ror tat Manuracture or Domestic PONE ROM Cao ci ciel aciaaie'e due an'c'o.e Mua Meee wale eaten eae Coe Wace cade st® LETTER VII. Prospects or THE Woot Manket—Furune Demand AND SUPPLY......e0000+00094 12 14 CONTENTS. Pago LETTER IX. Prospects or THE Woot Marxet—Fourvure Demann anv Surrcr...... « sunat siento ee LETTER X. Brerps or SHEEP IN THE UNITED STATES........---- o'e's siecaiera: 6 bleleis' piatercieatelete eis LETTER XI. Tar Most Proritaste Brezep or SHEEP FOR THE SouTH—PRINCIPLES OF ER BEDENG cic o\siaisis. siecste Nis ei ciese's sre Siieireveceverje sles same BRO oso sinemuteeiloe LETTER XII. SummMER ManaGEMENT OF SHEEP. ccscesescevees fc Sajeleiale noice eeeleeuts eaivistetee aime 173 LETTER XIII. WINTER MANAGEMENT OF SHEEP ..ceeccseccccccscccecccce # piaiew.e’s «.nls'eWastatemieneeree eee LETTER XIV. ANATOMY AND DISEASES OF SHEEP .......cceccseeescees te ceceereccesccceseeecsea lO LETTER XV. Anatomy or THE SHEEP, (continued.)—DisEasEs AND THEIR TREATMENT... naa ead LETTER XVI. DisEasxs AND THEIR TREATMENT, (Continued) ........... #8(0. 0 ¢ a76)0 o:a.elelee enlolarmiatel sICKE® LETTER XVIL. Saeer Does, Woon Derots, &C.........000ceeses ole 00 cca cic es eb nu cw eiclpicslctalemenieene APPENDIX. SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN SOUTH CAROLINA... .csccccccecccccsacccce ana eeig sietiseainne 29% SHEEP) HUSBANDRY. IN HEEXAS: 4) 00. cicicles visteic' eerente Sigleratel= ales Sislaieie eae ete slefnstcons 305 SHEEP RAISING IN TEXAS. ..c.cceccccoes ates! kel ogetetntsi ota sist a: oe) afepyaiuae.o etch eee eee 320 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE UNITED STATES, IN A SERIES OF LETTERS TO R. F. ALLSTON, OF SOUTH CAROLINA, -LETTER I. EFFECT OF CLIMATE ON THE HEALTH AND WOOL-PRODUCING QUALITIES OF SHEEP. introductory Remarks...Wool-Growing and Manufacturing Statistics of the Southern States compared with those of New-York...Effect of Warm Climates on the Health of Sheep...Sheep in the Southern States below latitude 32°...Etfect of Climate on Wool-Producing Qualities of Sheep—on the Quantity of the Wool..- Weight of Fleeces in the Southern States indicated by U. S. Census of 1840—Important Omis- sions in that Census—Other important Errors in it. ..Table of Weights of Fleeces in Four Counties where they average highest in each of the Southern States and in New-York—Latitude, ''opegraphy and Climate of those Counties... Warmth of Climate conducive to the Production of Wool—Reasons. R. F. W. Atuston, Esq— Dear Sir: That spirit which prompts communities and States to at- tempt to render themselves independent, so far as the supply of physical wants is concerned, of other communities and States, is an eminently proper one, up to certain limits. Beyond these,it degenerates into mere sectional selfishness, as.deserving of reprobation in the community as in the individual—nay, more so, for it militates more widely against the in- terests and happiness of mankind. Agriculture supplies the most of our physical wants which are not administered to spontaneously by Nature. In this great department of human labor, it is not difficult to decide how far the inhabitants of each particular region are called upon to rear from the earth what their wants require. Nature herself has, in the distribution of soils and climates, both indicated and limited the production of many of the agricultural staples, by geographical boundaries, sometimes topically 10 16 SHEEP HUSBANDRY iN THE SOUTH. and sometimes by whole regions. This compels those practicing Agricul- ture, both as individuals and masses, to make that “division of labor” which, as in the mechanic arts, gives a better knowledge of its principles and a greater expertness in its practical manipulations. It also creates the necessity of exchange. Exchange is commerce, and commerce begets and diffuses civilization. Agricultural production, then, should be controlled by the demand or want, and by the adaptation of the country to such production. It would be absurd, for example, for New-York to attempt to raise its own rice and cotton, instead of exchanging the surplus of what it can most readily produce for that rice and cotton, or selling its surplus where it is wanted, and buying the rice and cotton with the proceeds. But, on the other hand, it would be equally absurd for New-York to be dependent on South America or Australia for her wools, when she can raise that staple just as well as those countries, and thus save paying for transportation and the hire or commission of the agents of exchange. Though Nature both indicates and limits the production of staples by soils and climates, she too rigidly enforces the primal curse, or perhaps we should say blessing, of labor, to bring forth each, indigenously, in the regions adapted to it, or ever to place them there, unless transported by the enterprise and industry of man. The potato and maize were a recent gift from this continent to the eastern. The debt has been repaid by rice, the sugar cane, the horse, the cow, the sheep, and a multitude of other plants and animals. How singular is the history of some of their deporta- tions! The sugar cane, now furnishing an important staple in some of our own Southern States, originated in the eastern confines of Asia; was not vouchsafed to the Greek and Roman; traveled into Arabia about the last of the thirteenth century; passed thence into Africa; was carried by the Moors into Spain; by the Spaniards and Portuguese into the West India Islands; and thence we received it. Rice, the great staple of your own State, sir, a plant of which it has been said that it “has altered the face of the globe and the destiny of nations,” originated also in Asia, and has traveled by the same slow stages, until it has reached that low zone which skirts our south-eastern shores, to render its vast marshes, oth- erwise useless, as profitably productive as the best grain or cotton lands of the Southern States. Here, sir, we find an instructive lesson. Other regions there are in our Southern States, now, nearly as useless as would be her “ hammocks” without rice, inviting the introduction of some other great staple to sup- ply, if feasible, a home demand, and a surplus for profitable exportation. If this great object can be achieved, and by the same means, the husbandry of the regions now under cultivation be made to assume that mixed and convertible character which will both add to their present proceeds, and better sustain their fertility, for future demands on them, a benefit will be conferred on the South the present and final results of which it would be difficult to overestimate. Repudiating theoretic speculation and vague conjecture—advancing just so far and no farther than we find our way illumined by the broad and certain light of facts, let us inquire what im- portant staple there is, not now extensively produced at the South, which would come within and at the same time fill the requirements I have men- tioned. Woolen fabrics constitute an important item in the imports of the South- ern States, and for these they exchange the proceeds of no inconsiderable proportion of their industry with the Northern States and with Europe. The following table will exhibit the population, and the amount of home SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 17 production in these staples, according to the U.S. census of 1840, in the States south of the Ohio and Potomac, and west of the Mississippi, (in- cluding Louisiana,) in 1839. To these are added, by way of comparison, the statistics of the State of New-York, under the same heads, for the same year: TABLE No. 1. r | Value of Woolen; STateEs. Population. No. of Sheep. | Lbs. of Wool. pal ent | Manufactured, ; Goods. : Virginia ais teen aie a 1,239,797 1,293;772 2,538,374 41 147,792 | North Carolina. -- 753,419 038,279 625,044 3 3,900 South Carolina . -- 594,398 232,981 299,170 & 1,000 FREON 5,12 - « o\<< 691,392 267.107 371,303 1 3,000 uGrida. ..s..So.¢ 54,477 7,138 7,285 Alapama :-.. --<. 590,756 163,243 220,353 Mississippi...---- 375,651 128;367 175,196 Louisiana .......- 352,411 98,072 49.283 Tennessee ....... 829,210 741,593 1,060,332 26 14,000 Kentucky ee ae AR 779,825 1,008,240 1,786,847 40 151,246 iota. 2 6.261,336 | 4,478,852 7,133, 187 114 320,938 New-York......- 2,428,921 5.118.777 9 845,295 323 | 3,537,337 The above is only given to indicate approximate general results ; for, as I shall subsequently show, the returns of the product of wool are inac- curate to the last degree. The question now arises, whence the immense disparity in the growth and manufacturing of wool in the State of New-York, comprising 46,000 square miles of territory, and less than two and a half millions of popula- lation, and the ten States above enumerated, covering an area of 495,000 square miles, and exceeding six millions of population? Is the growing of wool, (for we will first consider this, as the main question, leaving the sub- ject of manufacturing for subsequent examination,) to its present extent, profitable or unprofitable in the State of New-York? I contend, and shall attempt to prove, that taking a term of say ten or fifteen years, it has been the most profitable branch of industry carried on in the State. If this is true, why is it not equally profitable in the Southern States ?* Is there anything in their climate which renders them less favorable to the health or wool-producing qualities of the sheep—or is there anything in their topographical features, soils, herbage, or other circumstances, which unfits them for a natural and easy adaptation to sheep husbandry? Or have they other staples so much more profitable that it is not an object to grow wool? ; Having bestowed some attention on these points, and having been prac- tically familiar with the most minute details of sheep husbandry from my childhood, I have thought that the conclusions I have arrived at, and the facts on which I have based them, might not be uninteresting to you. To bring these facts connectedly before you, I shall necessarily be driven to repeat some matter from my own and the writings of others, which you have doubtless before seen in the publications of the day. Let us now take up the first of the two preceding questions ; and first I will call your attention to the effect of Climate. Sheep have been bred, time out of mind, on the Eastern Continent, from the Equator to the 65th degree of north latitude, from the burning a of Africa and Asia, to the almost perpetual frosts cf Iceland. The erino, (the different families of which, as will be shown, constitute the only varieties suitable for wool growing on a scale of any considerable extent,) has been bred in Europe, for ages, as far south as between the * When I use the words “Southern States,” without farther specification, you will understand me te mean the ten enumerated in Table Ist. (651) C 18 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 36th and 37th parallels of latitude, and has, within the last few years, been weclimated with perfect success as far north as various points in Sweden. If any difficulty exists in the climate of the United States, rendering it unsuitable for the rearing of sheep and wool, it must be its heat and this must affect the wool-producing qualities of the animal alone, and not its health, as the following facts will show. There were upward of 660,00C sheep in the five most southern States, in 1839. In Florida, they have been acclimated as far south as the 29th degree. In Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia, they not only flourish in the northern and more elevated sections, but on the low, fenny, tide-water region which skirts the Gulf of Mexico. In the above five States there were, in 1839, upward of * 190,000 sheep below the 32d degree of latitude, viz. : in Georgia 32,986, Florida 7,198, Alabama 22,053, Mississippi 56,780, Louisiana 81,627.* They graze with equal impunity the vegetation on the margin of the Great Okefinokee Swamp (in Georgia and Florida) and on that which rankly flourishes among the ooze at the mouths of the Mississippi. It may interest some less acquainted than you are, sir, with this subject, to know that in 1839 the county in which New-Orleans stands (Orleans) contained 1,807 sheep; Jefferson, on the opposite side of the river, 6,871; St. Ber- nard, extending from Orleans to the Gulf, 1,154; Plaquemine, almost sur- rounded by the waters of the Gulf, and comprising the delta. of the Missis- sippi, 1,832; Lafourche Interior, on the Gulf, 1,253 ; Terrebonne, another Gulf county, 1,013; St. Mary’s, another, 8,211; and La Fayette, another, 2,622.t No portion of the United States is lower, hotter, or more unhealthy than much of the preceding, and none, according to commonly received notions, would be more unsuited to the healthy production of sheep. Yet, that they are healthy in these situations is a matter of perfect notoriety to all conversant with thé facts. So far as health is concerned, then, we are assuredly authorized to assume the position that no portion of the United States is too warm for sheep. We come now to the effect of climate on the wool-producing qualities of the animal. Assuming the census returns of the United States m 1840 as reliable data, they would furnish strong proof that the warmth of the climate has a marked effect in diminishing the weight of wool per sheep ; and they have been adduced as furnishing conclusive evidence to that ef- fect, by persons more accustomed to broad assertion than patient investi gation. The following will give the weight of wool per head in the States enu- merated in Table No. 1 iddatumateds from the census returns of 1840: TABLE No. 2 Lbs. Oz. Lhs. Oz Wareinia. jet i nas. see eta 1 7 845 Alabamas nev ooscese ae ¢ oats eee 1 4 146 Woxvth; Carolinas. emte tee fo 2h221 Mississip pil2. Gaetan oie teeter ly Ay QR7 South/ Caroling <2. = sakes seen 1 3 539 HOWIs ANA che cis Ge alin oe = ele a o so4c ! (CRG))'y ine See See OS ohe aes ame 1 4 487 Tennesseeby. sa. % as emo ye ee ee 1 4 809 } LOUIE os oroyes nie re teaeisterene ates 1 0 410 Keentighkyss osc. se ctie soem 1697. | New=Y¥ ork %.'..0 ic SON A Soe Se ee 1lb. 7 680 oz But an examination of the census will show that so far as several cf these States are concerned, it is entitled to very little credit, in this par ticular, and that it is correct in relation to none of them. In Louisiana, 1 in fourteen counties from which 30,261 sheep, or nearly one-third in the whole State, are returned, not a pound of wool is returned. In Florida, four counties, returning 228 sheep, return no wool. Let us U. 8. Census, 1840. +Ib SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 19 examine the comparative products, per head, as set forth in some of the counties from which returns of sheep and wool are both made, with a view of testing their accuracy. Escambia returns 485 sheep, and 837 lbs. of wool; Walton 386 sheep, and 575 lbs. of wool; Leon 1,798 sheep, and 3,360 lbs. of wool—or an approximation to 2 lbs. of wool per head. Nas- sau returns 436 sheep, and 1,200 lbs. of wool, or about 3 lbs, per head. On the other hand, Gadsden returns 1,875 sheep and 512 lbs. of wool; Jefferson 752 sheep, and 300 Ibs. of wool; Madison 223 sheep, and 50 lbs, af wool; Jackson 960 sheep, and 376 lbs. of wool, or not quite a third of a pound per fleece! Now Leon is bounded on the west by Gadsden, and an the east by Jefferson, and all lie in the same latitude, and do not differ essentially in their soil, herbage, or temperature! Madison lies imme- diately east of Jefferson, (though its southern angle extends somewhat farther south,) and Jackson joins Walton. Nassau is in the same latitude. Hamilton, returning no sheep, returns the product as 20 lbs. of wool! In Mississippi, eight counties returning 15,227 sheep, return no wool; and there are repeated instances of the same glaringly obvious errors that have been exhibited in the statistics of Florida. [or example, Smith county returns 741 sheep, and 1,067 lbs. of wool; Wayne 921 sheep, and 1,466 lbs. of wool. Jasper, bounding Smith on the east, returns 1,848 sheep, and 418 lbs. of Wool; and Clarke, bounding Wayne on the north, 1,199 sheep, and 188 lbs. of wool! By this,the sheep of Clarke shear less than 3 oz. per head, while those of the next county shear over a pound and a half per head. There are yarious other instances of under returns in the State. In Alabama, two counties returning 2,138 sheep, return no wool; and in eight counties there are the same glaring instances of under returns with those given above. In Georgia there is but one omission to return the wool, where the sheep are returned. In that county there were 3,360 sheep. There are eight or nine instances of obvious under returns, but these in the aggre- gate of the State are partly balanced by two gross cases of over returns. Cobb county returns 3,524 sheep, and 36,057 lbs. of wool; and Richmond 758 sheep, and 3,032 lbs. of wool! In South Carolina there are at least six instances of under returns. In North Carolina there are no returns of wool in one county, contain- ing 2,163 sheep, and in another 7,260 lbs. of wool are returned, and no sheep. There are ten cases of obyious under returns. In one of them 46,340 sheep are made to yield but 12,686 lbs. of wool. In Virginia there are no omissions, and no obvious under returns. There are several over returns. In Tennessee there are no omissions, but there are seven obvious under returns and two or three over returns. In Kentucky and New-York there are not sufficient erroneous returns to materially vary the aggregate. The foregoing facts show that the Marshals in many counties in the most southern States entirely neglected their duty in returning the pro duct of wool; and where over or under returns haye been made, it 13 probable that, by a misapprehension of duty, the amount of wool on hand was ascertained and noted down, instead of the annual clip. And ‘there is another and generat error in these statistics, throughout all the States, by the census including in the number of sheep the lambs of the current season, which had not, of course, been sheared at the time of taking the census. A, at the time of taking the census, owned a flock of 200 sheep over one year old, and 100 lambs. He would give in his flock 20 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. to the Marshal as 300, of course, for the census makes no distinction be- tween lambs and grown sheep. He gave in 600 lbs. of wool, which would be 3 lbs. per head for those which had been sheared. But by the lambs being included in the census returns, it is made to appear that his sheep sheared but 2 lbs. of wool per head. In the next census the lambs and sheep should be separately returned, not only to obtain accuracy, (without which such statistics are valueless,) but the annual increase thus indicated would be,of itself,an interesting and valuable statistic. In the preceding enumeration of erroneous returns, I have set down none as under returns where the product of wool has not been given as less than a pound per head; and where it has fallen under that amount, the returns from contiguous counties, possessing the same natural features, exhibiting a far superior product,as well as the general complexion of the returns throughout the State, have authorized me beyond a reasonable doubt so to consider it. I may add, that it is a fact of universal notoriety that there is no yariety of sheep in any section of the United States, whick shears but a pound of wool per head.* A cazeful inspection of the census, | moreover, will not fail to satisfy any one that there are a multitude of under returns, (not specified by me, as the product is given over 1 lb, of wool per head,) in most of the States. This is shown by the same kind of eompari- sons which have already been alluded to. These are far more common in the extreme Southern States, where wool growing had not yet (in 1839) heen reduced to any system, and where sheep had been little looked after or regarded. These errors grow less, as we approach the wool-growing regions of the north and north-west. Taking those returns which we are authorized to consider correct, it will appear that there is no great difference in the average product of wool, per head, in States separated by from ten to fifteen degrees of latitude, and no more than is clearly referable to incidental or extraneous causes, unless we come to the conclusion that the difference is in favor of the Southern States. In proof of this, the following table is offered, giving the products of some of those counties in each of the States enumerated in Tables No. 1 and No. 2, which exhibit the highest averages per head, (excluding those obviously over returned.)t TABLE No. 3. ’ =e 5 : Average Weight of Wool| Total average of STATE. | County. | per Sheep. the Counties given|| Lbs. Oz. Lbs. Oz. ier 2250 Ee eiee 2 ae ghadinsss alTison ...-.- 2 0.9056 Winotmia Sek 208 i 5119 Ohio --.------ 2 2ce 639 1 9 4649 Rockingham... . 2 14848 Qe Ga kK Curntuck-.:.. 32 2 7443 . Porson. \./25). 4 wit Q 52913. North Carolina..... ; 53984 Perquimans ... 1 122232 a my I 9 Dyrrel ssi: eaten i ee 2 0 * I consider such to be under returns, independent of the mistake made by including lambs in the enumeration, . { With the exception of the error arising from the return of lambs—which perhaps would not greatly vary the proportionable result. fit is proper to say that though I designed to take the highest averages, I did nut go through a formal reckoning of the average in every county in the eleven States. I took those which appeared the highest, after a somewhat careful general inspection. | Excluding the fractions of the ounces in preceding column. SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 21 TABLE No. 3—(Continued.) 4 Average Weight of Wool, Lotal average of Pane | Gouna: ” per Sheep. the Counties given. : 5 Siw Lbs. Oz. Lbs. Oz. Beaufort ..--.- 2 121994 . Darlington ---- 2 aay. BS, HS th Carolina..... 3041 Bou Georgetown . -- 20 Richland. 62° 1 124150 SLOOP sara & LA... Concordia eres Od ($7 Pedank St. Helena .... 1 74391 ee ane Se Tammany -- 2 123 _ Washington .. - 1 1449 Destvalbaeeoe 2 2192 Pranklin soos maa le Tennessee ..-.-----4 ging 0. OeeL Smith ...... -. 2) OFF05, Witlsone ese 3 2 213948 Bourbon <2... 2 2 153835 Clarke Oidest SS an aie the ee a 209953 Kentucky ----- +. Sa aMerTence cL. . 2 152333 Cote nee 2 6255 Westchester .. 2 103904 Ulster = 5 58a" Se nee tt Pee. tLe 6355 ~ elated ala Saratoga ...... 2 gazes jes 42154 Oriearist. 1284s 2 242154 Taking these averages as a test, it would appear that the difference between the average products of the Southern States and New York is, in some instances, in favor of the former. Kentucky in the middle, and Mis- sissippi in the extreme South, exceed the average of New York. It is proper to say, however, that various local circumstances may have effected these results, and that taking the average of a considerable num- ber of counties, in the several States, would essentially vary them. Not- withstanding this, the testimony which they offer is important, and be- comes more so regarded in connection with another circumstance. The comparative statistics of the extreme Southern States, themselves show that in a majority of eases their best products of wool come from their Southern and warmer counties. Of the four counties in Louisiana, the product of which is given above, of SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. the most northern lies between the 31st and 32d degrees of latitude, and all of the other three south of latitude 31°. St. Tammany, which exhibits the second best product, borders on Lake Pontchartrain. The State ex- tends north to latitude 33°. In Florida, all the counties given lie in the same latitudes. ‘Mississippi extends north to latitude 35°. All the counties given are sonth of 32° 30’, and one in latitude 31°. In Alabama, extending north to the same latitude with the above, two of the counties given are in the northern or mountain region, and two of them south of 33°. In Georgia, (same northern line,) one of the counties given is in the ex- treme north, two south of 33° and one in latitude 31°, being the county in which lies the major portion of the Great Okefinokee,Swamp ! In Seuth Carolina, two of the counties (both bordering on the ocean) are in the low, marshy, tide-water region; and the other two are in the central region. In North Carolina,two of the counties given join the ocean; one is on Albe- marle Sound, while one lies inthe central and northern portion of the State. In comparing the produet of wool in the Southern States with that of the Northern—and more particularly with that of New-York—we must not lose sight of the ,fact that in the latter wool growing has become an important business, and is reduced to a system. The sheep are kept in pastures, and are sheared at regular intervals. In the Carolinas, Georgia, and the Gulf States, precisely the reverse of all this was generally true, at least up to the year 1839. ‘The sheep were little cared for; were suf- fered to breed promiscuously ; and they roamed at large through forests, where, as the warm season advanced in the spring, their wool, beginning to detach itself, was left on shrubs and brambles, and in not rare instances considerable portions of it were thus lost prior to shearing.* Giving their due weight to the preceding facts, the defects in the census, etc., it is, [ think, undeniable that they account for all the deficiency in the average product of wool per sheep in our most southern States, com- pared with that of New-York, as set forth in Table No. 2. Indeed, sir, my own convictions are decided, and the facts reported appear to fully sustain them, that warmth of temperature, at least to a point equaling the highest mean temperature in the United States, is not injurious, but abso- lutely conducive to the production of wool. The causes of this are in- volved in no mystery. Warm climates afford green and succulent herb- age during a greater portion of the year than cold ones. Sheep plentifully supplied with green herbage keep in higher condition than when confined to that which is dry. High condition promotes those secretions which form wool. Every one at all conversant with sheep well knows that if kept fleshy the year round, they produce far more wool than if kept poor. A half a pound’s difference per head is readily made in this way. Within the maximum and minimum of the product of a sheep or a flock, the ra- tio of production always coincides with that of condition. I have dwelt on this point at great and perhaps tedious length, sir, as the results set forth in the United States Census, unexplained, would clearly point to a different conclusion from that to which I have arrived. To invalidate testimony, ostensibly so certain and reliable, as well as te combat deep-rooted prejudices, I havé deemed it necessary to scan thor- oughly the accessible facts in the case. * make no account of difference in breeds, as affecting the product of wool between fhe South and North. ‘he grade Merinos, not uncommon in New-York, would produce far more wool than the “na- tives,” the principal sheep in the South in 1839. But the latter would equal or exceed the product of the numerous Saxon tlocks of New-York. SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 2a LETTER II. EFFECT OF CLIMATE, CONTINUED. Effect of Climate on quality of Wool...Warmth of Climate renders Wool coarser—Reasons. -.Effect of Herbage.--Opinions of Youatt—Doctor Parry—English Staplers—Wniter...Can the tendency to grow coarser be resisted ?. .. Opinions of Youatt—Lasteyrie— Mr. Lawrence. ..Experiment in Australia—Cape of Good Hope—outh of Ilinois—Kentucky—Tennessee—Mississippi—New-York...-Warm Climates render Wools softer and longer, thus adding materially to their value. ..Proved to be the case in Australia. ..Tes- timony of English Wool-fuctors and Staplers...Same effect produced in the United States. -.'Testimony ef Mr. Cockrill. Dear Sir: We come now to discuss the effect of Climate on the quality of Wow. There can be but little doubt, other things being equal, that the pelage of the Sheep and some other animals, becomes finer in cold climates and coarser in warm ones. ‘This is usually attributed, by theoretical writers, to the effect of cold and heat in contracting or expanding the pores. This may have some effect, but to suppose that the delicate tissues of the skin can act, to any great extent, mechanically, in compressing the harder and highly elastic ones of the hair or wool, or compel their attenuation so as to permit their escape through diminished apertures, like the process of wire drawing, is, it seems to me, to assume that matter acts contrary to its ordinary laws. I am rather disposed to look for the causes of this henomenon, in the amount and quality of the nutriment received by the animal. It was stated, in my preceding letter, that warm climates, by affording succulent herbage during a greater portion of the year, maintain in greater activity those secretions which form wool, and thus increase the quantity or weight of the fleece. The weight is increased by increasing the length and thickness of the separate fibres, just as plants put forth longer and thicker stems on rich soils than on poor ones, Mr. Youatt, in his excellent and much quoted work on Sheep, after dis- cussing and admitting, to a certain extent, the influence of warm temper- atures in rendering wool coarser, says : “ Pasture has a far greater influence on the fineness of the fleece. The staple of the wool, like every other part of the sheep, must increase in length or in bulk when the animal has a superabundance of nutriment; and, on the other hand, the secretion which forms the wool must decrease like every other, when sufficient nourishment is not afforded. When little cold has been experienced in the winter, and vegetation has been scarcely checked, the sheep yield an abundant crop of wool, but the fleece is perceptibly coarser as well as heavier. When frost has been severe and the ground long covered with snow—if the flock has been fairly supplied with nutriment, although the fleece may have lost a little in weight, it will have acquired a superior degree of fineness and a proportionate increase of value. Should, however, the sheep have been neglected and starved during this prolongation of cold weather, the fleece as well as the carcass is thinner; and although it may have pre- served its smallness of filament, it has lost in weight and strength and usefulness. Tflese are self-evident facts, and need not be enforced by any labored argument.’’* Doct. Parry, a correct and able English writer, remarks : ““ Sheep breeders have observed a sort of gross connection between the food and quality of the fleece. . . . The fineness of a sheep s fleece of a given breed is, within certain limits, inversely as its fatness, and perhaps also (although I am not certain on this point) as the quickness with which it grows fat. A sheep which is fat has usually comparatively coarse wou1, and one which is lean, either from want of food or disease, has the finest wool ; and the very same sheep may at different times, according to these circumstances, hava fleeces of all the intermediate qualities from extreme fineness to comparative coarseness.” * Youatt on Sheep, p 70. , 24 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. In an examination before the English House of Lords, in 1828, various eminent staplers* testify, most decidedly, to the deterioration (in fineness) of the British wools and their increase in length of staple, ‘since the introduction of artificial food and the adoption of the forcing system.” My own observations fully corroborate these positions. 1 have exam- ined, in repeated instances, with a good microscope, the wool of inzivid- ual sheep in my flock, taken in seasons when they have maintained a high condition, and in others, when, from some incidental cause they have been in ordinary or poor condition, and the difference in length and fineness is, uniformly, distinctly perceptible If the sheep breeder in warm climates can take advantage of the ten dency to produce greater quantities of wool, following that supply of suc- culent herbage throughout the year which Nature has placed at his disposal, and at the same time, by any unexpensive means which he can employ, combat the correlative tendency to increased coarseness of fibre, he has most assuredly, other things being equal, an entire advantage over the breeder in colder regions. We come now to the important inquiry, Can this latter tendency be successfully combated ; or, in other words, can wool of any desirable fineness be produced in countries as warm, for example, as Louisiana, Mississippi, &c. ? Let us examine Mr. Youatt’s testimony on this point also. He says: “Temperature and pasture haye influence on the fineness of the fibré, and one which the farmer should never disregard ; but he may, in a great measure, counteract this influence by careful management and selection in breeding. . . . A better illustration of this cannot be found than in the fact that the Merino has been transplanted to every latitude on the temperate zone and some beyond it—to Sweden in the North and Australia in the South— and has retained its tendency to produce wool exclusively, and wool of nearly equal fineness and value.’’t Mr. Lasteyrie, equally good authority, uses the following language. When he speaks of the preservation of the breed in its “ utmost purity,” we are undoubtedly to understand him to refer as much to the fineness of the wool as any other point, this being the distinguishing mark or excel- lence of the breed. ‘The preservation of the Merino race in its utmost purity at the Cape of Good Hope, in the tnarshes of Holland, and under the rigorous climate of Sweden, furnish an additional support of this, my unalterable principle: fine wool sheep may be kept wherever intelli geut breeders exist.’’t ! Samuel Lawrence, Esq. the head of the great Lowell Manufacturing Company, in Massachusetts, who, by his vast purchases of fine wool in all parts of the United States for a long term of years, and his intimate prac- tical acquaintance with the quality of the article, is entitled to have his opinion on this point regarded as of as great weight as that of any other individual, says : “ That the properties of wool are affected by herbage and soil, I have not a doubt, and were it not invidious, I would name some sections where wool growers are greatly favored vy Nature. One thing is certain, whatever may be the character of the soil, where there are good shepherds there is sure to be found good wool. By judicious selections and cross ing, I believe a breed may be reared which will give four pounds of exquisitely fine wool to the fleece.”’|| This last sentence of this important extract, though not bearing so par- ticularly on the point under examination, is recorded in its original con- nection for subsequent reference. Australia and the Cape of Good Hope being cited by the distinguished Se vonatt on Sheep, p. 71, where the names and testimony of these individnals are given; and more at Jength in Bischoff on Wools, &c., vol. ii. pp. 118—200. i e + Pp. 69—70. } Lasteyrie on Merino Sheep, p. 101. | Letter of Mr. L., published in “ American Shepherd,” p. 436, SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 25 English and French writers above quoted, as offering instances of the per- fectly successful acclimation of Merinos, without deterioration of their wool, in warm climates, it may be well to inguire a little more particularly what the climate of those countries is; and what, if any, the other cir- cumstances connected with them, having an influence on the quality of the wools grown in them. Port Jackson, in Australia, in the vicinity of which the Merinos were first introduced, and are now extensively bred, lies in 33° 55/ South lati- tude, corresponding as nearly with the. latitude ‘of Georgetown, South Carolina, as that of any othe: important point in our country.* In de scribing this region (New South Wales) Malte Brun says: “ The coast itself is high but not mountainous ; and it is partly shaded by trees of gigantic size. Toward the south-east a great part is-covered with coppice; much also is occupied with marshes. About Botany Bayt the soil is black, rich and exceedimely productive in plants. The north-east part seems lower. The coast is covered with maugroves. . . The heat of December rises to 112° Fahrenheit. The forests and the grass have been known spontaneously to take fire.t The North-west wind, like the Khamseen of Egypt. scorches the soil and reduces it to a light dust. . . . Notwithstanding these disadvantages, the climate is very healthy, and very favorable to population. . . . Those parts in which different trials have been made hgve rather too warm a climate for common barley and oats, though these grains have been found to sneceed tolerably well on the poorer soils. . . All the vegetables grown in England are produced in the English colony. . . Peaches, apricots, nectarines, oranges, lemons, guavas, loquets, cherries, walnuts, almonds, grapes pears, pomegranates and melons attain the highest maturity in the open uir.”’|| The country, most of it, is remarkably deficient in wate1,§ though many portions are subject to destructive inundations.{] Its drouths are unequaled for their duration and intensity in, perhaps, any inhabited portion of the globe.** Its vast plains, occasionally highly fertile, but more usually, only in detached spots, afford pasture throughout the year. The physical features of this country, its system of sheep husbandry, etc. will be more particularly alluded to hereafter. The English first introduced into this remote possession the coarse hairy sheep of Bengal. In the short space of three years these were so far changed by the effect of the climate and other circumstances, that their hair was entirely gone, and was succeeded by a fleece of woolt The South-Down and Leicesters were subsequently introduced, and_ their crosses with the Bengal sheep soon became as fine as the pure bloods of the former. At length some Merinos were imported by the colonists, and, says Mr. Youatt, “ The experiment was satisfactory beyond their ex- pectation. The third or fourth cross with the then prevalent sheep of the colony produced an animal with a fleece equal to that of the pure Merino in Europe; and the wool of the pure blood seemed to improve as rapidly as the native breed had done.”{¢ In 1810, the export of wool from Aus- tralia and Van Dieman’s Land was 167 lbs.; in 1833, it had reached 3,516,869 lbs.|||| In 1843, it amounted to 16,226,400 lbs.§§ The following, from a table in McCulloch’s Dictionary of Commerce, will show the current prices (reduced to American currency) of some of the imported and domestic woois, in London, March, 1834 : $ cts. $ cts. | ENGLISH: $ cts. §$ cts SPAWTSHT cc's va oo.tie.s veo! per ib. — 60 to — 77 North & South-Down. perlb. — 44 to — 48 PORRUOGUIESS |<. < oc iden secee — 44 * — 62 WWeleester-2e los), 5 bee 2 — 33 “ — 44 GERMAN, Saxon, Kc ......... — 48“ 115 Lincoln, Cotswold, Romney PUSBRARTAN® 2). 26-3 Sos, coos — 50 © 21:00 Wardiit 5 - css brace gee cas Se — 40 “ — 44 * Georgetown is perhaps half a degree nearer the Equator. t This place is twelve miles south of Port Jackson. } Malte Brun cites Collins (an author frequently quoted in relation to New South Wales) for this strong and, perhaps, exaggerated assertion. || Malte Brun, vol. i. pp. 600+ 605. € Gpondeat Youatt, ete. J Malte Brun. ** See McCulloch’s Commerciai Dictionary. tt Youatt on Sheep, p 184. Spooner, Diseases of Sheep, p. 62. } Ib. p. 184, \||| Ib, et Spooner. §§ Spooner, (659) D 26 - SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. It will be seen from this, that the best Australian wools already excelled the best Spanish, and were more than midway between them and the best Saxon. When we consider the almost infinite difference in the care, both in breeding and management, bestowed on the Saxon and Australian sheep, it shows rmost conclusively the adaptation of the climate of Australia to the production of the finest wool—or, at least, that the adverse effects of its warm temperature, and the incidents to that tempevature, are easily cvercome. InSaxony, sheep are number ed, oftentimes their separate ped- ‘grees registered, and each br eeding ewe is stinted to a ram carefully se- ‘ected with reference to her individual qualities. In Australia, where less capital and labor are employed, flocks of about three inna breeding ewes*—where the country is destitute of timber, sometimes a thousand}— 10am from one fertile and watered spot to another over the vast plaius, in charge of the convict shepherd; and this system is followed throughout the year, including the tupping season. Three flocks are always penned together at night, so that as many as nine hundred breeding ewes, of yva- rying quality, must be promiscuously bred to, say, from thirty to thirty- -five rams, running promiscuously ameng them. The Cape ‘of Good Hope is in south latitude"34° 23! 40”, Mr. Youatt, in describing the sheep Sy of this region, overesti- mated, I think, the heat of the climate. Separated by ‘lofty mountain ranges from the interior of Africa, the fertile regions adjoining the coast are not swept by its scorching winds, and the temper ature 1s comparatively mild.:-“In-a meteorological 1 register kept at Cape Town, from Sept. 1818 to Sept. 1821, embracing a period of three years, the highest heat marked is 96°, the lave est 45°, Fahr enheit. The. mean and anneal temperature scarcely 68°—of winter 61°, of summer 89°.”|| But sheep and their wool suffer from the fine sands hich are lifted and driven by the prevailing winds. Says Malte Brun, “the wind blows often from the south-east with great violence. Nothing can be secured from the sands which it drives before its they penetrate the closest apartments and the best-closed trunks. At this fine it is not prudent to go out without glasses, lest the eyes should be injured.’’§ Though the climate can scarcely be designated a “torrid” one, as Mr, Youatt speaks of it, the mean temperature of its winter (61°) conchisively shows that cold can have nothing to do here with rendering the wool finer by a contraction of the pores. If, therefore, it ean be shown that the wool of the fine breeds does not detener: ate in quality, it sufficiently proves that Australia is not an incidental exception in the testimony which it presents on the point under examination, but that it illustrates the uniform opera- tion of the physical laws which pertain to the growth of wool. After one or two unsuccessful attempts, the Merinos were acchivated at the Cape by the English colonists. In 1804, the colony numbered 536,- 634 sheep. In 1811, there were 1,293,740. In 1810, the import of wool into Great Britain was 29,717 lbs.; in 1833, it was 93,325 lbs.4[ In Willmer & Smith’s “ Liverpool Annual Wool Report,” for 1846, it is stated, “ The shipments from this quarter (Cape of Good Hope) show great improvement, amply testified by the high rates the best flocks have commanded during the season. . . The best parcels now take rank with those from Australia.”** The system of breeding and general man- agement at the Cape closely correspond with those of Australia. “Let us now, sir, turn to the experience of our own country. I do not * Cunningham's “Two Years in South Wales.” ft Ib. t Ib. || Malte Brun, vol. ii. p. 112. § Jb. vol. ii. p. 112, J Youatt on Sheep, p. 184. ** Willmer & Smith’s European Times of Jan. 4, 1846. SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 27 know that a sufficient number of experiments have been made as near the Equator as Cape Town and Port Jackson, to have their testimony regard- ed as entirely decisive on the point wader consideration, but those shaves been made which throw much light on this question, if, indeed, any more is considered necessary. In the south of Illinois (Edwards county), about latitude 38° 30’, the finest varieties of sheep were introduced by Mr. George Flower, about twenty years since, from which he has bred up an extensive flock. That gentleman says :* ‘‘ No deterioration in the wool has taken place; on the contrary, the wool fibre is somewhat finer.” I ‘have myself seen various specimens of Mr. Flower’s wool, of the clip of 1844, and it bore an excellent character for fineness and evenness. Ina letter which I received from Hon. Henry Clay, in 1839, he says: “‘T have for some years had only the pure Saxony at my residence; but I am. now satisfied that I should have derived more profit from sheep pro- ducing a wool less fine.t The climate of Kentucky is, however, well adapted to the Saxon sheep.”” Mr. Clay’s residence is in about latitude 38°. Mr. Mark R. Cockrill, of Nashville, Tennessee, in a letter published in the American Shepherd,f says: “T have about a thousand head of fine sheep, and from 400 to 500 long-wooled or mutton sheep. My Saxon sheep were imported in 1824 or ’26—I cannot say which—and I find as yet no falling off in quantity or quality of their fleeces; on the contrary, I believe a little improvement on both points, and a little more yolk, when well provided for, which, you know, does not abound much in the Saxon breed. In addition, the fleeces are a little more compact than formerly--hence more weight; and, from our mild climate, the staple has be- come longer. . . Lassert it to be a fact that the cotton region I am ae in[ Mr. C Cockrill dates from Madison county, Mississippi, where a part of his sheep are kept], in abont lati- tude 32° north, is better than any country north of it to grow wool, as the sheep can be kept all the time grazing, by sowing small grain; for, if grazed off, it quickly srows again ina ‘ew days; and the wool of the fine Saxon sheep in this climate is softer and more cotton-like than any I have ever seen, although I have samples from all parts of the world. I have traveled from this very place to Boston, sampling all the sheep of note on the way, and I found nothing on my journey or at Boston as good as the wool I had grown, and so said all the wool staplers whom I met with, and they were not a few. I presumed, in reality, that the blood of my sheep was no better than m: any I saw, but the superiority of my wool I as- cribed to our climate, and the provision for the sheep of succulent food the year round.— The weight of my fleeces is fair—say from 3 to54 lbs. each. . . Tennessee is not the true grass climate ; about 28° north is the most congenial for grass: notwithstanding, our State is air for pasture ; blue and orchard grass, white and red clover, prosper pretty well... There is much country in Tennessee and other Southern States not fit for the plow, and would do admirably well for fine-wooled sheep, and can be profitably so employ ed. Asmall capital thus appropriated here in Mississippi would do better than cotton growing at present prices.” Nashville is in about latitude 37° 15’; and Madison county, Mississippi, is about half a degree farther north than mentioned by Mr. Cockrill, viz. extending from 3210 to 33°; its county seat (Canton) being more than a degree nearer the Equator than Port Jackson in Australia, and about two decrees nearer than the Cape of Good Hope! Mr. Morrel, the compiler of the “American Shepherd,” has obtained specimens of Mr. Cockrill’s wool, and he says of them, “ Judging from the samples, the conclusion is inevitable that little or no deterioration has been produced by the climate.’’|| This testimony of Mr. Cockrill is very important, both from the length and extent of the experiment. I have no doubt of the perfect correctness of his assertion that his wvol has improved 1 in those low latitudes; but the cause assigned by him cannot be received as the correct one, so ee as the increased fineness of the fibre is concerned. The i improvement in this par- ticular, under a system of feeding which has “increased” both the “ quan- * In a letter published in the Prairie Farmer. t Mr. Clay here alludes to the Merinos. } P. 409, || American Shepherd, p. 41. ° 28° SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. tity” and the “ yolk” of the fleece, cannot be ascribed to the climate, nor to the feeding itself. It is undoubtedly owing to Mr. C.’s system of breed- ing and selection, a point which will be fully discussed hereafter. If feed or condition exercise the principal influence on the fineness of wool (that is, within the range of variation to which it is subject on the same individuals), it follows that the effect may be produced in any climate, for high condition throughout the year is attainable in the most rigorous ones, by the supply of plentifal and rich food. The wool secretions are incident on» condition—fatness, however superinduced.* It again follows that if wool of the highest degr ee of fineness (for the breed) can be pro- duced in New-York, although the sheep is kept in a decidedly fat state throughout the year—quite as fat as it would become, grazing on green feed all the year round—that wool of equal fineness can be pr oduced by the observance of the same influencing conditions (apart from feed) by the southern breeder. Here again, undeterred by any considerations of what I deem a false modesty, | shall offer facts founded on my own personal experience as a sheep breeder ; and I would remark, once for all, that throughout the whole of these letters I shall never so far prefer beliefs founded on the as- sertions of others, to actual knowledge, based on facts repeatedly and con- stantly brought under my personal inspection, for a number of years, as to suppress the latter, to rely solely on the former. I have succeeded, in repeated instances, in producing an exquisite qual- ity of wool, decidedly above the average of the breed (Merino) in the heavy fleeces of sheep kept fat the year round. I have made it a sort of atest latterly, in the selection of rams, to choose only those which not only carry heavy fleeces, in any condition, but which, in the highest, yield a wool equaling the choicest samples to be found on this variety. These facts will, by and by, be placed in a definite and tangible form, by the re- corded testimony of the scales and the microscope. But though the natural effects of warm climates and their incidents, ta increase the bulk or coarseness of the fibre, is one which can easily be re- sisted, they work a change of another kind in the character of wool. They cause a longer fibre and a greater softness of staple. The effect of succu- lent nutriment during the year in increasing the amount of the wool will exhibit itself; but the skill of the breeder can so far regulate its action, that the increase is in the length, rather than in the diameten or bulk of the fibres. It is not difficult to conjecture why a staple of more rapid growth, supplied to excess with the secretions which enter into its composition, un- exposed to great and rapid variations’ of temperature, should retain a greater degree of softness than one produced under opposite conditions. But, whatever the causes of these phenomena, their existence is placed beyond a doubt. The increased length of staple, resulting from the nutriment of warm climates, has been sufficiently adverted to. The following statements made by some of the most eminent wool-factors, staplers, etc. in England, before a Committee of the House of Lords, in 1828, place the other point beyond controversy.t Mr. Henry Hughes, wool-broker, London, says: * No one has asserted, so far as I am informed, that dry feed will produce less wool than green feed, if the same degree of fatness is kept up. On the other hand, the rich cereal grains, oil-cake, &e. (without some of which a high degree of fatness cannot be maintained, on dry feed alone, during the four or five months’ winter in latitudes north of 42°), might be supposed to be quite as conducive to the production of wool as grasses. + For extended minutes of this very interesting investigation into the state of the wool-trade, &c. &c. im Great Britain, see Bischoff on Worl &c., vol. ii. p. 118 to 200. SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 29 “Latterly they (Australian and Van Dieman’s Land wools) have been of varied qualities, but all possessing an extraordinary softness, which the manufacturers here so much admire that they are souglit for more than any other description of wools, from that peculiar quality, which is supposed to arise from the climate alone. They are known to require less of the milling or fulling power than any other descriptions of wools. . . They are better adapted than the German wools to mix with British wools, because the superior softness which J have stated gives a character, when mixed with English wool, that the other does not, from the harduess of the tibre.”’* Mr. Stewart Donaldson, merchant, London, says: “‘T have no hesitation in pronouncing that the wools of New South Wales and Van Die- man’s Land are decidedly preferred to the appareutly similar descriptions of German wool - . + They have a softness and silkiness about them which, when worked up into cloth, shows itself more distinctly than in the raw material. I conceive that it is dependent on the climate alone. [am of opinion that wool of that quality could not be produced in any part of Europe.’’t Mr. Thomas Legg, wool-stapler, Bermondsey, says: “There are some of these wools of very beautiful quality, as good as any of the German wools.’’} Mr. Thomas Ebsworth, wool-broker, London, says: “ The peculiarity of the climate of New South Wales appears to have a very great effect on wool, so as to reduce it from a harshness to a very fine texture.” || This was the substance of a// the testimony on this particular point; and when it is understood that the investigation was an issue between rival interests, where all the facts were thoroughly sifted, the fact that the above assertions were undisputed shows that they were considered of an undis- putable character. Allusior has already been made to the loose and careless system of sheep-breeding, etc. in Australia, compared with that in Germany. Tak- ing this into consideration ; taking also into consideration that the flock furnishing the best wool in Australia (Capt. McArthur’s) is composeu of grade sheep (Bengal and English, graded up with Merino and Saxon rams), the trifling effect of climate is made more strikingly te appear. The statements of Mr. Cockrill in relation to the softness of the wools grown in Tennessee and Mississippi, sustain and are sustained by those above given; and they go to show that it is the result of a general law and not of any peculiar local influences peculiar to Australia * Bischof on Wool, &c. vol. ii. pp. 182-3. { Ibid. 183-4. } Ibid. 184. I Ibid. 184, 30 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. LETTER III. ADAPTATION OF THE SOILS, HERBAGE, &c. OF THE SOUTHERN STATES TO SHEEP HUSBANDRY. 1. OF THE LOW OR TIDE-WATER REGION. Natural Features of the Southern States—Divided into three Zones...The Natural Features, Soils, &e. of each...The ‘lide-water Zone—Its destitution of Artificial Pastures and Meadows. ..Causes—Small amount of Domestic Stock kept—Unsuccessful Experiments in raising Clover and Grasses. .. Keasons why those Experiments were unsuccessful—Land too much Exhausted by Severe 'Tillage—System of Tillage com- pared with that of the Grazing Regions of New-York—Experiments unsuccesstul, also, because improper varieties of Clover and Grass were tried-..Much of the Land adapted to Grass—Shown by its Natural Pas- tures—Statements of Col. Allston—Opinions of Mr. Ruftin—of a Committee of the 8. C. Agricultural Soci- ety...Land compared with that of Flanders - also with some parts of New-York. ..Climate perhaps unfa- vorable to certain Northern Grasses and to Red Clover—Opinion of Mr. Ruthn—~tatements of Malton (8. C.) Agricultural Society. ..Clover not indispensable. .-Experiments suggested... Valuable indigenous and acclimated Grasses—Crab Grass—Millet—Bermuda Grass—its great value—Statements of Mr, Affleck... Peas—Their creat value in the Southern States as a Green Crop Manure—“prengel’s Analysis of them— The Value of their Straw as a Manure compared with various substances—Tuable of the Value of Manureg by Payen and Boussingault-..Oats, Rye and Barley—Corn Blades—Sweet Potatoes...Conclusions fror foregoing. Dear Sir: Having discussed, in my previous letters, the effects of warm climates and some of their incidents, on the health of sheep, and on the quantity and quality of their wool, we come now to the second branch of my original inquiry—Is there anything in the natural features, soils, herb- age, &c. of the Southern States, which unfits them for a natural and easy adaptation to sheep husbandry 4 The vast region south of the Ohio and Potomac, and west of the Missis- sippi—comprising an area considerably exceeding that of France, Spain and Portugal*—is distinguished, by its natural features, into three distinet zones, parallel to each other and to the Atlantic coast. The lower er tide-water zone, which skirts the Atlantic, is a low, flat, sandy, and oftentimes marshy plain, from 50 to 100 miles wide, compara- tively recent (tertiary) in its formation, and covered with pine forests ovea the greatest portion of its extent. .The soils on the dry lands are generally light, and sometimes too sterile to admit of profitable cultivation ; that in the swamps and river bottoms, where the sand is replaced by a rich allu- vion, is exceedingly fertile. The middle or hilly zone rises from the level of the preceding, first into gentle hills, and finally into high and oftentimes broken ground, as it approaches the mountains. The width of this does not greatly vary from that of the preceding. The formation is almost ex- clusively primary ;t and the soil varies, sometimes being poor, but more generally ranging, in its natural state, from medium to highly fertile. The forests consist of oak and other deciduous trees. The third or mountain region is formed by the different chains and groups of the great Apalach- ian range of mountains, and occupies not far from 70,000 square miles of the central portion of the territory under consideration.t It comprises the middle of Virginia, the west of North Carolina and South Carolina, the north of Georgia and Alabama, and the east of Tennessee and Kentucky. Its formation on the eastern declivities of the Blue Ridge (the most east- ern chain) is primary, and thence to the Alleganies the rocks belong to « Spain contains 170,000 square miles, Portugal 40,000, France 200,000—in all 410,009. Allowing 10,000 sauare miles of Louisiana to be east of the Mississippi, the area of the region referred to is 456,000 square { There are one or two interrupted belts of new red sandstone—vide McClure. } Estimated not far, | think, from correctly, by myself. I can find no authority on this point, SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 31 the Transition order.* Its soii varies from thin and light to that of exu- berant fertility. West of the mountains, the hilly zone rests on ‘Transition rocks and coal measures, and is succeeded west and south of Virginia by the vast rolling or level plains which extend to the Ohio and Mississippi; and which, instead of the silicious sands of the eastern coast, exhibit rich and varying soils resting on limestone and other Transition and Cretaceous rocks. In Virginia, the hilly region, which is one vast coal measure, extends to the bottom lands of the Ohio ; and its soils, taken as a whole, range from ordinary to meager.t We will now proceed to examine the capabilities and adaptation of each zone, separately, for the purposes of sheep husbandry. It has already been shown that sheep are healthy, and produce as heavy, and may be made to produce as fine fleeces as elsewhere, in the tide-water zone. They are easily kept—finding, in aclimate so mild, considerable succulent food even in the winter; ; and, es of North acetone: large numbers would subsist during the entire winter on the hardier wild herbage which continues green in the forests and swamps. If this region was stocked with sheep, to the extent alone to which they could find subsistence, summer and winter, on wild herbage—or, in other words, get a living without costing their own- ers anythine—the present number would be: largely increased, and their wool and mutton would add materially to the annual income of the own- ers of the soil. But a better system would undoubtedly be not to depend upon wild herbage alone, but to have pastures or she -ep-W alks seeded with the best grasses which will flourish on them, and provision made for a quan- tity of dry fodder, or some substitute for it, for winter use. Can this summer and winter feed be produced, in the region under ex- amination, to any considerable extent, at an e Ape which would render its conversion into wool and mutton profitable? There are patches of good natural pasture in many parts of the tide-water zone, apart from the salt or fresh water marshes. ut artificial pastures and meadows have rarely been attempted. The ue rs in this portion of South Carolina, for example, actually import hay! ‘“ Many of the cotton and rice planters . . insome cases buy hay from New-England. . . . Northern and (in some cases) European hay is even carr ied up to supply Augusta and Columbia, along rivers which flow through swamps cove red with natural grass, So rank and luxuriant as to be almost impenetrable.”’t This neglect of grass culture springs from several causes. Little farm- stock, comparatively speaking, is reared or kept by the rice and cotton- Piriters: from the fact that most of the labor on such plantations is per- Rirced by men; and the few animals kept are fed on wild herbage, or the offal of crops which are raised for other purposes. The carriage and draught horses and mules are fed in the winter on the leaves or “ blades” of corn; and the neat stock get their living in the swamps, and in the corn fields, where the greatest portion of the stalks are usually left stand- ing. Nor is it to be denied that various unsuccessful experiments have been made in the cultivation of the grasses and clover, which have discouraged farther efforts, and led many to infer that the soil or climate, or both, are decidedly uncongenial to them. That the soil or climate is as favorable to the production of rich, thick swarded pastures or meadows, as in many * Sotermed by Werner.- Though little used now by geologists, I resort to it as the shortest descriptive epithet which will include all these ‘rocks, unless it be the Hemilisyan of Brongniart, the Submedial of Co- nybeare, or the Graywacke of De la Beche—neither of which is so familiar, nor, it appears to me, any bet ter. The Transition rocks are equivalent to both the Cambrian of Prof. Sedgwick, and the Silurian of Mr Murchison—whose nomenclature is adopted by Lyell, Phillips, Mantell, &c. 7 Dr. Morse, Mitcheil, &c. ¢ Ruffin’s Agricultural Survey of South Carolina, 1343, p. 73 oo SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. parts of the Northern States, I do not contend. Some of these soils are doubtless, naturally too barren to be made to produce good yields of grass, without an expenditure which would more than counterbalance the profits accruing from them. Others have been sunk nearly to the same level by wasting and improvident tillage; and it is on lands of the latter class, mainly, that fie: experiments in introducing the grasses and clover have been made. As long as they would produce Goteen or corn, these crops were annually taken from them, with perhaps an occasional year of rest (i.e. lying without any crop being sown on or taken from them); and, when reduced to such a degree of barrenness ‘that the crop fell short of re- aying the cost of produc ing it, clover or grass was resorted to in the vain . of suddenly ae “through their instrumentality, the ravage and desolation of years. he ‘following i is from the report of a Committee of the Fishing Creek again Society, Chester District, South Carolina, made to the President of the State Society in 1843; and, though this dis- trict is not in the tide-water zone, the system of cropping descri| sed is more or less the prevailing one* throughout much of the cotton growing region: “We generally plant cotton on fresh latid four or five years in sigoestioeanes corn— then wheat or oats—: iain corn and cotton ; and, after it will produce little else, we sow it in rye, and let it rest two or three years. There are no fixed principles observed in the ro- tation of crops. . . . Wehave no data whereby to tix the expense of cultivation accu- rately. We know this, however, that at the price of produce for the last two or three years, we are sinking mouey.”’t T ask what would be expected, in the way of grass or clover, from some of the best grazing lands of New-York, after being cropped with grain crops from ten to twelve years consecutively, with little or no manure — However carefully seeded with the best grasses, or with clover, they would not form meadows worth mowing, nor pastures where an acre would sum- >? mer a sheep—though, as now managed, an acre is poorly g orassed that will not summer five or six sheep. Take the map of New-Y Boe Sir, and draw a right line from Buffalo to a pout é a little south of Albany—say Coxsackie —and all the 1 region, speaking 1 in general terms, south of this line and west ‘of the Catskill Mountains, is mainly devoted to grazing. It is the best graaing region of the State, and much of it is equal to any in the Northern States. The best farmers in no part of it take off to exceed three grain o1 root crops before seeding down to grass; and, unless the soil is unusually rich, it is customary to give barn-yard manure to one of these crops. This is almost invariably the case where the land was in meadow when broken up. Where no manure is given on meadow lands, or even on lightish pas- ture lands, two grain crops are considered sufficient by the most. provident farmers—it being « an axiom amoung such, that all ordinary or thinnish soils should be nearly or quite as rich when seeded down as when broken up. In other words, they draw from the soil only what is equivalent to the strength or fertilizing properties of the sod, and of the manure giyen.— When seeded down to grass, these lands are usually depastured by cattle or sheep several years before they are again broken up. If converted into meadow, they are top-dressed from. time to time with gypsum, and some- times with stable manures.{ The poorest soils, rocky hill-sides, declivities much subject to washing and gullying, are rarely broken up after being once properly seeded down. I repeat it, Sir—take all the grazing lands of New-York, and crop them as severely as it is reported above to be done in Chester District, South Carolina, and they would become so sterile that, 4 Td est, so far as constant cropping without returning anything to the soil is concerned. ¢ See Ruffin’s Agricultural Survey of South Carolina, 1843—Appendix, p. 6. t [tis not considered good economy, however, to top-dress any meadows with stable manures which ere dry and arable, and can thus be subjected to the regular rotations of the farm. : SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 33 unless resuscitated by copious applications of manure, they would not ield grass enough to pay the expeuse of keeping them under fence, until they had lain waste for a quarter of a century. Another cause of the failures which have attended some of the efforts to introduce the culture of clover and the grasses on the tide-water zone, in the Southern States, may, and probably has, existed in the improper selec- tion of the varieties sown. As the first crop on a very meager svil—red clover, for example—is not appropriate in any region. In Flanders, the natural soils of much of which so closely resemble those of the zone under examination, it is not sown until the land is enriched and got in condition by several preparatory crops. The different grasses seem to be affected by various conditions in the soil or atmosphere, or both, which it is fre- quently difficult or impossible to detect. Timothy grass (Phlewm pratense) is decidedly the favorite meadow grass of the grazing regions of New- York. White clever (Trifolium repens) invariably comes up spontane- ously on those lands. Red clover (T. pratense) is sometimes sown with Timothy in meadows, and generally in pastures. Red Top* ( Agrostis (stricta) vulgaris) is preferred on wet lands, where it comes up spontane- ously. It is considered a prime pasture and meadow grass in such situa- tions. June or Spear grass (Poa pratensis), the Blue grass of the South ern and Western States, so prized there and also in England,t is consid- ered an unprofitable intruder in our meadows, where it comes up sponta- neously, and ultimately drives out the Timothy. The meadows are then said to be “run out,” and are broken up. Ihave never known the seed of this grass sown in a single instance! The favorite Rye grasses of Eng- land (Lolium perenne var. bienne), Lucern (Medicago sativa), Sainfoin ( Hedysarum onibrichis), Orchard grass ( Dactylis glomerata), and various others equally celebrated in England and on the Continent, have been tried in New-York, and the experiments are generally regarded as decided failures. None of them, at all events, have obtained a footing among the grasses sown by our best farmers. On the other hand, the Red Top of New-York is but little regarded in England,t{ and Timothy was not in much better repute until the Woburn experiments demonstrated its great value for hay. Even now it is considered inferior, in general value, to many other grasses.|| All this goes to show that even the hardiest grasses have their favorite situations; and that we are not authorized to pronounce against the practicability of forming pastures and meadows in a given re- ‘gion, because we have failed in a trial with two or three grasses, out of a list of as many hundreds. It has already been remarked that there are patches of good natural pasture on the dry as well as the wet portions of the tide-water zone These are frequent and extensive, and could be rendered infinitely more so by simply clearing the land. In your Memoir on the Cultivation of Rice, furnished to Mr. Ruffin, while making the Agricultural Survey of South Carolina, in 1843, you say : “ At first, rice was cultivated on the high land, and on little spots of low ground, as they were met with here and there. These low grounds being found to agree better with the plant, the inland swamps were cleared for the purpose of extending the culture, In the process of time, as the fields became too grassy and stubborn, they were abandoned for new clearings ; and so on, until at length was discovered the superior adaptation of the tide-lands, and the great facilities for irrigation afforded by their location. For these, the inland planta- tions were gradually and slowly abandoned, until now, that the great body of land, which * Sometimes known as “ Upright Bent grass,” and in the Southern States as Herds-graas. ¢ Pronounced by Sole the best of all the grasses. fi Agrostis vulgaris is pronounced “a worthless or rather a mischievous plant,” by Sir George Sinclair! | “Our opinion,” says Loudon, “is that neither Timothy nor (some other grasses named) is ever likely to be cultivated in Britain.” E 34 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. little more than a century ago furnished for exportation over 50,000 barrels of rice, now lies uiterly waste, constitutmeg, where trees have not overgrown it, the finest natural pasture which could be desired.’’* Mr. Ruffin in his Report of the Suryey, of the same year, asserts: . _ “ Few countries possess greater natural facilities, or which are more improvable by in- distry, for producing in abundance, grass, hay and live-stock, and their products of meat, nulk and butter. all of which are now so deplorably deficient.’’t The Committee appointed by the State Agricultural Society of South Carolina to take into consideration the scheme of reducing the quantity of cotton grown,i in their Report observe : “ Millions of acres in South Carolina, including the lower country, are admirably adapted to the raising of rich grasses. This might be added as another branch of industry, from which reasonable profits could’ be realized, and might very well be added to the cotton planter’s income.” Cerresponding statements, on equally indisputable authority, might be definitely multiplied, not only in relation to that portion of the tide- water zone lying within the limits of South Carolina, but in all the South- ern States. South Carolina occupying a central geographical and lati- tudinal position, in reference to this zone, and its soils on it, about averaging, so far as I can learn, with that of the other States, it is not necessary to pursue the inquiry. Where fine natural pastures spring up spontaneously on deserted lands, more or less impoverished—probably in most instances considerably so— how little difficulty would there be in forming, almost immediately, the best artificial pastures and meadows on willions of acres of just such land, (only that it is in its virgin state, and consequently far better,) now in un- productive forest ! And how small would be the amount of skill requisite to convert millions of acres more of cotton lands—which do not now yield remunerating crops—into pastures and meadows, which, as | shall show, would yield their owners a handsome remuneration ! And the culture of the grasses need not stop with these comparatively good and medium lands. They can be made to stretch their carpet of green over the poorest of your sands—over those now covered with stunt- ed pines, or which, scorched and naked, reverberate back fiercely the burning heat of a southern sky. There are few regions in the tide-water zone possessing poorer soils than some cultivated portions of New-York. In the vicinity of Albany, (between that city and Schenectady, for example,) the same loose, silicious sands, the same, though perhaps rather more stunted, growth of pines, would almost compel you to fancy yourself somewhere between Richmond and Wilmington, on the route of the great Southern Railroad! Denuded of their meager covering of dwarf pines, and the cohesion produced by their interlacing roots, these sands would be lifted and driven about b the winds. Yet on such a soil as this, you find the farm of the late cele- brated Jesse Buel! And fertile grass fields, dotted here and there with splendid mansions, are every year stretching out farther and farther among the arid sands. How are these rapid transformations in the fertility of the soil accomplished 4 The stables, and mews, and cesspools of Albany can give the answer ! The following description of the natural soils of Flanders, now prover- bial for its fine crops and rich pastures and meadows, is from the pen of that able English agricultural writer, Rev. W. L. Rham : * Aoriculturat Survey of South Carolina, 1843, Appendix, p. 14. t Ib. p. 73. } The Committee consisted of Whitemarsh B. Seabrook, Esq., John B. O’Neall, Esq., and W. J. Allston &sq.—and the Report was seaide, I believe, in January, in 1846. Se ee SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 35 “ The greater part of the land in Flanders is naturally poor; and in extensive districts, which now have the appearance of the greatest richness at harvest time, the original soil was once little better than the blowing sands which are met with im the neighborhood of the sea. Neither is it a genial climate which brings forward the fruits of the earth in abundance; for the climate is inferior to that of France or the southern parts of Germany. The soil may be divided into two classes. The first consists of the alluvial clay loams near the coast; tne second, of various sands and light loams which are found in the interior. The mest fertile is that of the low lands which have been reclaimed from the sea by embankments ; it is chiefly composed of a muddy deposit mixed with fragments of marine shells and fine sea sand .. . In the interior of East and West Flanders the soil varies considerably; but the principal part is of a sandy nature. The sand, and a heavier loam which scarcely deserves the name of clay, are found much intermixed, which is owing to an alternation of layers of sand and loam, which are found by digging to a considerable depth. These layers are not of great y aiggins ‘ J y g thickness, and the accidental circumstance of the washing away of the sand in some places and the 2 ae from rivers in others easily account for this variety. Some cf the eleva- tions, which are nowhere considerable, consist of a very poor sand, and suggest the idea of their having once been the sauds of the sea blown into hills, as is observable on the coast. These hills, if they may be so called, are naturally so barren that they were, not very long since, covered with heath, or at best planted with fir trees; but they have gradually been culti- vated and improved, and only a few remain in their original state of heath and wood. The poorer sands have been brought into cultivation chiefly by the persevering industry of small proprietors and occupiers.” Have we not here a good general description of much of our southern Atlantic coast—the tide swamp and sandy plain—and even a graphically minute account of the “Sand Hill” region of South Carolina ? Instances of the reclamation of such lands might be indefinitely mul- tiplied. I do not offer the above facts to prove that it is either profitable or ex- pedient to reclaim all the sterile lands of the southern sea-board by the same means that have been resorted to about Albany, or in Flanders. Except in the vicinity of cities, where manures are plentiful and cheap, and un- common market facilities are offered, it would not be profitable, unless it can be accomplished by less expensive means. But it proves one and an important position: that it is the sterility of such soils—or perhaps their loose and “ blowing” character in some places, their sun-baked hardness in others—which prevents them from spontane- ously producing esculent herbage; and nothing in them, as has been frequently fancied, positively deleterious to vegetation. And it follows, hence, that whenever it is profitable to convert them into grass lands, it is practicable so to do by the proper application of manures. But do I hear some of your South Carolina neighbors, of the anti-improvement school, (if you have any such,) say, “If our soz/s are, or can be made, generally, suitable for the production of the grasses, our climate cannot?” This position is obviously incorrect, as warmer climates, as, for example, Aus- tralia, the Cape of Good Hope, and various others, produce, where the soils are favorable, a luxuriant growth of grasses; and South Carolina herself, as has been already shown, produces them bountifully in situations ’ ? where neither the latitude nor the elevation abates one jot of the heat of your fervid climate. It is not impossible that the climate of the States farthest south—south, say, of North Carolina—may be unfavorable to certain grasses and clovers ; and perhaps so to the favorite ones of the Northern States. In relation to 1ed clover, however, the acclimation of which is regarded by many as so important to those States, it seems Mr. Ruffin thought otherwise. He says: ‘ “Perennial, or other permanent grasses, of which, doubtless, there may be found some peculiarly suited to the warm climate, (South Carolina,) would still more serve to give the great benefits of changed condition to the fields, independent of the much needed benefits of grass husbandry for feeding of live-stock and giving rest and manure to the land. The grasses whose value has been fully established by long experience in more northern coun 36 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. tries, should be tried—not because they are from the North, (which in itself is a strong ob- jection,) but merely because their good qualities are known, and possibly some such grasses may as well suit a more southern clime. And such, I trust, is red clover, the best of all green and manuring crops. For although this was long held to belong to the North only, f have fully experienced that its locality and the perfection of its growth are fixed much more ay peculiarity of soil than by latitude. Not more than twenty years ago it was as general a belief in Lower Virginia, as now in South Carolina, that there the soil was too scanty and the sun too hot to raise red clover. But since marling and liming have made many of these soils calcareous, it is found ‘that neither the sandy soil nor hot and dry climate forbid the raising. excellent and profitable crops of clover. And so hereafter it will be found in South Carolina.”’* In a Repart by a Committee of the Milton Agricultural Society, (em- bracing adjacent parts of Laurens and Newberry Districts, 8. C.) made to the State Saciety in 1843, they state : “ Our native grasses, except the crab grass, are of the poorest kind, principally sedge. Of the artificial grasses, some trials have been made with red clover and herds-grass.t On rich lots the first appears to succeed very well. For alternating with tillage crops we do not know of its having been tried; but our impression is, that without manuring more highly than is customary here, it will not answer. We are not aware that it has ever been sowed with gypsum. The herds-grass, as far as it has been tried, appears to sueceed very well on the bottoms that border our branches and creeks.’’} Lawrence and Newberry are not in the tide-water region, but so far as the effect of climate alone is concerned, their testimony has an equal bearing. I have little doubt that red clover may be cultivated on good, rich soils eyen in the States south of North Carolina, and may possibly become, un- der some circumstances, a profitable crop in their rotations ; but, as has been already remarked, it will not do as a first crop on very meager soils, in any climate—and still less so, f apprehend, on such soils south of lati- tude 34°. It is not, therefore, the crop which you need, to cheaply ame- liorate your poor and exhausted soils, to fit them either for grazing or for tillage. Grant that such soils can be fitted to produce it, as Mr. Rudin suggests, by the application of lime or marl,|| these manures will be found expensive, can be but slowly obtained in quantittes sufficient to apply to large tracts, and, besides, when the soil is sufficiently ameliorated to carry clover, it will carry most if not all of your ordinary tillage crops. Though clover would aid materially in the rotation, in sustaining or even improy- -ng the fertility superinduced by lime or any other fertilizer, it is not, and cannot be made the or/ginal fertilizer on the sterile sands of warm climates. When we talk, therefore, of the initiatory steps by which such soils shall be brought from a state of barrenness to a state of production, clover does not come within the category of appropriate agents. Though red clover ranks in the first class, if not the first in that class, on appropriate soils, as a grazing and manuring crop, I have never regard- ed it as indispensable—as what the lawyers would style a sine gua non— even in sustaining fertility anywhere except on rich calcareous wheat lands, where a severe and exhausting rotation is resorted to. Where wheat is taken from the soil at /east every alternate year, for ten, fifteen, or twenty years, without any manure, excepting the intervening crop, and the droppings of animals depastured on it, clover will better sustain the land in the ultimately fatal struggle, than perhaps any other green ma- * Ruffin's Agricultural Survey of S. C., 1843, p. 81. + This should be the Agrostis stricta or vulgaris—the Red Top of the North. Some writers desienate i gs the one species, some as the other. 4 ¢ Ruffin’s Agricultural Survey of S. C., 1843; Appendix, p. 9. || Unless, however, the soil contains more organic matter than I suppose to be the case with many of your sandy soils, theory and practice both show that lime will not prove the proper manure. Though ex: ceedingly valuable in its place, experience shows that itis no agricultural panacea. J shall allude to this sub- ject more fully ina subsequent fetter. SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH, 37 muring crop. But on the silicious grazing soils of Southern New-York, it is rarely used exclusively as a manuring crop, and is but little used, ex- cepting slightly admixed with timothy, for pasture or meadows.* | think it should be used more; but the fact stated shows that clover is not re garded by practical men, who are perfectly familiar with it, as that indis- pensable crop, in all situations, which some of its more extravagant pane- gyvists would lead us to suppose. The conclusions which I would have you deduce from the above facts and statements are, simply, that if clover is found to flourish with you without extra trouble and expense, you will do well to make use of it in your rotation; if not, it is chimerical, in my judgment, to engage in an expensive struggle with natural disadvantages to force its cultivation. The herds-grass (red top) spoken of by the Milton Society, is a good grass on moist (but not boggy) soils, and having been found to succeed with you, is worthy of trial in such situations, but on dry soils, especially on arid sands, it would entirely fail. Nor have I much confidence in either timothy or spear (blue) grass, in such situations, in your latitude— none at all in the former. It would be well, probably, to try limited experiments with ail grasses, domestic and foreign, which have succeeded well on soils similar to your own ; as among these, some may be found which disregard climate, or are even better fitted to your climate than their indigenous one, as was the vase with timothy at the North. The same remark is also true in rela- tion to certain other esculents which are used as substitutes for the grasses, and for green manuring crops. Notwithstanding the evident propriety of such experiments, I am strongly inclined to the opinion that it is to your own native grasses and esculents, or those of some kindred climate, you must look mainly for the basis of your grazing husbandry—and through this, the amelioration of your poor and exhausted soils. IT regret that I can find no list of those native grasses which sward over the deserted lands of the tide-water zone, and flourish with a tropical lux- uriance in its swamps. You allude to them as ‘ native” grasses, so does Mr. Ruffin. Mr. Seabrook, in his Report on Cotton Culture,t speaks of “crop grass,” by which I suppose he means Crab grass, (Panicum san- guinale,) coming up spontaneously after spring-sown peas; but farther than this, neither of you specify varieties.|| Amiong these indigenous ones, particularly those which spontaneously make their appearance on dry lands, it would be exceedingly singular if there are not several very valua- ble grasses for your soils and climate—gyrasses the seeds of which should form a part, if not suitable for the whole sowing, on the same kinds of soils on which they are found flourishing. Crab grass grows in all parts of the southern States, and is a fair, though not a very superior pasture and meadow grass. Golden millet (Panicum milliaceum) is a great producer and withstands | know of but very few farmers excepting myself, in this, (Cortland,) one of the best of the grazing counties, who sow unmixed clover seed. I confess myself decidedly partial to the crop. You may ride ten miles or more in many directions from my house, where half and frequently more than three-fourths of the fields are in pasture or meadow, without observing five acres of unmixed clover, t for this elaborate and exceedingly able Report or Memoir, see Farmers’ Library, 1845, October, No- vember and December Nos. || Since writing the above, Ihave received from a South Carolina correspondent the following list of zrasses and other esculents which flourish in the lower part of that State. Crab grass (Digitaria sangui- nalis), earlier—the “ Crowfoot” (Eleusine Indica), a little later, are. he says, the best grasses for hay, and thrive in cultivated grounds from the month of June till frost. The ‘“ Wild Okra” (Viola palmata), the “Partridge Berry” (Mitchella repens), the Wild Pea Vine, and several other esculents, obscure and un- knowr. by name, flourish in most natural pastures from early spring till November, 38 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. a warm climate, but it requires a good soil. It has been cultivated with great success by Mr. Affleck in (Adams county) Mississippi. , ~ Bermuda grass* (Cynodon dactylon) I have been led to consider, from the representations of Mr. Affleck, as the best grass, both for pasture and meadow, on the sterile sands of the tide-water zone. If half this enthu- siastic admirer believes of it is true, it is of inestimable value to the South, and for permanent pastures and meadows, is by far the best grass in the United States. Mr. A. says: “We are fully aware of all the objections made to the spreading of this grass, and have a practical knowledge of all the trouble it occasions ; and having also had several years’ ex- perience of its great, its incalculable value, we have no hesitation in stating that the-latter is manifold greater than the former. The time is not far distant when all the rough feed con- sumed on plantations will be made from this grass; and when the planter will consider his hay crop as of much more importance than his sugar or cotton... ... The excellence of this plant for pasturage is evinced by two circumstances. — It is preferred by stock of every de- scription to all other grass, and it grows luxuriantly m every kind of soil. It possesses an additional advantage, that of binding the loosest and most barren sandy tracts. But when it has once taken possession of close, rich soil, its extirpation is so difficult as almost to defy all the skill, industry and perseverance of farmers. It is used to bind the levees on the banks of the Mississippi, and of railroads. We saw it at Macon, Geo., Charleston, 8. C., and so on, as far north as City Point, Virginia, where it partially covers the wharf. One hundred pounds of grass afford upward of fifty of dry hay; and we do cut, as a regular crop, five tons of hay per acre each season. Were we to state how much more has been cut, we might strain the belief of our readers. No other grass will yield such an amount of valuable hay ; surpass it iu nutritive qualities; support on an acre of pasture such a quantity of stock; will improve the soil more quickly ; or so effectually stop and fill up a wash or gully. But, on the other hand, its extirpation, when once well established, is almost impossible ; though to check and weaken it, so far as to grow a grain or cotton crop, is easy enough. To do this, pursue the course of the best farmers of Kentucky in their management of a blue-grass sod— with a good breaking plow, having a wheel and coulter, and a stout team, turn over evenly and nicely a sod four inches thick and as wide as the plow and team are capable of, follow in the same furrow with another plow which casts the dirt well, and throw out as much of the fresh earth on top of the sod as possible or the depth of the soil will admit of. The crop that follows can easily be tended without disturbing the sod, and its gradual decay will greatly increase whatever crop may be planted on it—and that should be a shading one, corn and peas or pumpkins, or winter oats followed by peas. Good farmers will understand that heavy crops of hay cannot be removed, for many successive years, from any land, with- out some return in the shape of manure. To the careful, judicious farmer, who wishes to improve his land and his stock, and who does not expect to grow any crop without trouble, and who uses good plows, and keeps a stout team and that in prime order, we earnestly recommend to try an acre or two of this grass, in a situation where it cannot -readily spread, To the careless farmer we say, touch it not.’’t The same gentleman writes me under date of Dec. 10th, 1846: “ Bermuda grass well set, which affords the finest and most nutritious pasturage I have ever seen, will keep almost any number of sheep to the acre—three or four times as many as the best blue-grass !” ? Unless this is gross and willful exaggeration,t here you have a grass which is not only highly palatable and nutritive, but which will yield more than double both of pasturage and hay, than the best grass or clover of the Northern States! || It has been tried as far south as New-Orleans, and the climate found no detriment to it. It will flourish on dry and al- most barren sands.§ What can the farmer on the dry lands of the tide- water zone ask more? Its inextirpable character I regard as decidedly in * Cumberland Grass—Wire grass of Virginia—Creeping Panic grass. t See Norman’s Southern Agricultural Almanac, for 1847, i i Seed of which are we permitted to suspect, from the well-known character and intelligence of Mr, fleck. || People here in the North sometimes talk of getting three tons of timothy and four tons of clover (at two cuttings) per acre, but it is not done on one acre in ten thousand, on the best meadows! Two tons ia a good, and by far above a medium yield, of timothy, and three, of clover. The large amounts of Ser- muda sometimes cut, which Mr. A. does not mention for fear of “ straining the belief of his readers” ha has stated to me personally. to be eight tons! ‘—equivalent to the yield of three first-rate acres ef timathz an the best grazing lands of Southern New-York. § My, Affleck informs me he has repeatedly seen it growing w2ll in such situations. $ SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 39 its favor on millions and millions on the thinner and poorer soils of that zone—as once admitted, it will put an end to the unprofitable tillage practiced on them, and remove all temptation to resort to it on others, as they are gradually rescued from barrenness. It will thus compel the adoption of that pastoral system which can alcne make these lands prof- itable, or save them, if the forebodings of those who have been reared on them and are deeply attached to them, can be credited, from ultimate de- sertion.* You have another fodder crop—and which may be made a green ma nuring one, in no respect inferior to clover. The pea is to the South what clover is to the North.t There is something in your soil or climate, or both, which seems to be specifically adapted to the development of this plant—for it flourishes with you under a much greater variety of soils and circumstances than at the North. A 1eguminous plant, like clover, it draws much of its aliment from the atmosphere; and it is perhaps as sensibly affected by the same cheap manure, plaster. Its haulm or straw, if cut and cured greenish, and well taken care of, makes a good, rich fodder relished by all kinds of stock. Peas are greedily eaten by neat stock, swine, and sheep, for which they form a healthy and highly nutritious food. The white field pea of the North is considered equivalent to our corn,t by measure, in fattening swine. For sheep, and particularly for breeding ewes, there is probably no feed in the world equal to nicely cured pea haulm,|| with a portion of the seed left unthreshed.§_ It gives them condi- tion and vigor—and prepares them to yield a bountiful supply of rich milk to their young, Though the pea is an annual, it becomes in effect a perennial, South, when it is desired, by suffering it to stand until some of the grain shells out.{] It will mature in a southern climate, sown late in the summer, so that one, and even two preceding crops of it might first be plowed in as a manure. It will ripen among Indian corn, sown after that plant has ceased to grow, and there have been successful experiments of sowing it late with wheat, oats, &c., to have it obtain its growth (to be plowed under as ma- nure) after those crops have been harvested. Sprengel gives the following analysis of the pea. 1,000 parts in the common dry state yield— Seed. Straw. Seed _ Straw. Povan and’ soda. 2225.5... 15-50 2°35'"Sulphanice acids; 2.202. .2 e225: 0-52 Scab Lime and magnesia .-..-...-.- 1-95 BOCTOM Se lone. 22ers ne ates tia -38 0-00 NOS PUOLIC ACId.'. ./...-- <2. 1-90 2-40: Silica, iron, acer. 524s. c sce 4-40 10°85 * Statements of this kind have been repeatedly made in the pages of the Monthly Farmer by southern gentlemen. 4 ; + I had labored under the impression that the so-called pea—cultivated as a manuring crop in the South- ern States, was in reality a variety of the bean; but Mr. Ruffin in his Agricultural Survey of South Caro- lina, (see Report of 1843, p 81,) and Hon. W. B. Seabrook in his Memoir on Cotton Culture, (see Monthly Journal of Agriculture, Dec., 1845, p. 287.) speaks of this crop—the former again and again—as peas, with- out the qualification which would be expected from gentlemen of so much learning, in case they were speaking of a plant by a vulgar misnomer, instead of its real name. The peculiar value of the crop at the South in the particulars described, I find asserted by Mr. Ruffin, Mr. Affleck, and various other writers and Agricultural Societies, in the strongest terms, and therefore it makes little difference, practically, whether the name is correct or not, but if not, the following analyses, &c., are misplaced.. The bean resembles the pz2a in its qualities and value, but is rather inferior to it. = The small, hard corn of the North contains more nutriment per bushel than the large southern corn. j That is, cut and cured so that it will come out of the stock or mow bright, and with the leaves looking green—instead of having the ferruginous hue of over-ripe clover. : » § If cut greenish and well cured, the greener pods will not thresh out readily, and then they are in ex- actly the proper condition for breeding-ewes. If the crop is very light, cut it when all the pods are quite green, and feed it out without threshing. é 4) This is, however, poor economy in any case. If the objec is peas, it is wasteful to the crop, and the quantity sown is uncertain; besides, the haulm is ruined for fodder. If the object is manure, the loss is still greater. Plants in drying lose the nitrogen contained in their sap, give up their saline matters. and are “resolved more or less completely into carbonic acid, which escapes into the air, and is so far lost.”—See Liebig on this subject, and also the clear and able remarks of Johnston, (Johnston's Agricultural Chemistry, vol. ii. p. 176, 2 supra.) 4() SHEEP HUSBANDRY N THE SOUTH. The following table of the comparative value of manures, deduced from analyses made by Payen and Boussingault, will show the remarkable com- parative value of the pea as a manuring crop, and it will be found other wise useful for reference : TABLE No. 4 | Nitrogen in | Quality Brett =: i os Kinds of Manure. ie BO Pc beer: ce ee Remarks, & Dry. | Wet. | Dry.| Wert. | Dry. | Wet Farm-yard dung...-.... 79°3}.1-95} 0-41) 100) 100 | 100 {100 j|Average of Bechelbronn. Dung water.......---- 99-6] 1-54] 0-06} 72) 2 | 127 | 68 |Washed by the rain. Wiheat straw.--=.2 ----'- 19-3] 0-30] 0-24) 15) 60 | 650 {167 |Fresh of Alsace, 1838. Eiye straw .-22--. 2... {12-2} 0-20] 0-27] 10] 42-5! 975 [235 |Of Alsace. @atisttaws2 sss 266 52.558 21-0} 0-35] 0-28) 18) TO | 542 1143 do. Barley straw -2o522-+-2 11°C} 0-26) 0-23) 13) 57-5] 750 [174 do. Wibeatchatt. 0502502. 7-6] 0:94] 0-85) 48) 212-5) 207 | 47 do Bealistrawsse.l52 sess. 8-5] 1-95} 1-79, 100) 447-5} 100 } 22 do Mallet-straw: -cuss.2 sous 19-0} 0-96] 0-78) 49] 195 | 203 | 51 do Buckwheat straw..-...- 11°6| 0-54| 0°48) 27} 120 | 361 | 83 do. Dried potato tops .--... 12°9| 0-43] 0°37] 22) 98-5) 453 [108 With’'d l’ves of beet-root}88°9) 4°50) 0°50) 230) 125 43 | 80 |Of mangel-wurzel. Do. of potatoes -....... 76-0] 2-30} 0°55) 117) 137-5} 85 | 73 |Withered top and leaves. Wovof carrots. .22 225. 70°79) 2°94] 0-85) 150] 212-5} 66 | 47 Do. of heather. .-...... 7-0] 1°90] 1-74) 97] 425 103 | 23 |Dried in the air. Dojofsoalk.! ss S1Ss0e 3 25-0} 1-57{ 1718} 80; 293 | 125 } 34 |Leaves fallen in autumn. Do. of poplars.) .05-5 o: 51-1] 1-17) 0°54] 66) 134 | 167 | 74 do. Wo7ol beech. e260. 39-3] 1-91] 1-18) 78] 294 | 102 | 34 do. Jover roots: .-..--:-: 9-7} 1-77] 1°61] 90) 402-5) 110 } 25 |Dried in the air. Burned sea-weed...... 3°78] 0-40] 0°38] 20; 95 488 j105 Oyster shells...--..-.- 117-9} 0-40] 0-32] 20! 80 | 488 fias Beavshellsa.ccccsecc sce 0-05] 0-05! 3) 13 {3750 |769 |Dried sea-shells of Dunkixk Sea-side marl........-. 1-0] 0-52} 0-51] 26] 128 | 377} 78 | Solid cow-dung...-.... 85-9] 2-30] 0-32] 117! 80 4 1125 | Urineiof cows... 82.., 83-3} 3-80] 0°44) 194! 110 on | OL Solid horse-dung....... 75-3| 2-21] 0-55] 113| 137-5) 88 | 73 | Horxse: urine -... 2.22 79-1/12-50| 2-61] 641; 652-5) 152) 154/The horse drank but little, the Rie dine een ce ots 81-4| 3-37] 0°63] 172] 157-5) 58 | 63 [urine was thick. Sheep dung i.” ai 24 63-0] 2-99] 1-21] 153] a77-5| 65 | 36 | : Pigeon dung... 2:02.22 9-6] 9-02} 8-30} 462)2075 214; 5 |Of Bechelbronn. i GID Os oat oes «----/19°6| 6-20) 5-00} 323)1247 313] 80 |Imp. into Eng. in its ord. state.’ Gi eercient ye hei we eee 11-3/15-73}13-95} 807|3487 123 283 Imp. into France, do. 2 res) bones:'o -s,< <1 s 30-0 5° a 1326 74|As sold by the melters. ! Weathers (eek euact: 12-9|17-61|15-34] go3|3e35 | 11] 23 i Wioolentrars. sts 52 11 -3|20- -26l17- “08 1039/4495 93} 23 ; Horn shavings. .....--- 9-0|15-78|14-36] 809|3590 | 1241 3 @oslicoots.- saecsec --.-/15-6| 1-59] 1-35] 8i| 337-5} 122 | 30 Wood so0t--2s<%-.- <5 5-6} 1 1°15] 67) 287-5) 149 | 35 Bacardi ashes jcc: occme 9-2} 0-71] 0°65] 36] 162-5] 275 | 62 It will be seen that pea straw is worth, as a manure, from 5 to 9 times as much as the straws of the small grains—is better than clover roots, and actually equals farm-yard dung! Rye, oats and barley send up a good growth of straw, in many parts of this zone, even where the product of grain is small; and, sown in the fall, they afford sweet green pasturage, during the entire winter, in the more southern latitudes. This is a very important and a very favorable consideration in an economical system of sheep husbandry. All winter green feed (roots) in the Northern States must be cultivated, harvested, protected from the frosts of winter in cellars, and daily fed out—which ne- cessarily renders it expensive. Where winter field crops can be depas- tured on the ground, it saves the greatest proportion of this expense ; and, though winter green feed is not indispensable to sheep, it promotes their heath, early maturity, and is especially valuable to breeding-ewes. All the crops above named, too, can be profitably made use of as green manure. SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. Al Blades of corn, well cured, are relished by sheep, and they thrive on them.* The sweet potato is also readily eaten by them, and it fattens them per- haps as rapidly as any other root crop. Although it might be regarded as too valuable for sheep feed, in regions where the ‘ehiple force is given to the culture of cotton, there are others where, I cannot but believe, it might be occasionally if not regularly resorted to with profit, unless rye, oats, barley, &c. can be provided so much more cheaply that it is no object so to do. It is so cheaply planted by slips, and tilled with so little trouble, and it so admirably prepares land for subsequent crops,t that, on rich oa otherwise favorable soils, my impression is strong it is, at all events, as cheap a winter feed for stock in the South as the Irish potato is in the North. Its average yield is about two-thirds that of the latter. The Irish potato is universally regarded as one of the cheapest feeds that can be given to all kinds of arock. to which it is adapted in the North. It is true that it is not fed so much as it would otherwise be, with us, in the winter, by reason of the cold. It is difficult to protect this root from freezing, and at the same time leave it accessible for daily feeding, without putting it in dwelling-house cellars, which are usually at some distauce from the feed- ing barns and yards; and besides, the conversion of this citadel of a north- ern matron’s culinary stores, into a great, dirty root pit, would be a most grievous infringement qn all the canons of good housewifery ! The foregoing facts show that the Southern States have already all that is necessary to feed stock and fertilize their fields. Their pea, take it all in all, is a full equivalent for the clover of the North. By means of it— of Bermuda and some other grasses—aided by the dropping gs of sheep, and other cheap and convenient manures, a large proportion of the tide-water zone, nv’ so unproductive, can be conver ted into grazing lands, which will yield as good a per centage on present capital and investment as the best cotton uplands, and produce wool at a less expense per pound than any re- gion of the United States north of the Potomac. * A friend of mine wintered a few Merino sheep on not only the blades. but the stalks, of our northern corn, chopping the whole up together, and adding a little bran or shorts. He found it cheap feed, and the sheep got fat enough to slaughter before spring. + After the crop is harvested, swine are turned in, and they root the ground over so deeply and thor- oughly that it is in a better state of tillage than could be produced by mere spring plowing. { Mr. Ruffin, the great advocate for clover, admits that in the South it is not fitted to precede Indian corn, on account of the destructive cut worms it harbors, unless the land be plowed “ early in winter,” or other recautionary steps are taken. The pea is not liable to this objection. See Rufiin’s Ag. Survey of 8. C. 843, p.78. 42 SHEEP HUSBANDRY.IN THE SOUTH. LETTER IV. THE ADAPTATION OF THE SOILS, HERBAGE, &. OF THE SOUTHERN STATES TO SHEEP HUSBANDRY, CONTINUED. 2. OF THE MIDDLE OR HILLY ZONE. 3. OF THE MOUNTAIN REGION: Climate, Soils, and Productions of the Middle or Hilly Zone—Its evident Adaptation to Sheep Husbandry ---The Mountain Region... Altitudes of different Ranges and Peaks—Their general Shape—Freedom from Rocks, Precipices, &c...'Table Lands — Their Geological Formations—Products...Mr. Clingman’s Letter describing the Roan and other Mountains in North Carolina... Mr. Buckley’s Counter Statements... Mr. Earle’s Desc ription of the Mountains in Henderson and Ruther ford Counties, North Carolina. -.-Col. Cols- ton’s Statements in relation to the Mountains in Berkley County, Virginia-..Hon. A. Stevenson’s in rela- tion to the blue Ridge, and the Mountains in the South-west of Virginia—Hon. W. L. Goggin’s in relation to the same. . - Judge Beaty’ s Account of Sheep Husbandry on the Cumberland Mountains = Mr. Kramer’s ---Mr. Buckley’ s Views in relation to the North Carolina Mountains examined and objected to. .. Climate of the Roan and others compared with that of the Grazing Lands of New-York..-Statistics showing the Forwardness of the Seasons and the Temperature in New-York...Etfect of Elevation on ‘Temperature - On Vegetable Productions. Dear Sir: The middle or hilly zone is high, dry, healthy, and: has a mild and, compared with the North, equable climate.* Its soils possess the ingredients due to its formation—disintegrated granite—and are far more fertile than those of the lower zone. Sometimes on the summits of the hills they are poor and thin, and there are occasionally extensive ranges of poor land, as in Virginia; but asa general thing, they vary from fair to good; and on the bottom lands of some of the rivers and larger creeks, they possess remarkable fertility. The valleys, however, are generally narrow, and are everywhere the bed of streams, which abundantly water this whole region, and furnish inexhaustible acini for mills and manu- factories. The slight cohesion of the soil, aided by the face of the country and the system of tillage pursued 1 in many parts of it,t render it peculiarly subject to washing by heavy rains. ‘The ,ill-sides are frequently cut into deep gullies, rendering aration difficult,t and the surface soil is washed into the valleys and into the beds of the creeks, not only impoverishing the high lands, but, by impeding the courses of the streams, in some regions converting those of the valleys into unhealthy marshes.|| Grasses suited to the climate flourish when sown, and on lands not ut- terly worn out, throughout all this region; and there is little doubt that every variety which could be acclimated aS ‘the sands of the lower zone, could be more readily acclimated here—and probably various others. The pea succeeds in nearly every situation; oats also form a valuable ma- nuring crop in some parts; while on many of the alluvial bottoms, such, for example, as the Blackjack lands of South Carolina—rye grows luxuri- antly, answeri ng a valuable purpose either for grain, manure, or for winter * The range of the thermometer is sometimes 60° to 75° in a single month (March or April) in New- York ! t That is, a constant succession of clean tillage crops, such as cotton, corn, and tobacco. { The Fishing Creek Agricultural Society, in their Report before quoted from, say: ‘The only really waste land we have is our old fields, many of which are so washed and gullied as to be absolutely irre- claimable.” Mr. Ruffin says that “the destruction both of soil and of fertility has been enormous” from this cause. || “ The country was, at first, as its features indicated, nearly free from malaria and all its noxious effects. But as soon as the incessant and injudicious use of the plow caused the soil to be washed from the hilly grounds into the buttoms, the before unobstructed clean bordered channels of all the small streams were filled and clogged with earth, and vegetable rubbish, and fine~ matter, and the adjacent low lands were thereby rendered swampy. The washing of the high land earth into the valleys so altered the original sur- face level as to killthe trees; and their decay, and, later, the obstructions by their fallen trunks, increased the general evil... .. I infer” that these causes ‘“‘have mainly served to nourish malaria and increase the malignity of disease.” ([Ruffin’s Ag Survey of 8. C., 1843, p. 96.] SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE S¢@UTH. 43 feed for stock. In this last particular, it would be, as I have before sa‘d an important auxiliary in sheep husbandry. The adaptation of most of this region to sheep husbandry is too obvious to require extended comment; and it becomes, therefore, simply a ques- tion of profit and loss, whether it is expedient to introduce it.* Let us turn therefore, to the adaptation of the mountain region to this branch of industry The altitude of the southern mountains, with a few exceptions, is not very considerable. The loftiest, the Black and the Roan, in North Caro- lina, are respectively 6,476 and 6,038 feet in hight. The Peaks of Otter, the highest, and summits of the Blue Ridge in Virginia, are 4,250, and the highest Alleganies 2,500 feet high. Table Mountain in South Carolina is about 4,000, and the terminal masses of the Blue Ridge in Georgia are about 1,500.t The hight of the Cumberland Mountains, the most western chain, I nowhere find stated, but they are not reputed as high as some of the preceding. It will be seen, therefore, that none of the southern moun- tains rise above the range of the grasses. They are usually broad at the base, easy of ascent, and rounded or flattened on their summits, instead of rising from narrow bases into steep pyramidal forms with conical peaks ; (=) and from their geological formations and their shape (resulting probably from that formation,) they are uncommonly free from exposed rocks, preci- pices and abrupt acclivities. With the exception, perhaps, of the Cum- berland chain, large, exposed rocks abound far less, on most of these mountains than in many parts of New-England, or even the Old Red Sand- stone region of Pennsylvania, which are not only pastured, but plowed! Indeed, a side-hill plow, drawn by oxen, could be used on very many of the southern mountains, if cleared, to their very summits ;. and this is true, singular as it may appear, of some of the loftiest of them.t The Cumber- land Mountains are spoken of by Doct. Morse, as ‘ stupendous piles of cragey rocks,” and in these statements he has been followed by more re- cent geographers. But if this description applies to some portions of the chain, it certainly does not to others, as I shall have occasion to show. On the sides, and sometimes on the summits of the mountains in differ- ent parts of this whole region, extensive plains or table lands, already pretty well covered with wild and domestic grasses and nutritious escu- lents, not unfrequently occur. Esculents suitable for sheep are to be found in greater or less quantities on nearly all of them. West of the summit of the Blue Ridge, the geological formations, as has before been stated, belong to the Transition period—a rather unusual circumstance in mountain ranges, and undoubtedly more indicative of fertility in the superincumbent soils than the ordinary Primary formation.|| Indeed, they are the same with those of the best grazing lands of South- ern New-York, and subtracting climatic and other§ effects of elevation, they should possess a general correspondence in their properties and pro- ducts, with the latter.§] * This question will be fully discussed in a subsequent letter. t For these altitudes I am indebted to Professor Mitchell. For example, thé Roan. | It is true that soils formed from Primary rocks, when suff ciently fertile to sustain herbage of any kind are peculiarly adapted to the production of sweet grasses; tut mountains of this formation are usually steeper, from the slower decomposition of granite, gneiss, and 9ther Primary rocks, and their steepness ex poses them to increased abrasion, or washing. Hence their soils frequently but thinly cover the rocks, and are of a meager and lixiviated character. To wit. abrasion and denudation by rains. And, moreover, the “ northern drift” of New-York has added a little dime to the soils formed trom these rocks, and thus supplied, measurably, a want existing in all of them for most tillage crops. |. For example, the “Slate Hills.” which rise on the west of Augusta, Rockingham, Shenandoah, Fred- erick and some other counties in Virginia, are composed of the same rocks (Hamilton group, ineluding Genesee slate of the New-York system,) which underlie some of the best soils in New-York; and much of the land between these hills and the Alleganies rests on the same rocks, (Chemung,) which underlio the southern grazing region of New-York. 44 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. In ascertaining the particular products of these mountains, their climate, and general adaptation to sheep husbandry, I will first call your attention to the often quoted letter from Hon. T. L. Clingman, of North Carolina, to John S. Skinner, Esq., in 1844. Mr. Clingman says : “You state that you have directed some attention to the Sheep Husbandry of the United States, in the course of which it has occurred to you that the people of the mountain regions of North Carolina, and some of the other Southern States, have fot availed themselves sufii- ciently of their natural adyantages for the production of sheep. Being myself well acquaint- ed with the western section of North Carolina, I may perhaps be able to give you most of the information you desire. As you have directed several of your inquiries to the county of Yancey, (I presume from the fact, well known to you, that it contains the highest moun- tains in any of the United States,) I will, im the first place, turn my attention to that county. First, as to its elevation. Dr. Mitchell, of our University, ascertained that the bed of Tow River, the largest stream in the county, and at a ford near its center, was about 2,200 feet above the level of the ocean. Burnsville, the seat of the court-house, he found to be be- tween 2,300 and 2,900 feet above it. The general level of the country is, of course, much above this elevation. In fact, a number of the mountain summits rise above the hight of 6,000 feet. The climate is delightfully cool during the summer; in fact there are very few places in the county where the thermometer rises above 80° on the hottest day. An intel- ligent gentleman who passed the summer in the northern part of the county (rather the more elevated portion of it) informed me that the thermometer did not rise on the hottest das above 76°. * You ask, in the next place, if the surface of the ground 1s so much covered with rocks ag to render it unfit for pasture ? The reverse is the fact; no portion of the county that I have passed over is too rocky for cultivation ; and in many sections of the county one may travel miles without seeing a single stone. It is only about the tops of the higher mountains that rocky precipices are to be found. A large portion of the surface of the county is a sort of elevated table-land, undulating, but seldom too broken for cultivation. Even as one as- cends the higher mountains, he will find occasionally on their sides flats of level land con- taining several hundred acres in a body. The top of the Roan (the highest mountain in the county except the Black) is covered by a prairie for ten miles, which affords a rich pasture during the greater part of the year. The ascent to it is so gradual that persons ride to the top on horseback from almost any direction. The same may be said of many of the other mountains. The soil of the county generally is uncommonly fertile, producing with tolera~ ble cultivation abundant crops. What seems extraordinary to a stranger is. the fact that the soil becomes richer as he ascends the mountains. The sides of the Roan, the Black, the Bald, and others, at an elevation even of five or six thousand feet above the sea, are covered with a deep, rich vegetable mould, so soft that a horse m dry weather often sinks to the fet- lock. The fact that the soil is frequently more fertile as one ascends is, I presume, attrib- utable to the circumstance that the higher portions are more commonly covered with clouds; and the vegetable matter being thus kept in a cool, moist state while decaying, is incorpo- rated to a greater degree with the surface of the earth, just as itis usually found that the north side of the hill is richer than the portion most exposed to the action of the sun’s rays. The sides of the mountains, the timber bemg generally large, with little undergrowth and brushwood, are peculiarly fitted for pasture grounds, and the vegetation is in many places as luxuriant as it is in the rich savannah of the low country. “The soil of every part of the county is not only favorable to the production of grain, but is peculiarly fitted for grasses. Timothy is supposed to make the largest yield, two tons of hay being easily produced on an acre, but herds-grass, or red-top, and clover succeed equally well; blue-grass has not been much tried, but is said to do remarkably well. A friend showed me several spears which he informed me were produced in the northern part of the county, and which by measurement were found to exceed 70 inches in length. Oats, rye, potatoes, turnips, &c., are produced in the greatest abundance. “« With respect to the prices of land, I can assure you that large bodies of uncleared, rich fand, most of which might be cultivated, have been sold at prices varying from 25 cents te 50 cents per acre. Any quantity of land favorable for sheep-walks might be procured in any section of the county at prices varying from one to ten dollars per acre. “ The few sheep that exist in the county thrive remarkably well, and are sometimes per- mitted to run at large during the winter without being fed and without suffering. As the number kept by any individual is not large enough to justify the employment of a shepherd to take care of them, they are not unfrequently destroyed by vicious dogs, and more rarely by wolves, which have not yet been entirely exterminated. “T have been somewhat prolix in my observations on this county, because some of your inquiries were directed particularly to it, and because most of what I have said of Yancey is true of the other counties west of the Blue Ridge. Haywood has about the same elevation and climate as Yancey. The mountains are rather more steep, and the valleys somewhat SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUSFH. 45 broader; the soil generally not quite so deep, but very productive, especially in grasses. In some sections of the county, however, the soil is equal to the best I have seen. “ Buncombe and Henderson are rather less elevated; Ashville and Hendersonville, the county towns, being each about 2,200 feet above the sea. The climate is much the same, but a very little warmer. The more broken portions of these counties resemble much the mountainous parts of Yancey and Haywood, but they contain much more level land. In- deed the greater portion of Henderson is quite level. It contains much swamp land, which, when cleared, with very little if any drainage, produces very fine crops of herds-grass. Por- tions of Macon and Cherokee counties are quite as favorable, both as to climate and soil, as those above described. I would advert particularly to the valley of the Nantahalah, in Ma- con, and of Cheoh, in Cherokee. In either, for a comparatively trifling price, some ten or fifteen miles square could be procured, all of which would be rich, and the major part suf- ficiently level for cultivation, and especially fitted, as their natural meadows indicate, for the production of grass. “Tn conclusion, I may say, that as far as my limited knowledge of such matters authorizes me to speak, I am satisfied that there is no region that is more favorable to the production of sheep than much of the country I have described. It is everywhere healthy and well watered. I may add, too, that there is water-power enough in the different counties com- posing my Congressional District to move more machinery than human labor can ever place there—enough, perhaps, to move all now existing in the Union.” A writer in the Albany Cultivator, Mr. 8. B. Buckley, of Yates county, New-York, who has visited these mountains, thus objects to the views of Mr. Clingman : “These mountains have a cold, damp climate, the summits of the highest being covered with clouds and mists a large portion of the sammer season. Cold rains are of frequent oc- eurrence, doubtless causing the deep vegetable mould alluded to by Mr. C. A large por- tion of the county of Yancey is an elevated table-land which is so damp and cold that the inhabitants do not raise corn sufficient for their own consumption. . . . . Mr. Husted in- formed me that in many seasons there was scarcely a month in the year without frost... , that he had been on the top of the Roan on the 25th of June, when a snow storm arose and completely covered the mountain, and that there were few days in the year but that it was foggy on the Roan. . . . . I have ascended most of the high mountains in that State, and rarely without encountering a storm, or finding their tops covered with mists, which disap- peared in the cool of the evening, to be resumed by the warming rays of the morrow’s sun In encamping on the mountains, I generally found the thermometer to range from 45° to 60°. and on the high mountains, during the day, it seldgm rose above 65°. The inhabitants of the valleys pay great attention to the raising of cattle’and horses, which, in the summer sea- son, are turned upon the mountains in what is termed ‘the range,’ which consists of tall weeds, native grasses, and in many places white clover has become naturalized. * * * * “ These remarks will apply more or less to the mountainous region of Haywood and Ma- con counties, from which we conclude that they are not suitable to the raising of fime-wooled sheep, judging from their elevation, damp and cold climate, which, as before remarked by Mr. C., creates a deep vegetable mould, in which a horse will sink up to the fetlock. And would not sheep sink in also, and be liable to have the foot-rot? And in yeaning time would not many lambs be lost from the frequent cold rains so common there during the month of May ? 20% In a previous communication in the Cultivator the same writer says : + “On the 12th of May I arrived at Ashville, (the capital of Buncombe county,) intending to visit Mt. Pisgah, a high conical mountain in full view, about twelve miles distant, over- topping its neighbors. I was told that the season was not far enough advanced to bring vegetation forward on the high mountains. . . _. The climate of this region is not much, i any, warmer than that of Western New-York. During the summer of 1842, the thermome- ter ranged generally from 70° to 85° in the valleys, while on the mountains it was frequently about 60°, and sometimes much lower. . . . . When I left the southern portion of Alabama, it was the middle of March; the woods were green, with their full expanded leaves; in about a week I had reached the elevated region south of Huntsville, in the northern part of the State, where the leaves had not yet attained half their usual size. From the 1st to the 10th of April, in Middle Tennessee, the leaves were nearly full grown and the inhabitants were busy in planting corn; but at the middle of April, for thirty miles on the table land of the Cumberland Mountains, the trees had just begun to put forth their leaves, and the ground was white in the morning witha severe frost. ‘On descending into the plains of East Tennessee, the country was green with verdure. and the farmers were there also busy in planting corn, and now, the middle of May, among * See Albany Cultivator, 1846, p. 242. t Ib., 1846, p, 174. 46 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. the mountaius of North Carolina, I found myself where vegetation had scarcely clothed tha plains and woods with green, while the leaves of the high mountain trees were about half grown. I should also remark that the spring of 1842 was from two weeks to a month ear lier than usual.” I record a portion of the last extract for subsequent reference ; and the object of these communications being to arrive at the truth, and not to ride a favorite hobby, or advance a preconceived theory, I have thought it proper to give the substance of all this gentleman’s remarks, embodying as they do all. the objections, real or supposed, which exist against the highest mountains in the whole ‘Southern States for the purposes of sheep husbandry. Per contra, we have the following statements of Henry M. Earle, Esq., of Pacolett, Rutherford Co., North Carolina : * “On the question whether wool-growing will succeed in North Carolina or not, I would say that it depends entirely upon the exertions used, as I am thoroughly convinced that the country and climate are altogether favorable. The objections raised by Mr. Buckley, if they existed in all the mountain region, might be considered serious; but as they can only be of: fered against a few very high ‘mountains, situated in the midst of many other mountains, and far from any Jevel or plain country, such a hiding place as he speaks of would not be such a Jace as persons raised in civilized or refined society would wish to settle in. The Roan and Black Mountains were selected by Mr. Thos. Clingman, because they were the most elevated and noted mountains in Yancey Co., and not, I presume, because he thought they would afford the best pasturage for shee ; ifso he wasmistaken. On those’ riicuntains and iu their vicinity are the finest grazing lands for cattle; and so there is in the low, marshy iand of South Carolina; but neither location is favorable for sheep. I agree with Mr. Buck- ley, ‘that a large portion of, the county of Yancey is an elevated table land, which is so damp and cold that the inhabitants frequently do not raise corn sufficient for their own con- sumption.’ This 1s partly owing to the climate ; but mostly to the character of many of the inhabitants of those sparsely inhabited regions, where they too frequently depend upon the success of the chase for the largest portion of their subsistence. “But if Mr. Buckley, or any other gentleman of observation, will come 60 miles far- ther south—on the line of the Blue Ridge, into Henderson and Rutherford counties, about the Tryon Mountain, which is the first that he will ascend in rising up from the level coun- try east of the Blue Ridge, along the Howard-Gap Tur npike—high on the acclivity of the Tryon he will find a bench of land whjch possesses a very peculiar characteristic. At night, generally, there is a pleasant breeze, “nd for several miles along the mountain side there i 1s never any dew to be found, and it is very rare that they have frost except in winter; and when the whole country < above and below is covered with sleet, along this mountain side there is none. Here grow the finest native grapes that I ever saw, and the fruit crop never fails. And here are grown the heaviest wheat and rye inall the country. Here the inhabit- ants have the first dawn of the morning sun, and persons unaccustomed to the view fancy that they can almost see him coming up ) from the watery deep. On the eastern side of this mountain is the earliest pasturage in spring, and the latest in the fall that is found im the whole range of mountains. “This location is about 46 miles E. 8. E. from Ashyille, and 20 miles 8. 8S. W. from Rutherfordton. Here two of those ever persevering meu from the North, called Yankees, have commenced to wall in a vineyard, and to ealtivate the broom-corn for manufacturing brooms. They have the purest water that flows out of the earth, and around them are beautiful cascades more than a hundred feet high, and above them the toppling peak of the Tryon. “Thousands of persons throng this mountain region during the summer, to enjoy the pure, bracing atmosphere, whicli on the eastern face of the mountain. is dry and healthful; but farther back, in thé mountains of the French Broad, there is much more dampness and heavy fogs. “You may readily conclude that along the eastern slopes of these mountains, the climate and country are finely adapted to the growth of wool, as may also be seen by many of the tine fiocks of native unimproved sheep, which wander here untended, regardless of wolves or dogs, ther greatest enemies. : “For two hundred miles along the eastern slopes of these mountains, south, there are situations well suited for large flocks of sheep, and land is cheap. In many places it does not cost more than 20 cents per acre, and very fair land may be had for 40 ceuts per acre.” In an Address,t remarkable for the force and pertinency of its sugges- * See Albany Cultivator, 1846, pp. 335-336, + Delivered in Martinsburg, Va., Oct. 30th, 1845, before the Berkley County Agricultural Society, pub lished in the Valley Farmer, . Dec. 1845, and Jan. 1246. SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 47 tions, Col. Edward Colston, of Berkley county, Virginia, makes the fol- lowing statements : ‘ — “The western part of our county, containing perhaps 30,000 acres, is mountainous. | have ridden there for ten miles without seeing a human habitation, and although from ita abundant herbage it might sustain for its owners 20,000 head of sheep, not a single one is te be found grazing on its surface. In this region may be fonnd, also, much land fit for culti- vation, with fine meadows and abundant water. Yet all this is worthless to our community, and a dead capital to the proprietors. There is territory and grass enough here to be di- vided into three or four sheep-walks, each sustainmg from 3,000 to 4,000 sheep during the summer, with meadow and arable land enough, at a small expense, to provide amply for winter sustenance.” Hon. Andrew Stevenson, of Virginia, in a letter to Mr. Skinner,* says: ‘Virginia has many advantages for breeding sheep, not surpassed in the United States The middle part of the State, and especially the whole range of the south-west Mountains and Blue Ridge, afford the greatest facilities for fine sheep-walks. Hills covered with fine herbage, extensive inclosures, abundance of running water, and well sheltered by trees against the heat and sun of summer.” The following extracts are from a communication in the Monthly Jour- nal of Agriculture,t by Hon. W. L. Goggin, who recently represented the District he describes in Congress : “ Bedford, the county in which I reside, is bounded on the south side by the Staunton River, on the north by the James River, while its western extremity, the whole length, reaches the top of the Blue Ridge... . . The Peaks of Otter} are situated in this county, on the north-west corner—they are not only beautiful themselves, when seen as they are in the distance, but the whole range of the Blue Ridge presents, perhaps, here, the most inter- esting view of the kind in the State. These mountains afford an unlimited range for stock, and the advantages for sheep-walks (mild as is the climate, combined with the productive- ness of the soil) that are nowhere equaled, as is believed, except by similar situations in the neighboring counties. . . . . Ranges for sheep may be had at a very reduced price on the mountains, and where, too, could be produced all the grasses in which they delight, such as the red and white clover, the meadow fox-tail, short blue meadow-grass, lucern, rye-grass, &c. These advantages, and then the beautiful, clear streams which abound in all the moun- tain regions, invite a pastoral life.” Speaking of Amherst and Nelson counties, he says: ‘The ranges for stock here, too, are extensive, and the beautiful, rich mountain sides inter- spersed with farm-houses, some of them even elegant mansions, betoken an independence among the inhabitants that is often found in such situations. Many of the mountains, to their very summits, are covered with the richest verdure.’”’ Of Madison and Greene coun- ties he says: ‘“‘ Here, too, are abundant ranges, and the wonder is that sheep husbandry is not introduced.” The character of the loftier mountains of Virginia and North Carolina, for the production of grasses, would seem to leave no doubt, in this par- ticular, in regard to the /ower ones which form the prolongation of the same chains in South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama. Let us now turn our glance to the great western chain—the Cumberland Mountains—in Kentucky and Tennessee. The following extracts are from a communication published by Hon. A. Beatty in the American Agriculturist : “ But it is not upon our high-priced rich lands alone that we can carry on sheep husbandry to advantage. Kentucky has a belt of hill and mountain country, bordering on the Virginia line on the east, and on the rich lands of the State on the west, averaging about seventy-five miles in width, extending from the Ohio River and Big Sandy, latitude 38° 30/, to the Ten- nessee line, 36° 30' north. The whole of this region is admirably adapted to sheep hus- bandry ; the most northern part but a few minutes north of my residence, and extending about two degrees farther south. The lands are very cheap: the State price of those not yet appropriated only five cents per acre, and those purchased second-hand, more or less improved, may be had from 25 to 50 cents per acre, and still less when unimproved. This country in a state of nature furnishes, during the spring, summer, and fall months, a fine range for sheep, and is susceptible of great improvement by clearing up and sowing the cul tivated grasses for winter feat. This whole country is finely adapted to the Spanish * Monthly Journal of Agriculture, July, 1245, pp. 37-39. Te October, 1845, pp. 181-183. . } The loftiest mountains, as before stated, of Virginia. 48 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. mode of sheep husbaudry. Very large flocks might be driven to the mountain region, some thirty to sixty miles from the rich lands, immediately after shearing time, grazed till late im the fall, and then brought back to be sustained during the winter on the Inxuriant blue grass pastures of the rich lands of the interior. “‘ A very intelligent friend, residing in the southern part of the above district of country, speaks of it in the following terms: ‘One of the strongest proofs of this region of country being favorable to the growing of sheep stock is that we are situated in the same degree of worth latitude with the sheep-raising parts ot Spain—Leon, Estremadura, Old Castile, &c.— only that our mountains are more richly and abundantly clad with luxuriant wild grasses and fern, pea vine, and shrubbery, than the mountain regions of Spain, where they raise such abundant stocks of sheep. Wayne County, witha few adjoiing counties, affords more fine water-power than any country of the same extent that I have ever known; and for health, and fine, pure drinking water, no country excels it on the face of the globe. Now is the time to commence the business of sheep husbandry, while land can be got almost for nothing. It is worthy of remark that our sheep, which are suffered to roam and graze in the mountains altogether, produce about one-fourth more wool at a shearing than the sheep that are raised and grazed altogether on our farms, and of much better quality.” In an- other part of his letter he says: ‘The tops of the mountains of Spain are sterile, without verdure, producing no food for sheep, or other anlmals, to graze on. Our mountains are quite different. They are thickly clad from bottom to top, and all over the top, with fine rich wild grasses and shrubbery of every variety, for stock to graze on. In the midst of our mountains are to be found a great abundance of salt water and stone coal of the finest quality, together with a great variety of mineral waters and pure springs.’ ‘“« Another friend, residing in Knox County, writes to me: ‘My sheep upon my farm, ad- joining Barboursville, do not thrive, even with pasture and winter food, like the sheep in the extremities of the county, which have neither pastures nor winter food, except what they get in the woods. Without cultivated grasses of any description, sheep will live and do well all the winter, subsisting on the spontaneous growth of the country.’ “ Another friend, residing in the northern potion of the above-described mountain region, writes that ‘the counties of Carter and Lawrence, and the eastern portion of the State, are admirably adapted to sheep husbandry. ‘There are several flocks uf sheep in this neighbors ~ hood that thrive and increase wonderfully, running at large, at little cost or trouble to their owners. Many flocks have no,other reliance, during the winter, but what they get in the woods. The great advantages of this country for sheep husbandry are, the cheapness of the land, it adaptation to grasses, grain, and roots—its healthfulness. Sheep delight in moun- tain or hilly land; the natural evergreens and shrubbery upon which sheep can feed and subsist on in winter; though it is not safe to rely altogether upon these.’ ”’ Mr. C. IF’. Kramer of Woolverly Farm, Marion Co. Tennessee, ia a com- munication in the Nashville Agriculturist,* says : “ After having spent part of the years ’43 and ’44 on different parts of the Cumberland Mountains—the part of Tennessee more particularly recommended by all writers in your journal, and others, for sheep-walks—I have, since last fall, settled on a portion of them near Jasper, Marion Co. and will, as briefly as possible, give you the result of my experi- ence, which will, I believe, fully remove any erroneous impressions hitherto made. “ First, as to climate; The extreme salubrity of the mountains makes them the general refuge of the sick. Sheep here are remarkably healthy, and exempt from disease. The temperature is very even, varying duting summer seldom more than from 75° to 80° of Fahrenheit, nor in winter more than from 45° to 30°. Snow during the two winters, little as there was of it, never remained forty-eight hours on the ground. “ The forest, so far from being dense, seldom contains more timber, after cutting out the smaller growth, as dogwood, &c. than is desirable for woodland pasture. “The rocks, as far as my rambles have extended, are ‘few and far between.’ The bet ter spots of soil (and there are enough to provide every farm with sufficient remunerating arable land, under a provident and enlightened system of tillage) are covered with nutri tious weeds, as pea-vine, &c. &c. which are nearly all greedily devoured by sheep and cat- tle, and on which they fare well. The poorer soil is covered with sedge-grass, which my sheep have invariably eaten with avidity. “« When our herds and blue grass lands, which we are laying down, will be fit for pastur- Ing, the cost of wintering will be greatly reduced, as the former yields good grazing in Feb- ruary—the latter during the whole winter. Our young cattle kept in good condition on the: winter-range and two ears of corn per head per day. “ Although the wolves of our mountaiiis are larger than those of the prairies, and may be more difficult to exterminate entirely, yet, thanks to our good hunters, their ranks have been already so thinned that they mostly prowl about alone, or at most in pairs, committing their depredations by night, on the sheep and hogs that are left to shift for themselves. In the * June, 1846. we SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. . 49 — two years that I have been here, I know of but two instances of their having attacked young stray cattle by night. By day, sheep are perfectly safe; and I should presume that every good sheep-master would have his flocks, for inspection, home at night, when any common ence will be au ample safeguard for them.” To recur, for a moment, to Mr. Buckley’s statements in relation to the Roan and some of the contiguous mountains in North Carolina—if we concede all his positions to be correct—it but proves that they are excep- tions to a general rule. But a review of his facts, it seems to me, scarcely justifies his conclusions. The vegetation which seemed so backward to him, coming from the warmer climate of Alabama and Lower Tennessee, was in fact but little, if any, later than that of the elevated grazing lands of Southern New- York. The following table* will show the average forwardness of the seasons at the location of fifty-eight Academies, scattered over New-York, for a term of fifteen years. And these Academies, as would be supposed, are rarely found on the high bleak hills. In fact, the number in the south- ern grazing region is but small, and they are mostly on the low bottoms of the larger streams. The same remark will also apply to the high region between the St. Lawrence and Lake Champlain. TABLE NO. 5. Mean Date. No. of Localities. | No.of Observations Shadbush in bloom..-...... 0.5.0... May 1 48 168 Peach Ce wie saa aciem lan sate 2" 57 175 Currants a Petes Mera mie iq ure ne ate a = ea 58 269 Plum Oe BEE AS ACTED 255% ey AG 52 264 Cherry MO RA Soak sence = wes mane ef 52 250 Apple Ot se Se anes Ser aie ee Les 59 74 Bteawiberties Tipe... - a.n.0-scs----scese+- June 12 58 210 Hay harvest commenced.............--- July 18 34 127 W heat do. to ie th OS Weer ie ae se} 25 45 186 ISIE ARTI OR TOBti cee nc wUece cacecueciele Sept. 23 57 471 EER Oly SNOW ac ecica cs cee es fe-s-5e Nov. 5 ae 536 * As the Peach does not grow in the northern part of the State, this date must be considered the mean for the southern and middle parts only, and hence is too early as compared with other trees. The blossoming of the apple tree in the grazing regions of New-York takes place when the leaves of the forest trees are considerably less than half grown, as Mr. B. found them on the “ high mountain trees” of North Carolina on the 12th of May. Snow storms sometimes occur in New-York as late as the one recorded by Mr. B. on the Roan; cold, damp fogs are not found destructive to sheep in some parts of England and Scotland, where they prevail proba- bly quite as much as on these mountains ; and there are many parts of the grazing region of New-York, and good grazing lands, too, where the in- habitants “do not raise corn sufficient for their own consumption.” As Mr. B. gives neither the dates nor the altitudes of his own thermometrical observations, no conclusions can be deduced from them. Speaking of the region about Asheville, the more definite statement is made by him, that during the summer of 1842, the thermometer ranged generally from 70 to 85 degrees, (which he pronounces not much, if any, warmer than Western New-York,) “while on the mountains it was frequently about 60 degrees, and sometimes much lower.” If by frequent, he meant ordinary temper- ature, the summer climate of these lofty mountains much resembles that of New-York in June—usually considered the month of the pleasantest * This table was prepared by James H. Coffin, a tutor in Williams College, from the Report of these facts annually required to be made by the Academies to the Regents of the University. This and some other tablesand statements of Mr. C.’s, which [ shall have occasion to quote, appear in a very able paper from him on the Climate and Temperature of New-York, in the forthcoming volume on Agriculture, in the Natural History of the State: some sheets of which have been politely sent me by Doct. Emmons, the fate Geologist, who has that velume in charge. 50 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. temperature of the year—equally removed from the chilliness of spring and the sultry heats of the last two summer months. But as the altitudes of the latter observations are not given, they present, us nothing definite or tangible. A smart walk of a few moments up or down a mountain side, woul 1 carry one through a variation of temperature amounting to a degree. By the rule of Professor Leslie,* commonly adopted, 300 feet of elevation diminishes the temperature 1°; but the experiments of Humboldt, Gay- Lussac, and various other observers, have shown that this cannot be relied upon. One degree is usually equivalent to a greater ascent. Mr. Coffin (in the paper before alluded to) deduces the conclusion that in the State of New-York, the ascent necessary to decrease the temperature 1° is 350 feet. Taking the mean of the range of temperature of Asheville, as stated by Mr. B. it gives 773° as'the average summer temperature of that place, which, as will appear in the table below, is about 10° higher and warmer than that of New-York for the same season and year, (excepting on the beds of two rivers—the Hudson and Mohawk.) Applying the New-York rule to the region of Asheville, it would require, then, an elevation of some- thing like 3,500 feet on the mountain sides above that place, to equalize the temperature with that of the greater portion of New-York. To show the entire accuracy of the subjoimed table of temperatures, I would remark that it is founded on the Annual Reports of the Academies to the Regents of the University. The observations are therefore made by correct instruments,t on fixed conditions, and by scientific men. I have selected the points indicated in reference solely to a fair latitudinal and geographical distribution over the State ;{ and to enable you to find them on the map, the name of the place, instead of the Academy, is given : TABLE NO. 6. Tepe (ahesip _ Temperature 1842. Remarks. tude. | tion. | June. | July. | Aug. Flatbush ..|40°73'| 40/64 28/72 16/69 97|Near the extreme southern point of Long Island. -- Po’keepsie /41 41! -...161 29|76 83/71 56/On the Hudson. Elevation not given............ Albany..-.|42 39} 130)65 85/72 66|70 23 Potsdam ../44 40} 394/59 62/67 36]67 12)In St. Lawrence County ; north part of State....-.. Lowville..|43 47 | 800)60 51/67 52/64 46/On the Black River..............-2...0ecec cnn Utica ..... 43 06} 173/63 58/70 15/69 15 Syracuse../42 59] ....|59 75/65 77)\64 86 } Both in same county, but given on account of dif- Pompey --|42 56 | 1300/57 70|64 20/63 50; ference wn} elevations <.5. = ss eee eee ee Homer..-.,42 38 |} 1096/58 88/64 14/65 67|In the southern or grazing region.............--- Rthaca-- oc 42 27 | ° 417/63 380/69 65/67 74 Do. do. SaRice usa chelate Prattsburg.|-- -- | 1494/56 83/65 24/68 71 Do. dost!) See eee ec ie eens Rochester. /43 08 ; 506/60 66/66 94)67 35|In the heart of the Wheat growing region.......- Wyoming. }42 49] 800/59 97!71 50156 99 Do. do.» ~~, site See jFredonia .|42 26] 345|63 42/69 60/68 71|In the grazing region; on the shore of Lake Brie.. Lewiston..|43 09 | 280162 05/68 91/68 50/On Niagara River..........-...--.----.----ecee The five last named places are in “ Western New-York.” But there is one fact stated by Mr. Buckley, in relation to the lofty mountains of North Carolina, which, irrespective of all thermometrical observations, demonstrates conclusively, to my mind, their adaptation to sheep husbandry. This fact is, that white clover grows (of course, spon- taneously,) on them. Or perhaps I should rather say, that the mountains themselves become thermometers, their vegetation registering, by a well settled natural law, their temperate climate. Says Malte Brun: “Under the burning climate of the torrid zone, we have only to ascend the mourtains, te enjoy the fruits and flowers of the temperate regions. Tournefort found at the base of Mount * Prof. L.’s rule, however, was only made applicable by him to tropical regions. t Half, probably, of the thermometers in common use are inaccurate ! ¢ For the records of temperatures given, see Report of the Regents, 1843, p. 240. For latitudes and ele vations of the Academies, see Report of 1838, pp. 212 to 215, and map. : SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 51 Ararat the common vegetables of Armenia; half way up, those of Italy and France; and upon the summit, those of Scandinavia. Forster saw several Alpine plants upon the moun- tains of Terra del Fuego.” * Mr. Mudie also remarks: “Tf we take each mountain as the index of its own meridian, we shall find that each one expresses, by its vegetation, all the varieties of climate between it and the pole.’’* - Humboldt, and our own Doct. Forry, notice an equally striking develop- ment of this law, on the Western Continent.t This would go to show what I have little doubt is the fact, (my impres- sions, too, being strengthened by a comparison of latitude, elevation, and recorded thermometrical observations,) that on the sides of the Roan and other lofty mountains of North Carolina, and pretty well wp on their sides, too, the climate is not greatly dissimilar from that on the high grazing lands of New-York and New-England. On the sweetest and best of the latter, white clover always comes up spontaneously, and will immediately _re-sward any field thrown out of tillage. It sometimes flourishes on soils of ordinary fertility, but never on very sour or boggy ones, or on those the poachy character of which would render them liable to communicate hoof-rot or other diseases. It indicates, most decidedly, both a soil and climate fitted for sheep: You will not understand, Sir, of course, that in the remarks made and facts stated, at so great length, in relation to three or four mountains, my object has been simply to refute the views of Mr. Buckley in relation to them. In a region of 70,000 square miles, the unadaptation of half a dozen mountains, or a much greater number, to this or any other branch of husbandry, would be of but little comparative importance. Anticipat- ing, however, the croakings of the timid—the exaggerated counter state- ments of those rash and sanguine men who are eyer ready to rush into whatever is mew, without judgment to guide or perseverance to sustain them : who abandon their undertakings at the first obstacle, and apologize for their ficklety by magnifying the difficulties encountered by them: I deemed it expedient to lay before you some useful data for comparisons, (and conclusions,) which will be equally applicable in the case of all our southern mountains. The hilly and level regions west of the mountains, and lying between them and the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, scarcely require a separate no- tice—particularly after the statements of Mr. Cockrill, given in my second letter. “As a whole, they are undoubtedly more fertile, and better adapted to the production of the grasses, than those of corresponding latitude, in even the hilly zone, east of the mountains. * Mudie’s World. + Since making the extract above from Malte Brun, I observe the following better, or, at least, more defi- nite expression of the same fact by Doct. Forry: “In ascending a lofty mountain of the torrid zone. the reatest variety in vegetation is displayed. At its foot and under the burning sun, ananas and plantaing flourish : the regions of limes and oranges succeeds ; then follow fields of maize and luxuriant wheat ; and still higher, the series of plants known in the temperate zone. The mountains of temperate regions exhi- bit, perhaps, less variety, but the change is equally striking.” See Forry’s Climate of the United States. 52 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. LETTER AY: PROFITS OF SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTHERN STATES—I. DIRECT PROFIT ON CAPITAL INVESTED. . Different points of view in which the question of the profitableness of Sheep Husbandry in the Southern States is to be regarded. -.Direct profit on Capital invested first considered. ..Average prices of Wool in New-York. ..Average weight of fleece—Price of Sheep—Increase in Lambs—Amoant of Manure. --Price of Land...Number of Sheep supported per acre..-Kstimate of the Expenses and Profits of 100 Sheep, taking average prices of Wool for the last fourteen years. ..Present low prices of Sheep—Causes—Est mate of Profits of 100 Sheep, at present prices of Sheep and Woo}. .-Profits far below what they might be by breeding better Sheep. --Writer’s Flock—Annual yield of Wool—Prices sold at for six years—Statistica otf Premium Flock...Show that Wool can be produced at a large profit in New-York at present prices. -. Healthfulness and economy of substituting Mutton fer a portion of the Bacon consumed in the Southern States..-conomical advantages which Sheep possess over other animals—No risk by Death—Manure more valuable—Best clearers of Briery Lands—Improvers of Vegetation. ..The cost of producing Wool in the South, compared with the cost in New-York..-Number of Sheep which can be supported per acre South—Greater number than on land of the same quality North, by reason of the winter growth of grains and grasses in the former-..-.Col. Allston’s statement—R. L. Allen’s—Col. Hampton’s—Hon. R. F. Simp- son’s in relation to the Atlantic States south of Virginia. .-Price of Lands in those States... Winter Vege- tation in Tennessee, Kentucky and Virginia. ..Mr. Coles’s statement—John S. Skinner’s.-.Recapitalation. .. Estimate of Profits on 100 Sheep South—Compared with New-York-.--Protits on the Southern Mountains .--Doct. Brockenboro’s statements—Mr. Murdock’s... Economy of Migratory Sheep Husbandry-..Advan- tages for it in the South compared with those of Spain...Drawbacks on Profits of Sheep Husbandry Dogs and Wolves-...Their depredations compared with those in Australia and the Cape of Good Hope... Remedy. Dear Sir: In ascertaining the Profits of Sheep Husbandry in the Southern States, several considerations present themselves, apart from the mere question of direct annual profit or loss on a given investment in Sheep and in land for their subsistence. The more immediate and obvious profit is doubtless the first question; but in regarding the general advan- tages or disadvantages of this branch of husbandry—particularly in a re. gion circumstanced in all particulars as the Southern States are—i:e are farther to consider the practicability and comparative economy of making it the basis of an effectual amelioration in soils naturally sterile, or those which have been rendered so by excessive and injudicious cultivation ; and its comparative efficacy in giving to Southern Agricultare a mixed and convertible character, and thereby sustaining (or improving) all the resent good tillage lands, in the place of continuing the “ new and old field” system—(tilling land until it is worn out, then abandoning it and opening new lands,)—once so general, and even now by far too prevalent. And there is another point of no mean importance : whether, independent of preceding considerations, and even if the staples furnished by sheep husbandry proved no more profitable, in direct returns on capital invested, than some of the present staples, it would not be better economy, on the whole, for the South to produce the raw material and manufacture domes- tic woolens, particularly for the apparel and bedding of slaves, than to be dependent for them on England or Massachusetts. To ascertain the direct and immediate profit on investment in sheep hus- bandry, let us appeal to well settled facts and statistics, instead of content- ing ourselves with vague and general propositions. For the following Table of the average prices of good wool* in the State of New-York, which was published in my replies to Mr. Walker’s “ Treasury Circular” in * Such wools as are used for the manufactnre of broad and other cloths of good quality—ranging, say, from 3th blood Merino to pure Saxon—excluding native, grade (below }th Merino), and all English wooks SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 53 ee 1845,* I was indebted to a most respectable and extensive purchaser of wool, and its accuracy is beyond question. TABLE No. 7. Average price per pound. | Year. Average price per pound.| See eee .-40 cents. UBER Sereno mEee Raeaee 50 cents. if eh SAB CGH SAO 50 do. ERO nrccecais ora a)e ae RS ae ie 4 BR Ae CARER 45 do. SAE Stee hate. ecco 35 do. BMD Tso 5 ot = aic,5,6 mre, Sawa ot -48 do. ° RA alee aerate at sVe te ae axon 30 do. BE isle Shwster ata aaa ec oek 54 do. RAS cin wiclan a Sfmlate mena e 31. do. petate ais ee cotati a a 30 do. VBA oe Seicickie's «ences 4401 dds LURES SS eee: eres 36 do. Ue EE oe Pe Sea aries yam tb It will thus be seen that for a period of fourteen years: preceding 1845, the average price of good wools was 394 cents per pound.t The average weight of fleece in sheep yielding this wool has been about 3 lbs.; the pure-blood Saxons less; but those bearing the coarsest wool included, in the average, more. The average price of sheep of the quality under consideration, has been not less than $2 per head in the fall, and lambs half that pricet The an- nual increase in lambs would be about 80 per cent., or if less by reason of the number of wethers in the flock, the growth of the latter would give a corresponding increase in profit. One hundred sheep, properly littered, will make at least forty loads of manure during the one hundred and fifty days during which they are confined to dry feed, in our Northern winters. : The grazing lands of New-York, cut up as they are into small farms,|{ and each being provided with dwelling and farm buildings, are worth from $15 to $30 per acre. Prime sheep lands will average about $20.4 In relation to the amount of land necessary to support a given number of sheep, the experience of a good many years has satisfied me that the rule commonly laid down on the grazing lands of New-York and New- England, that, on the average, one acre of land will give subsistence to three fine-wooled sheep throughout the year, is an accurate one.] On grain farms, it is considered good economy to keep one sheep for every acre of cleared land which the farm contains; on those where mixed husbandry is practiced, two ; and, on those exclusively devoted to sheep, three. In the following, and all similar estimates, I shall reckon the profits on the /and and expenditures, instead of the /and and the commonly quoted prices of grass, hay, &c., consumed. These prices, in the interior, are * See Report of the Secretary of the Treasury, 1845, p. 461. I thought, and so stated to Mr. Walker, that the Table placed wools about 14 cents per pound too high, But subsequent information has convinced me that I was in error. In my statement of the average profits of sheep husbandry, in those replies, [ estima. ted the average price of wool by the prices paid by a local and much smaller purchaser, and for a come paratively limited term of years. I was not then aware of the utter defectiveness of the U.S. Census re turns (pointed out in Letter II.) in relation to the annual product of wool, and therefore was misied in the average weight of fleeces; and, speaking from impression rather than experiment, I placed the value of the manure altogether too low. Those questions and replies have led me into experiments and inquiries, which have resulted in more accurate information. I aliude to this subject, because I think it every man’s duty to correct any errors or explain any discrepancies subsequently discovered Sy him, in his statements which have been thrown before the public, and thus are placed in a position to mislead. + During 1846 it was from 30 to 32 cents per pound, but as this estimate is not based on extensive pur- chases, like the preceding, | have not placed it in the table. } Including grade sheep, which form the greatest proportion of the whole number. There have been very few pure-blood Merinos in the State, and many of the Saxon flocks have been so iniserably deterio- rated in carcass and weight of fleece, that they have sold for low prices. But good Saxons sold much above this until within three or four years: since then, the Merinos have been rapidly driving out the Saxons, and those of good quality and undoubted pedigree have sold for from five to twenty-five times ag much. The higher the price, the greater the profits, by reason of the value of the increase. . || It would be my impression that the farms in the grazing regions do not, on the average, exceed 136 acres each. Id est, in the grazing region. | { say “ tine-wooiled sheep,” because the larger and coarser Downs, Leicesters, Cotsw vids, &c. consumes much more, as will hereafter be shown. 54 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH, merely nominal, as they cannot be obtained for beyond a small portion of the annual crop. They do not, therefore, form a proper basis for correct general estimates. The expenses and losses in keeping sheep, not already alluded to, are all set down below, as high as they will average on well managed farms. ! Dr. $ cts. cr. S| es: 100 Sheep to interest on purchase money. ---.14 00 | By 300 Ibs. of Wool, at 39 4-7 cts per Ib: 11x 71 3-7 To int. on 33! acres of land at $20 per acre. ...46 66, ** 80 lambs at $l per head..-..--.-.--- 80 00 “ curing and storing hay on llacres ofaboye.13 75 | ‘“ 40 2-horse loads of winter manure at “expense of shearing...----+-----.------. 4 00 oO/centaiper load ac fae aea- eee 20 00 “ salt, tar and summer care-..----.--------- 400] “ summer manure, calling it only equal “ Jabor of foddering, &c., during winter, say. 5 00 to shearing and summer care*.... 8 0 | © loss by death 2 per cent. above the value of Total 5996 71 3-71 PUllede WOOGIE sere eee ee meine ae ees 4 00 OFAN Fiona ea eee Total... -scccceccecceccecceoe- Gl 41 | PBA LEMS <5 ele teas tee a ane te -.9135 30 3-7 Making the net profit of $405, or 204 per cent. per acre on lands worth $20. Since the passage of the Tariff of 1846, there has evidently been a panic among the wool-growers of New-York, and the rise in bread-stuffs, beef, pork, and dairy products, occasioned by the change in the British Tariff, and the famine which has prevailed in ‘Europe by reason of the short crops of 1846, has tended farther to depreciate sheep, by offering inducements supposed to be very strong, to embark in branches of husbandry furnish- ing the former staples.t Sheep are consequently cheaper than they ever were before. Prime grade sheep, bearing wool of as good quality as the average of that embraced in Table 7, have in some instances sold for ten shillings per head, and coarse common sheep for one dollar—lambs half a dollar—making, in the ordinary proportion between lambs and grown sheep, about 75 cents per head, taking a flock through ! Wool of the quality embraced in Table 7 has fallen to an average of say 31 cents. Under the impression that sheep and wool have reached their minimum prices,{ it becomes an interesting subject of inquiry whether they can yet be produced, at a profit,in New-York. The following figures I think, will fairly show: SS SSS SS SSS Dr. Cee Tae CA $ cta. 100 Sheep. to interest on purchase money, at By 300 lbs of Wool, at 31 cents per pound...93 00 ‘ HLS persheads 2-4 .6e sete “Peas sete 8 75 | “ 80 lambs, at 624 cents per head.....-.... 50 00 To int. on 33} acres of land at $20 per acre..46 66} “ 40 2-horse loads of winter manure, at 50 “ cutting, curing and storing hay on 1) acres cents per JOn@ id; asco en eee eee eee 20 00 Ofabove...--...----+----------------- 13 75 | “ summer manure, calling it only equal to Bex Dense OMRTCATING: alesicie= cis jase aime els 4 00 shearing and summer care. -.....--...- 8 ha ee 2 se Eee tar, salt and summer care..--.---------- 4 00 Peale 4 $17 00 “ labor of foddering, &c. during winter, say. 5 00 “ loss by death 2 per ct. above the value of DINER OO) items meine ene mes anal sre 2 50 ROCA S dip stseuatars opsppal ve $84 66 ‘Balance.'. .-.5cj30. tence eee £86 34 Making $2 59, or nearly 13 per cent. net profit per acre on lands worth $20. Ini the preceding estimates I have only regarded the profit of sheep hus- bandry, as it has averaged for a series of years, among those possessing good ordinary flocks. * I place the summer manure, undoubtedly, considerably below its actual value. No experienced farmer will say that good solid sheep manure is worth less than 50 cents per load, and as the summer manure -s at eat equal in quantity. and is deposited immediately on the land, I see no reason why it is not equally valuable. t That the diminution of Fnglish duties on these staples will give them a better and steadier market, thera ean be little doubt; but not the very high one of the past season, occasioned by the severe famine which has prevailed in many parts of Great Britain, Many, therefore, who have sacrificed their sheep, reckoning on such prices, will probably find that they have “reckoned without their host.” t I say this under the decided impression that our wools, at this price, if properly washed and put up, would triumphantly compete in the foreign markets with those of the wool-growing nations of Europe; and even with those of Australia, the Cape of Good Hope, and other Austro-oriental regions. Fora more full examination of this point, see Appendix D. Hf SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 55 SS Tt falls far short of that realized by breeders and flock-masters, wha started their flocks with the best pure-blood sheep then to be found in the _ country ; and who have subsequently continued to improve them by great care in breeding, and by a rigorous course of selection. I have bred Merino sheep for a number of years, and latterly in consid- erable numbers; and in no case have my grown sheep averaged less than 5 Ibs. of well washed wool per annum. The quality of the wool may be inferred from a comparison of the prices at which it has sold, with those in Table 7. In 1846, | sold for 35 cents per pound ; ™ 1845, for 331 cents ; . . . eS in 1844, for 48 cents; in 1845, for 33} cents; m 1842, for 35 cents, and SG On. To give more precise data, I select the following statement of the pro- ducts of a flock, on which I drew the first premium offered by the New- York State Agricultural Society for “the best managed flock of sheep,” in 1844: {From the ‘Transactions of the N, Y. State Agricultural Society, 1844, p. 254.] “Tn the winter of 1843-4, I wintered in a separate flock fifty-one ewes over one year old, two ewe lambs, two rams, one of them one and one of them two years old. Of the ewes over one year old, twenty-eight were full-blood Mermos ; twenty-three were half-blood Me- rinos and hall-blood South-Downs; the two ewe lambs were three-fourth-blood Merino and one-fourtli-blood South-Down: and the two rams were [wl-blood Merinos. The flock were kept as follows through the winter: They were fed hay morning and night, and were, as a general rule, required to eat it up clean. At noon the flock were daily fed three bundles of oats and barley (which had grown mixed, say three parts oats and one part barley,) until the 25th of December—after which theysreceived fow bundles of oats. The grain was light and shrunken. They received no hay at noon during the winter, and usually consumed g hey hay : ) all the straw of the grain fed them. They had a good shelter, and access to pure water at alltimes. From this flock I raised fifty-three lambs. The full-blood Merinos, including two rams, and the two three-fourth-blood lambs, (in all thirty-two,) sheared one hundred and eighty-six pounds and four ounces of washed wool, which I sold at forty-eight cents per pound. Four of the full-bloods had two years’ fleeces on. The half-blood Merinos and halfblood South-Downs (twenty-three) sheared eighty aud one-half pounds of washed wool, seventy-one pounds of which I sold at thirty-eight cents per pound. During the summer of 1844, the flock were kept in good ordinary pasture, and salted ouce a week.” Thus, the Merino fleeces averaged 5 lbs. 134 0z. and sold for $2 793 each; and the grades between Merino and South-Down averaged 3 lbs. § oz. to the fleece, and sold for $1 33 each. It will be observed that four of the full-bloods (they were ewes) had two years’ fleeces on. A two years’ fleece will not weigh as much as two single years’ fleeces from the same sheep. On the average, it will weigh about three-quarters as much.* On the other hand, the lot included two three-quarter-blood lamb fleeces, which would fall below the average weight of the others, and a portion of the flock were yearlings and two- year olds. The Merino never attains its maximum weight of fleece before three years old, and ordinarily not until four, and therefore the aggregate weight of wool of the 32 sheep, given above, does not,,to say the least of it, give too favorable a view of the product of sheep of this quality. This is proved by the fact that my entire flock of full-bloods sheared about three-twentieths of an ounce over six pounds each, the succeeding year. It would give me great pleasure to subjoin similar statistics of other carefully bred flocks, were authorized statements of them in my posses- sion, or published within my knowledge. It is sufficiently apparent from the above facts and estimates, that wool has not yet reached the lowest point at which it can be produced at an ample profit, on lands of the value indicated, 7f the sheep are of the proper * That is to say, if the single years’ fleeces would equal 6 Ibs. each, atwo years’ fleece, instead of weigh ing twice as much, or 12 lbs., will not exceed three-quarters of such aggregate weight, or 9 lbs. The woes wastes when it becomes so long, and perhaps does not grow so rapidly. 56 SHEEP HUSBANDRY iN THE SOUTH. quality ; and these facts farther suggest the expediency of relying on our own efforts to ‘‘ protect” this interest, rather than the fickle support of National legislation. For the production of a cheap, wholesome, and highly nutritious food, no animal excels the sheep. Theoretical considerations, as well as exper- iment, show the superiority of mutton to pork in the formation of vigor- ous muscle ;* and its tendency is less, particularly in hot climates, to en- gender inflammatory and putrid diseases. The consumption of consider- able quantities of fat is indispensable, in cold climates, to supply the necessary amount of carbon to support ‘ combustion,” as Liebig terms it, in the lungs, or, in other words, to maintain the animal heat. Hence the Laplander and the Esquimaux find a grateful diet in train-oil, or the adi- pose parts of Arctic fish and mammalia. That fat pork should be the favorite meat, in the Northern States, is not perhaps so singular, but that it (under the name of bacon) should constitute the principal one consumed in our warm Southern latitudes, and especially that it should constitute so large a proportion of all the food consumed, is indeed a most anomalous fact, and is utterly unparalleled amoung the practices of other nations occu- pying the same latitudes. The tendency of this practice to produce dis- ease, physical inertia, indisposition and incapacity to sustain continued activity, will not, I think, be questioned by the pathologist or the close ebserver. Mutton and lamb are a favorite, if not the favorite food of the English of all classes. Notwithstanding all that has been said and written of the “roast beef” of “ Old England,” mutton is more eaten there by people of every rank.t On the other hand, it is evidently xot a favorite meat in the United States, though its proportionable consumption is evidently increas- ing. Whence the difference ? Circumstances have led to habit, and habit, in a great measure, regulates appetite. It needs no other proof than is to be found in the experience of every individual, to show that the appe tite is readily trained to relish what was even positively disgusting, and to become indifferent to what was once the most grateful. That the preceding facts are well worthy of attention among those who are favorable to the introduction of sheep husbandry, among planters who supply not less than 3 lbs. per week of good bacon, or a full equivalent, to each slave, on plantations where the number ranges from ten to one hun- dred, and sometimes many more, there can be little doubt. Twenty-five slaves would thus consume 3,900 Ibs. of bacon per annum; and the more common allowance of the opulent planter is about 200 Ibs. per head, or 5,000 Ibs. for twenty-five. If an equivalent for at least half of this was * The theoretical considerations will be found sufficiently discussed in Liebig’s “ Animal Chemistry.” For experimental evidence, I know of none that can be more depended on—which approaches any nearer actual demonstration—than that which is furnished by the English prize-fighters. To attain the proper con. dition to sustain the protracted and tremendous exertions of their brutal trade, their Hesh must attain the hardness and toughness of whipcord, and they must, at the same time, maintain that physical elasticity (technically, “ cerkiness,”) which adds agility to iron strength. These men, while training, are suffered to eat little or no adipose matter, and not even the lean of pork. Their animal food is exclusively beef or mutton, or both. Some trainers prefer the former, some the latter. I have seen this matter very fully al- luded to, but do not now remember any more explicit authority than that contained in the following note to Carpenter's Principles of Human Physiology, (p. 357.) “Tbe method of training employed by Jackson, (a celebrated trainer of prize-fighters in modern times,) as deduced from his answers to questions put to him by John Bell, was to begin on a clear foundation by an emetic and two or three purges. Beef and mutton, the lean of fat meat being prefer: ed, constituted the principal food; veal, lamb and pork were said to be less digestible (‘the last purges s9me men’), Fish was said to be a ‘ watery kind of diet ;’ and is employed by jockeys who wish to reduce weight by sweat- ing.” ¥ I mean this portion of the remark to apply more particularly to the non-Jaboring classes. The propor tion consumed by the slave, though ample, is not excessive, when his laboring habits are taken into can sideration t I state this on the authority of various individuals who have been much in England, and who have been placed in positions to form a pretty accurate opinion. Mr. Colman speaks of the “extraordinary” consumption of mutton in England, without, however, giving any comparative data. SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 57 made in mutton, it would be far cheaper, and, if I have not erred in previ: ous statements, better for the slave. There are two or three other highly favorable considerations to be taken into account among the direct profits of rearing sheep. The risk by death, by ordinary causes, is nothing. Two per cent. is al- lowed in the preceding estimates, as the full product of wool and increase is carried out. But, in reality, the sheep never dies “insolvent.” If the colt or the bullock dies on our hands, after two or three years of trouble and expense with it, the loss is nearly a total one. If the fine-wooled sheep dies at any age, the wool then on it, or what it has already produced, more than covers all the cost which it has ever made us.* Not only is the winter manure of the sheep superior to that of any other domestic animal, the hog and fowl excepted, but it practically becomes still more so in proportion, in summer, when scattered over the pastures, by reason of the conditions in which it is deposited. The soft porous ex- crements of the cowt or horse, exposed to the exsiccating action of sun and wind, evolve most of their fertilizing properties into the atmosphere, and this effect would increase in proportion to the warmth of the climate. The excrements of the sheep, on the other hand, are deposited in small, hard, rounded pellets, which fall down between the leaves of the grass, and are thus in a great measure protected from the sun and wind, until they are trodden into and incorporated with the soil.t Then, again, they need no spreading,|| like the dung of the horse and cow. And finally, instinet, in leading the sheep almost invariably to seek the summits of the elevations, in warm weather, for its night quarters, leads it to deposit much more ma- nure in proportion, where it is most needed, on the drier and more barren hill-tops ; and where, being more remote from water-courses, less of its juices are liable to be washed away by rains, into the streams, or on to the lands of others. Sheep are also far more efficient than any other animal (if we except the worthless goat) in clearing up new lands, or neglected old ones, of those briers and shrubs which it is often difficult to eradicate without plow- ing; and they often abound on lands which cannot be plowed with profit. And, when plowed, the shrubs in the fence corners must be left (to the utter shame of all good husbandry), or the fence must be removed—some- times at a great inconvenience. The sheep deliglits to browse on the buds, and to strip the bark of most shrubs,§ and they thus soon destroy them. It would be good economy for the farmer to keep his neighbors’ sheep, with- out charge, on all very briery or coppiced unarable lands, if he could not so stock them himself. Finally, it is generally believed by experienced flock-masters—and ob- servation has led me to fully coincide in the opinion—that sheep not only improve the lands they depasture more than any other animal, but that they exert an almost specific influence in improving the character of thw vegetation. All wild, poor grasses gradually disappear from their pastures * T speak, of course, of the cost of rearing and feeding. * Gazzeri found that 100 parts of recent cow-dung contain 25 per cent. of dry, solid matter, and that 5 pes zent. of this is lost in 40 days by exposure to the air, I do not think this indicates the full loss which would be sustained in a southern latitude. { These rounded pellets are covered, too, in the animal in good condition, with a coating of mucus, which farther protects them from evaporation. || Their urine, also, is voided in quantities which render it highly beneficial; while that of the horse and cow is voided in such large quantities in one place that it is not only in a great measure wasted, but in a iry time (so that it is not diluted by the moisture in the soil), its rich salts, so far from benefiting, actually kill the verdure. § This is particularly true of the blackberry or bramble (Rubrus villosus), and the raspberry (Rubus fdoeus), >ften great pests on new or neglected lands at the North: Sheep can even be made to attack tho elder (Sambucus canadensis var. pubescens ), and various other troublesome intruders, by turning them upon them in thawing “spells,” in the winter, after they have been for some time confined to dry feed. 58 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. and are succeeded by the best ones; and the sward becomes remarkably dense and even. ‘This is probably adie to the richness and better distribu- tion of their dung and urine. if upward of twenty per cent. profits, over and above all expenditures, have been and still can be made, on lands worth $20 per acre, by wool- growing—on lands, too, where the reign of an iron winter confines sheep to dry feed at least five ‘months of the year—how are we to estimate those profits on lands costing but a small part of this sum, which, though inferion to the former, will, by reason of the shortness and mildness of the winter support about an equal number of sheep per acre, and also save the ex- pense of preparing dry feed, of foddering, and a large proportion of thar laid out in barns, shelters, &c. ? It will be seen that, by assuming the data of the last of the two preced ing estimates (with the exception of the loss by death), the gross cost of ee courens 300 lbs. of wool, on the grazing lands of New-York, is $82 16, or 2722 cts. per pound. This is undoubtedly as /ow as it can be produced where yihe fleeces do not exceed the average weight of 3 lbs. Let us now proceed to inquire what would be the gross expense per pound in the Southern States. You inform me that “ one or two—not more—” sheep find subsistence during the summer on the zatural pastures of the tde-water zone in South Carolina.* The broad-tailed, and other large breeds, now mainly fed there, consume nearly double the amount of feed required by the fine- wooled sheep. But, to make our estimate perfectly a safe one, we will assume that two fine-wooled sheep only will consume the summer herbage of an acre. Fields of rye sown in September or October, you farther in- form me, will support “two sheep and their lambs’ per acre, ‘“ from the 20th of December to the 10th of March.” Numerically, then, here you have the same stocking that is borne by the lands of New-York, viz. three sheep per acre. And, making the allowance already alluded to for the different consumption of breeds) an acre would sustain three full-growy Merino sheep. As the rye subsequently yields its crop, the wool is not chargeable with the expense of its tillage. Rye will continue to grow in the winter on all lands not too sterile, o1 too elevated, south of latitude 36°, and, in favorable situations, at least two degrees farther north. Grass, and some other hardy esculents, alse maintain a winter vegetation in many portions of the whole of this re- gion.t R. L, Allen, Esq., after a recent visit to the plantation of Col. “Wade Hampton, near Columbia, 8S. C., thus speaks of the winter verdure in that region : “Though everything like grass or weeds is rigidly excluded in the early stages of ‘the crops, yet, as these approach maturity, the thick netting of crab and varions other grasses and plants, which are ever struggling tor existence in this warm clime, are allowed to come forward and mature; and their “erowth furnishes forage for cattle and sheep during the win- ter, and an important addition to the vegetable manures for turning under and adding to the fertility of the soil... . The sheep, together with the cattle, “mules and horses, which are not at work, are turned into the natnral pastures in summer, and, in addition to these, they have the run of the corn-fields in winter, and without seeing any other shelter agiinst the severest storms than a thicket or hill-side, they thrive and fatten throughout the year.— This condition is secured by the mildness of the climate, and the consequent growth of vege tation during the entire winter.” * |These statements, and all others credited to Col. Allston, are, when not otherwise specified, contained letters from that. gentle man to the writer. ] + Among there, “a plant called * Wild Rye,’ affording excellent herbage during the winter months, springs ze ot on the rice-field banks, and between the cotton beds, on some plantations on the River engaree, 5 2 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN* THE SOUTH. 59 John S. Skinner, Esq. thus writes me :* “Col. Hampton's flock numbers 800, I believe. He kills the finest sort of mutton through out the winter and sprmg—very fat and excellent in all respects. He told me last summer, at Saratoga, that they never get a mouthful except what they can find in the woods and fields.” ; Hon. R. F. Simpson, Member of Congress, of Pendleton, South Caro lina, thus describes the region in which he resides, and some of the contig uous ones :t Henry S. Ranpatt, Esq. WaAsHINGTON, Jan. 22, 1847. Dear Sir: 1 take much pleasure in answering your inquiries, and only regret that I have not more time to do full justice to the subject. If my answers fail to inform you with suffi cient clearness on any point, I shall be most happy to add to them, at your suggestion. The Allegany Mountains, as you are aware, run from N. E. toS8. W. That part of them north of the S. C. line lies spread out in different chains or ridges to a distance of nearly 50 miles ; and the whole region is commonly called “ on the mountains.” The climate is healthy and the grass fine. Many of the valleys in this region are very rich, particularly. on the wa- ter-courses. The ground is covered with snow as much as four weeks annually. The range ‘is good, but there may be too much humidity for sheep.{ The land is cheap, say $1 per acre—but much can be bought at 50 cents. I have learned from good authority that sheep can be farmed out during the winter at ten cents a head, in any ordinary quantity. The farmers who take them, too, will be liable for loss by death, in many instances. There is a strip of country lying east of the Blue Ridge, and parallel to it, from 20 to 30 miles wide, extending through North and South Carolina and Georgia, which I think espe- cially adapted to sheep husbandry. The land is poor for the production of our sonthern sta- ples, and is sparsely settled, but the pasturage is good. There is a perennial grass, known as “woods grass,” which springs up in the woods after they are burned each winter, which makes excellent pasture for all kinds of stock. It starts vigorously in the spring, aud sheep fatten on it by the middle of July. It lasts all the summer, and provides sufficient food for sheep during the entire winter, except when snow is on the ground, which is not more than two or three days at a time and usually not more than ten days during a winter. The few days during which the grass is covered up with snow are the only ones, during the entire year, when it is necessary to feed sheep. This is usually done with oats in the sheaf. . . . Supposing ten sheep equal to one cow, I think one acre would afford sub sistence to three sheep. : But few people mow here. In a few instances, herds-grass has been sown and mowed, but the product not weighed, to my knowledge. Both herds-grass and the natural ones, on our bottom lands, look much richer, and to all appearance would turn off a heavier crop of hay than any th to be seen on the line of travel through Virginia. As Ihave betore remarked, the land is poor, except the small bottoms on creeks and branches. The latter are rich, and will produce 30 bushels of corn and from 10 to 15 bush. els of wheat per acre. They also produce oats and rye, but I do not know how much by measurement. I suppose from 10 to 20 bushels each. The land is valued low—from 50 cts. to $1 50 per acre—and it is only necessary to buy $500 or $1,000 worth of it, to embrace sufficient bottom to raise provisions, and oats to feed sheep when snow is on the ground.— The rangel| is very large, and everybody’s stock has liberty to roam over it, without hin- drance or compensation. Our common method of managing sheep is as follows: The flock are kept in the planta- tion during the winter by some; others turn out in the woods. In May they are sheared, the lambs marked, &c., and they are turned into the out pastures. When they come up, they are salted, and no other attention is paid to them until fall, when most persons shear again. They are rarely brought up unless to get a lamb for the table. This treatment ren- ders them wild, and prone to jump into the owners’ or neighbors’ wheat fields, from which they are driven out with rocks and sticks, and sometimes with dogs. They are, in all re- * Jan. 15, 1847. t+ This letter would have been more appropriately included in my IVth Letter, but was not received in time, and it is by far too valuable and interesting to be omitted. t The etfect of humidity on sheep is, I think, often misunderstood and greatly exaggerated. _Wer, cold soils are uncongenial to sheep, but they suffer no more from those ordipary fogs and vapors which prevail in insular positions, or which are attracted by mountain ranges, than other domestic animals. As has been before remarked, sheep thrive in the peculiarly foggy atmosphere of England—also in Holland. Their healthiness on mountains is proverbial, yet these elevations are usually subject to fogs. and clouds rest on the sides or summits of the loftier ones. As the southern mountains are cleared of their trees, their atmo- sphere wi!l be less humid, and that soft vegetable mould (which excited the fears of Mr Buckley) will ac- quire the consistency which it always does on a dry foundation, when exposed to the sun and air; and it will be the means of supplying the sheep with rich vegetable nutriment. instead of poisoning them with * hoof-ail.” ; k : : : }| ‘Phe provincial signification of this word, South, is the uninclosed pasturage in the forest and “out fields,”—7. ¢., worn-out lands thrown out to commons, % 60 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. spects, treated more like outlaws than domestic animals. When out, all the flocks in the neighborhood mingle together. From their disposition to ramble, and the incursions of dogs, they get scattered, and scarcely any farmer can get up to the fall shearing more than one« half of his count. The region above described includes Pickens, Grenville and Spartansburg, so far as this State is concerned. Going east of this strip, you at once get into good land, where the set- tlements ave frequent. Here snow is rare, and wheat, rye and barley are used for winter pastures for sheep, and they continue growing during the winter. Wood grass does not abound in this region, as the woods are not kept burnt.* Very resvectfully, yours, &c. R. F. SIMPSON. The preceding statements give a sufficient idea of the expense of feed- ing sheep in the Carolinas, Georgia, and the Gulf States. In all of these, there is a striking similarity in soils and natural products, and also in cli mate—with, perhaps, the exception of North Carolina, which is a trifle colder. In all of them, as well as in all the other Southern States, land can be bought at the same low prices.t The cost of the winter forage of sheep in Tennessee may be inferred from the statements of Mr. Kramer, (in Letter 1V.) On even the lofty Cumberland Mountains, in that State, grass grows during the entire win- ter, and snow rarely covers the ground to exceed forty-eight hours! Judge Beatty’s statements in relation to Kentucky (in the same letter) show that the luxuriant blue-grass pastures of that State will sustain sheep during the entire winter; and that they frequently obtain their whole subsistence on the grasses, even on the mountains. Let us now turn to Virginia, the most northern of the Southern States. In a recent letter to me, John S. Skinner, Esq. says : “ Hon. Mr. Coles, a Member of Congress from Virginia}—a sedate, attentive and practical farmer—once inforined me that his flock of 200 sheep, kept in good condition summer and winter, did not cost him $10 a year. . . .». You must know that they, in the generat way, as [ believe, never feed their sheep, winter or summer, except where the ground is covered with snow—which is rarely the case, and then the snow does not lie more than a day, or at most two days. . . . No doubt winter pasture might be provided by sowing rye in the proper season (the usual system is to sow it the last thing, and as long as the farmer can “ catch a chance”) and putting the ground in good conditiqgngagend. in that way ame 5 a ~~ _ adequate provision might be made for any deficiency of natural pasture.” > . . . When the snow does cover the ground in Virginia, they give the sheep corn-blades—an excellent fodder. I think the rule was when I was a boy (in the rare exigency alluded to) to give them a bundle of blades each. A bundle of blades compacted would be about as large as the upper part of your arm.” North-Western Virginia seems to be considerably colder than the corre- sponding portion of the State east of the mountains; and the winter fod- dering season is not greatly shorter—though the amount of fodder con- sumed mast be far less—than in Western Pennsylvania, or in many por- tions of New-York.|| Yet, singularly enough, more sheep are bred here in proportion probably, than in any other portion of the Southern States! * Some other paragraphs from this letter are omitted for quotation under the heads of which they specif: ically treat. 7 Hon S Strong, a Member of Congress from this (N. Y.) State, writes me, after consultation with vari- ous Southern Member-, that “ good lands may be purchased for $1 50 per acre, and in great abundance, in most of the Southern States.” Mr. Garret \ndrews, of Wilkes Co., Georgia, in a communication in the American Agriculiurist (April, 1844), saye: “Several hundred acres (in the middle or hilly zone) are often sold for a dollar or less per acre. ‘Tne usual rale is to sell the wood-land tor what it may be thought to be worth, and sive the pur- chaser the old lands and the houses for nothing. . . . . For $1,000 or $1,500, a comfortable honse and out-hou-es, garden, &c. may be had, “vith -everal hundred acres of land, . . wanting nothing buta fair chance to become as fertile as may be desired. . . . There is no end or the materials for manure.” IT reeentiy sav it stated by a gentleman in a communication which was published in the N. Y. Farmer and Mechani., that he was wuthorized to give away good land in the Cumberland Mountains to sober and indus trious settleis. The prices in the N. C. Mountains will be seen from Mr. Clingman’s letter, (Letter IV.) ¢ Mr. Coles resided in Pittsylvania, a county adjoining North Carolina, in the middle or hilly zone. || Jesse Edgington, of Holliday’s Cove, Brooke Co, Va. writes me: “ Our average time of foddering fs at least 4 months, and we generally provide provender equal to 5 tons of hay for each nundred grown shecp, fur the winter.” SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 61 This region being essentially Northern in its characteristics no allusion _ will be had to it in subsequent remarks. It will be seen from the preceding statements that in many, if not most situations, throughout the whole Southern States, sheep will obtain suffi- cient food throughout the year from the pastures,* or from autumn-sown grains, excepting on the higher or more northern mountains. As has been before remarked, as the grain subsequently yields its crop, its tillage is not properly chargeable among the expenses of producing wool. The prepa- ration of hay, and labor of foddering, are also dispensed with. By the tule of estimation followed in relation to New-York, the items on the debit side of the account would then be—interest on purchase money ; interest on land; expense of shearing; salt, tar, and general supervision; and loss by death. ‘The items on the credit side would be the same with those of New-York. Your own statements, Sir, as well as those of Mr. Simpson, show that, in many situations, both in the tide-water and hilly zone, three sheep can be supported on the herbage of an acre, without other fodder. His state- ments show that such lands can be bought at “ from 50 cents to $1 50 per acre.’ ‘The annual account then would stand thus: Dr. $ cts. Cr. & cts. 100 sheep—to interest on purchase money, at By 300 lbs. of wool at 31 cents per pound...$93 00 “UMTS ATES Gee a ee ee $8 75 | * 80 lambs, at 624 cents per head...---... 50 00 To interest on 33} acres of Jand at $1 50 ..... 3 50 | “ Manuret..............----..-----..--- 28 00 ‘Texpense of shearing...2---....--.000---- 4 00 Total 17 “ salt, tar, and general supervision ....-.... 8 00 gener ain hinge i rime Ute Pea ne “loss by death 2 per cent. over and above value of pulled wool ....--..----.------ 2 50 ‘ WD AY shins 35 2 hia 778,835} 3,137,438} 5,113,442) 28,799,661) 26,073,882] 23,792,186] 21,812,099 Leto tare) eee eae Aaa se yan is e 301,855 46,247 Botsingal: |. cohedas ea 3 2,873) 432,832 186,051) 1,059,243 939,123 5 931/999 134/095 WAN CAs seleiaaaeeca sa lejoleie 756,427 230,999 436,678 45,093 104,535 48,830 POLUUL A state = ale eiaie = iieta ee 3,018.961} 1,146,607 95,187 953,793 461,942) 683,231 374,915 S)PRN NE mee Sé 4A e A vosse 5,952,407] 5,929,579] 3,536,229] 8,206,427] 1,643,515] 1,602,752) 1,266,905 Gibraltar’ e.2. seescee 349,053 12,891 3,051 19,250 476.737 242,734 Walaa eu sn cise eiciies 21,554 97,679 2,815 227,453 9,461} 1,051,005} 1,668,541 MAITAR Pers os sbiecneteece 40,040 55,804 5,050 72,131 39,913 2,209 LOnian Wslesso2.scccccmsies 25,983 121,110 MONG a OcO seca cete= aloisele 816,625 42,893 Munke yet ent ae eensee 12,513 189,584 513,414 1,281,839 655,964 SKPOR Giese degeasbs6-594 : 34,049 Cape of Good Hope...--- 29,717 23,363 13,869 27,619 33,407 191,624 751,741 Africa, other parts...-.--- 5.102 337,908 Sill GRAS eR asa ecksar 4,683 East Indies isaac 701 8,056 Gate 295,848) 2,441,370 New South Wales ....... 3,330 ¢ 6,215,329 Bear ean WY ples se -54 167} 73,171 99,415} 323,995 § 903'979 $4,210,301 eee ert Php aectsnete s/s llne 789,398 Swanuhaver coven ciacttsisie. 3 42,748 South Australia. -2....... 51,590 British America.......... 1,217 139 70 14 15,793 British West Indies.-.... 2,894 53 760 1,725) 2,029 3,286 United States of America. 8,533 578 80,468 7,313 237,306 115,095 Guatemalaeaees aaes noe 3,009 Colombia eeste-posanasee 842 Brazil ace ace cosets 43,014 4,311 4,277 37 1,148 18,760 9,182 Rio de la Plata..........- 73,159 41,527 68,759 331,265 19,441 962,900) 616,721 Chile eos Gare ope 14,792 2 586,796 PON AES miele Mite iomie eee mieye 14,313 5,741 Me@xiCO i icky 2.15.40 = Satpetee 1,213,740 Guernsey and Man,...--- 41407 6,264 19,015 22,266 7,745 246 11.830 Total Pounds weight.| 10,914,137| 13,640,375! 9,780,020} 43,795,281| 32,313,059] 49,174,532) 40,224,781 | * Bischoff, Table 6th, Appendix. t Report of the Secretary of the Treasury, 1846. t See Bischoff, vol. ii.. pp. 107, 153, 154, 163, 173, 175, 176, &c. The testimony here alluded to, or ar abstract of it will be given in a subsequent Letter, || If these sound like strong expressions, I have to say that I shall be prepared to prove them. and shal] 60 do, in a subsequent Letter, from the testimony of the first manufacturers of England before a Committee of the House of Lords. Nor were the facts disputed by an interest represented before the same Committee, who had every inducement to do so, if they could be sustained in it § See Appendix of the above work, vol. ii. Misled by the title on the cover, I have nowhere before given the proper designation to Mr. Bischoft's work. Wherever the authority of this gentleman is given you will understand that it is derived from the workjust named. Published London, 1842. SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. lll and therefore indicates, as well as the case admits of—home manufactures remaining the same—the rise or decline of wool-growing, in the several nations, for the period indicated. It will be seen from the above, that Spain, (and we may include the whole Peninsula,) once so famous for her wools, has sunk to a fifth or sixth rate wool-producing country, and that her exports are still constantly declining ; that Germany and Prussia have reached their climax, and are on the wane; that Russia, Italy, Australia and the East Indies are the most rapid increasers. The high prices of land and provisions—nearly double those on the Con- tinent* (far more than double those on many portions of it)—the onerous gen- eral taxes and parochial assessments, will not allow wool to be grown in England for its own sake. The sheep must be reared, as a matter of pure necessity, to sustain her present system of convertible husbandry. A sheep fitted for that object, and to make the most meat in the shortest time, is the main desideratum. Wool is but a secondary consideration. None but the coarse, early maturing breeds will, therefore, ever be grown there. Unless some great revolution should take place in her Agriculture, these are not likely to ever materially increase or diminish from their present number. If any effect is produced on this husbandry by the abolition of the Corn-Laws, I think it will be to diminish rather than increase the num ber of sheep. France, especially in some of her Southern Provinces, is admirably adapted toSheep Husbandry. In 1825, the number of sheep in the King- dom was estimated to exceed 30,000,000, but it is supposed to have mate- rially diminished since that period, by reason of the division of landed property, and other causes.+ With a population variously estimated from 1634 to 168 to the square mile, a soil a fair portion of which is well adapted to the growth of bread-stuffs, and the remainder to the vine, fruits, the mulberry (for silk), etc., France finds it better economy to cultivate these, and draw a considerable portion of her supplies of wool from other countries—her fine wools from Germany and Spain, her coarse ones from the regions bordering on the northern shores of the Mediterranean, the Gulf of Venice, and the Black Sea. France exported 84,799 lbs. of wool, costing less than 7 cents a pound, to the United States in 1846.|| This small amount might have been of her own growth, or derived from her transit trade. By the statistical Tables appended to his description of France, by Malte Brun, it appears that of the 51,777,000 hectares § which he estimates to comprise the surface, 22,818,000 are in arable land, while the entire extent of meadows and pastures (which are divided about evenly) but little exceeds 7,000,000 hectares. Spain, it appears from the Table, now exports less wool to England than Italy or Russia! and is still (as late as 1840) on the decrease. This is not owing to the increase of her manufactures,** or by a diversion of her exports into other channels. The export to France would, undoubtedly, show a similar falling off. That to the United States is but nominal. In 1836 it was but 20,730 lbs.,tt and as this was wool costing less than 7 cents per pound, and came from the Mediterranean side of Spain, it was prol ably in her ports merely 7 transitu. The Gibraltar trade, given in the Table, I take to be exclusively or mainly a transit one. From the Balan- - See Circular of John Maitland and others, Committee of the Woolen Trade in London—Bischeff, vol ii., p. 33. + Bischoff, Youatt. t Mitchell assumes the former, and Morse the latter to be the population. || Report of Secretary of the Treasury, 1846. § A hectare is 2 acres 1 rood and about 35-4 rods. 4 Malte Brun, Am. ed. vol. iii., p. 1029. . ** Spain is not estimated to manufacture more than one-twentieth of the woolens consumed by der. En cyclopedia Amer., art. Spain, + Report Secretary Treasury, 1846. 112 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. za Mercantil,* published by the Government, it appears that the exports of Spain of all kinds, in 1826, amounted to only £1,587,507. The exports of raw and manufactured silk and gut reached £243,390; lead, £215,360 ; wines, £189,340 ; wool, £161,650; fruits, £152,075; brandy, £107,715; barilla, £79,200, etc. This exhibits not only the smallness of the entire export of wool, but the diminished comparative importance of this once great national staple. The number of sheep in Spain is still placed by many writers as high as 10,000,000 for the migratory flocks, and 8,000,000 for the stationary ones. Even Mr. Youatt has fallen into this, as it strikes me, unquestionable error. t If Spain possesses 18,000,000 of sheep, what does she do with the wool, which should amount to at least 54,000,000 lbs. ? Admitting—which prob- ably exceeds the fact—that her export to France and other nations equals that to England, and that she manufactures a quantity equal te twice her whole export, the aggregate amount would be less than 8,000,000 Ibs. The author of the article on Sheep Raising in the Encyclopedia Ameri- cana, places the number of the whole fine-wool sheep in Spain at 4,000,000. This I think high enough, and probably not far from the truth. This is a million less sheep than those of the State of New-York in 1839 ! The actual facilities fer growing wool in Spain have already been al- luded to in my fifth Letter. I should not consider it necessary to bestow farther examiuation on them, were it not for the fact that owing to various associations connected with the early history of the Merino sheep, and the lead once taken by Spain in the production of fine wool, her facilities have been, popularly, prodigiously overrated, and even the difficulties under which she has labored for this husbandry, magnified into advantages. Her northern mountains are high, broken, cold, and exposed to peculiarly piercing north winds,{ and the winter on them lasts, as I infer from Mr. Livingston, about six months. He says : || “« When the severe weather commences on the mountains, the shepherds prepare to de- part, which is generally about the end of September and throughout the month of October, to seek more temperate climates aid fresher pastures. In April or May, according as the season is late or early, they return to the mountains.” It might be practicable to prepare hay for winter use, in favorable posi- tions, and particularly on the parameras, on these mountains, and thus the migratory sheep might become stationary on them. But the Spaniard is too much wedded to ancient customs, too little in love with change of any kind, and, most of all, a change bringing an addition of /abor, to thus in- novate on his own habits or those of his flocks. The high basins of the Douro and Tagus (embracing the two Castiles and Leon) are too valuable for the cultivation of grain, vineyards, fruits, etc., to be profitably devoted to the pasturage of sheep. The wheat of Spain is among the best in Europe,§ and it is stated in Mr. Jacob’s Tracts on the Corn Trade, that she frequently does not raise enough for her own consumption.{[ For the vine, olive, fig, mulberry, barilla, and various other products of equal profit both for home consumption and for export, she is not excelled probably by any country in Europe. A friend of mine who traveled in Spain in 1845, describes the valleys above alluded to, as almost exclusively devoted to tillage crops. In the Southern Provinces, * Quoted by McCulloch—Com. Dic.. art. Cadiz. f See Youatt onthe =heep, Lond. ed., p. 147 et supre. Mr. Livingston in his day estimated the migratory sheep at 5,000,000, the stationary at 8,000,000, See Essay on Sheep, pp. 36, 39. Mr. L. was also undoubt- edly inerror. { Malte Brun. || Livingston on Sheep, p. 36, 5 Note by Percival to Am. ed. of Malte Brun; art. Spain. T Quoted by MeCulloch—Com. Dic.; art. Odessa. SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. . 3 where rain does not sometimes fall for months in the summer,* the grass becomes entirely dried up, so that flocks, to be made stationary there, would require hay or other prepared food for several of the summer months The Transhumantes or migratory flocks must ‘still continue, then, to travel from the northern mountains to the warm basins of the Guadiana and the Guadalquiver for their winter quarters, and return to the moun- tains in the summer, or this branch of the husbandry would undoubtedly become extinct. The effect on the health and condition of the sheep, and the important item which it would form on the debit side of the account in Sheep Husbandry, to thus drive flocks a six weeks’ journey twice a year, (consuming nearly a quarter of the year on the road,) can be estimated by any one acquainted with such matters.t The losses and expenses thus in- curred would absorb all the profits of the husbandry, were it not for the extraordinary privileges conferred on the flockmasters (mainly consisting of the King, nobles and clergy) by the absurd and tyrannical regulations of the Consejo de la Mesta{ The abolition of the “ Council of the Royal Troop,” there cannot be a reasonable doubt, would be immediately fol- lowed by the downfall of the migratory Sheep Husbandry in Spain. That the day has. gone by when this unfortunate and distracted country can ever again enjoy the blessings of permanent peace and settled institutions, under which this or any other branch of husbandry can increase or steadily flourish, until she reaches,a point of political civilization entirely incom patible with the continuance of a relic of tyranny and barbarism so mon strous as the Mesta, I consider equally certain. Isee, therefore, no possible, or at least probable contingency under which the migratory Sheep Hus- bandry of Spain is likely to be extended, or even to permanently main- tain its present footing. Nor is there any probability of her again rising into importance as a wool-producing country, from her stationary flocks, Italy, though too accessible to the dry, hot wind of Africa, (the So/ano, ) to exhibit the uniformity of deep-green verdure seen north of the Alps, is nevertheless—much of it—a country of fine pasturage. The great plain between the Alps and Appenines, the basin of the Po—including Lom- bardy, Sardinia, Parma, Modena, etc.—is one of the most productive in Europe, and its extraordinary facilities for irrigation allow five or six crops of hay to be mown in a single season. In Tuscany, the orange and lemon begin to make their appearance—the soil is alluvial and rich, and the mountainous districts are finely adapted to pasturage. The States of the Church are also highly fertile, and abound in good herbage ; and on the deadly Campagna di Roma, and even the Pontine Marshes, flocks and herds find an abundant subsistence in winter, and are driven to the Appe- nines in summer. The same remarks apply to the northern portions of the Kingdom of Naples. The southern extremity of Italy is exposed to a burning climate, and exhibits the vegetation of Africa. The whole superficial area of Italy does not exceed 122,000 square miles, and her population is 172 to the square mile. Scarcely raising bread-stuffs enough for her own consumption, taking one year with an- other,|| there is not the most remote prospect of her ever becoming an im- portant wool-exporting country. * See Hon. Wm. Jarvis’s Letter to me on the subject of Merino Sheep, when I acted as Corr. Sec’y of the N. Y. State Agricultural Society—Transactions, 1841, p. 322. t Since giving this as the distance from “‘ the middle of Estremadura to the Cantabrian Mountains” (Let- ter V.), I see it stated in the Encyclopedia Americana that “the whole journey from the mountains to the interior of Estremadura is reckoned at about 690 miles.” Measurement on the map will show that it does not exceed 4 degrees or 277 miles, but the difference may be made by the circuitousness of the route, or the writer may refer to more eastern portions of the great Appenine Chain. I find it stated by several wri- ters that each journey consumes six weeks. ¢ For a description of this odious tribunal see Livingston on Sheep, p. 35. || See McCulloch’s Com. Dic. ; art. Odessa. P 114 SIIEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. Turkey both in Europe and Asia, it would appear from Table 8, is but a trifling exporter of wool. It should be remarked, however, that the wools of the Western Provinces, and of Greece, are generally exported from Triesteto France.* Under the late American Tariff, (“ Tariff of 1842,”) the export to the United States was becoming an important one—much greater than that to England. In 1846, it amounted, of wools costing less than 7 cents a pound, to 5,744,328 lbs.t European Turkey has a colder and less uniform climate than Italy, but still it is a fine one,{ and being a broken, mountainous country, well adapted to pasturage, and but sparsely populated, (55 to the square mile,) it is wonderful that so little attention itis been paid to the culture of wool. But the proud and indolent Turk spurns all rural labor, or all interest in it, leaving it to his vassals—and these, destitute of any security to person or property, taxed, oppressed, liable to be compelled to make forced sales to bey or ayan—or, what is worse, their property seized outright—have little inducement to accumu- late a species of property so easily pounced upon.|| Germany (including Prussia and Austria) is now the great producer of fine wools, supplying not only her own manufactories—which are es- timated to consume half the whole product—but exporting the large sur- plus indicated in the Table. Nor is this all; for to France, the Nether- lands, Switzerland, &c., she is supposed to export half as much as to Eng- land.§ The whole region thus included—leaving out the Austrian States in Italy, which have already been considered—comprises a territory of 468,000 square miles, and a population of 58,800,000, or 1302 to the square mile. The country on the north is level, vast plains extending from the declivities of the mountains which occupy the center of Germany, to the North Sea and the Baltic. The center is mountainous, and its plains are very elevated. The extreme South is covered with mountains. From the Little Carpathian or Jablunka Mountains, and from the eastern termina- tion of the Styrian and Julian Alps, stretch away the vast Hungarian and Transylvanian plains to the confines of Turkey. The great northern plain of Germany is low, sandy, flat, often consist- ing of naked silicious sands or those covered with lichens, interspersed with frequent marshes, and terminating in many places on the Baltic in vast morasses, or land redeemed from the sea by dikes. As a whole, the land, particularly in the maritime Provinces, is of an inferior quality, but some portions of it, as for example in Silesia and Saxony, is of a quality ranging from medium to good. The soil of Central and Southern Ger- many (including Austria) must, of course, exhibit many varieties. In gen- eral, however, it may be set down as productive in the valleys, and or- dinary or poor on the high lands. The lower plains of Wirtemberg, Baden, the South of Bavaria, etc., are exceedingly fertile. The plains of Hungary on the south-east not uncommonly exhibit soils of remarkable richness, but they alternate with inferior ones, and with vast and un- healthy morasses. ‘Taken together, the region which I have included un- der the designation of Germany, though not a sterile country, is not favored with soils naturally as productive as those of Italy or Spain; nor would it at all compare with that portion of the United States west of the Appalachians. The climate of Germany is thus summed up by Malte Brun: J] * Southey, quoted by Bischoff, vol. ii. p. 356. + Report of the Secretary of the Treasury, 1846. { For a picture of this as well as the other natural features of Turkey, both in Europe and Asia, Greace, and the Ionian Isles—as delicately accurate, as soft and rich as one of the scenes of Claude—see Childe Harold, Canto II., the opening of the Giaour, the Bride of Abydos, ete. Though this may be deemed a sin. gular, it is the very best reference, which my reading enables me to make. || See Urquhart on Turkey and its Resources, p. 139. § Encyclopedia Americana ; art. Wool. @ Am. ed., vol. ii, p. 594. SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 115 “ The climate of Germany is greatly modified by the elevation and declivities of the coun- try; but independently of that cause, it does not admit, from its extent in latitude, of any vague or general definition. It may be divided, however, into three great zones, and these too, are susceptible of other subdivisions. The first is that of the northern plains, of whic). the temperature is not so cold as it is humid and variable; they are exposed to every winil, while fogs and tempests are conveyed to this region from two seas. The north-west plaii is subject, from its vicinity to the North Sea, to frequent rains and desolating hurricanes. The influence of the Baltic on the north-east plain is less powerful ; the climate, though colder, is not so humid and variable. The second general zone comprehends all the central part of Germany. .. . . The moun- tains in that extensive region form a barrier against the effects of the maritime climate. The sky is not obscured by mists, and the regular order of the seasons is not interrupted by winds and tempests; but the elevation of the soil renders the climate colder than in other countries in the same latitude nearer thetlevel of the sea... . . The third general zone is that of the Alps. The lofty hights and rapid declivities connect very different climates; thus the culture of the vine ceases in Bavaria and Upper Austria, and appears anew with fresh vigor in the neighborhood of Vienna. The eternal glaciers of Tyrol and Salsburg are contiguous to the valleys of Styria and Carniola, covered with fields of maize or vineyards, and almost border on the olives of Trieste and the lemon-trees of Riva.” Contiguous mountains render the north of Hungary extremely cold. Farther south, the climate rapidly becomes warmer, and on the lower plains in the extreme south the heat is intense and the climate insalubrious The dauer or farmer in those States of Germany where the feudal ten- ures have been abolished, and the land is held in fee simple, owns four or five English acres of land. These men, says Mr. Jacob, although placed above the pressure of want, or possessing the bare necessaries of life, have very little beyond them. Such as are industrious and frugal, by cultivating their small portion of ground, may raise a sufficient quantity of potatoes for their own consumption, corm for their bread, and provisions for two draught oxen. They all raise a small quantity of flax, and some few contrive to keep five or six sheep. It is often no easy matter for those to find occupation, who are desirous of other employment in addition to the cultivation of their own land, for no agricultural labor can be carried on during the long and severe winters. . . . it is rare indeed that they can afford to have meat of any kind, and those only who are more prosperous than their neighbors can keep a cow to provide themselves with milk.” The wool raised by these owners of five or six sheep, is annually bought up by Jews and other traveling agents, who go from house to house to collect it. The following extracts from William Howitt’s sprightly and interesting “ Rural and Domestic Life in Germany” will show under what circum- stances a great portion of its wool is grown: “Here you look in vain for anything like the green fields and hedge-rows of England. . . . It is all one fenceless and plowed field. Long rows of trees on each side of the road are all that divide them from the fields. ... . The keeping up of the cattle presents you a new feature of rural life. As the quantity of land left for grass is very small, the grass is propor- tionably economized. The little patches of grass between woods and in the open parts of the woods, the little strips along the river-banks and even in gardens and shrubberies, are carefully preserved for this purpose. You see women in these places cutting grass with a small hook or smooth-edged sickle, and carrying it away on their heads in baskets for their cows. You see the grass on the lawns of good houses, on grass-plats, and in shrubberies, very long and wild; and when you ask why it is not kept closer mown, the reply is that it is given to the milk-woman, often for a consideration, who cuts it as she wants it. Yousee other women picking the long grass out of the forests, or under the bushes on the hill-sides where the slopes have been mown, for the same purpose. .. . . The children may be seen standing in the stream in the villages carefully washing weeds before they are given to the cattle. . . . . Nettles, chervil, cow-parsnip, which in England are left to seed and rot, are all here cut for the imprisoned cow. You go down to the river-side to fish, and a peasant is soon with you, chattering and gesticulating, pointing to your feet and to the grass. It is to let you know that you are not to angle there, because it treads down the grass ; and accordingly, in Germany, with rivers full of fish, you seldom see an angler; if you, he is pretty sure to be au Englishman. . . . . Not a sheep, a horse, or a cow is to be seen. . . . The mountain tops are covered with wood. The slopesare covered with vineyards. You ask where the cattle are? You are answered, in the stalls. Where are the sheep? Under the care of shepherds, somewhere—Heaven knows where! you neyer come across them. It is only on the great 116 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. plains of the North that you afterward find large flocks and herds, under the eare of keepers ixept close together; for as they have no fences, they are under the momentary peril of mak ing ravages on their neighbor’s crops.” Between Leipsic and Berlin, on the plains of Saxony, Mr. Howitt first saw flocks of sheep in the field, and he says : ‘One thing which surprises an Englishman is to see what wretched creatures are the sheep which produce the famous Saxony wool. . .. . In fact, it is a prevailing idea that the leaner the sheep the finer the wool. It is the wool to which all the attention of the grow- er is devoted, and therefore, generally speaking,a more miserable assemblage of animals than a flock of German sheep is not to be seen. ... . On the plains they wander under the care of ashepherd, and for the most part on fallows and stubbles, to pick up odds and ends, rather #1an to enjoy a regular pasture. You may see them penned on a blazing fallow, where not a trace of vegetable matter is to be seen, for the greater part of a summer day, which in this climate is pretty much like being roasted alive. .... For what purpose they are here, except to starve and melt them iato leanness, I never could discover... . . The sheep, be- sides being lean, are generally dreadfully lame with that pestilent complaint the foot-rot, and their keepers, apparently, trouble themselves very little about it.” ‘Mr. Howitt states that it is necessary to economize the land so closely, to sustain the population, in some parts of Germany, that the peasants actual: ly convey earth up steep hill-sides in baskets, and cover the rocks with it, to thus add to the tillable soil! In reviewing the preceding facts, you are struck with no one which would indicate particular natural advantages for sheep rearing in the States of Germany, Prussia, and—with an exception presently to be named— Austria. The climate of the North is humid, fickle and tempestuous ; that of the middle cold with long winters. Neither possess any advantages over our own Northern States—and in some respects are decidedly inferior to them. This was the opinion of that eminent sheep-breeder and excel- lent man, Henry D. Grove, of this State, who was a native of Prussian Saxony, and who certainly would never be suspected by any one who. Knew him personally, of any want of partiality for anything pertaining to his Fatherland ! In his letter to Benton and Barry on wool-growing, &c.. he says: “Ten years’ experience has fully satisfied me on this point. In some respects, we possess natural advantages over Germany.” In what particulars he awarded the preference to the United States, his letters and oral declarations to me, leave no uncertainty. It was both in soil and climate, and in instituting the comparison, he had his eye not onthe most favored sections of our country, but on the hills of Rensselaer County in this State, where he resided. lf in natural advantages we surpass Germany, how much more we do in artificial ones, may be estimated from the preceding extracts from Messrs. Jacob and Howitt. To these general remarks portions of Hunga- ry form an exception. In these, the climate is fine, the soil rich, and, the feudal tenures remaining unabolished, the land is yet held in those large estates so favorable to Sheep Husbandry. Prince Esterhazy, the former Austrian Ambassador to England, says Mr. Paget,* owns an estate of some- thing more than 7,000 square miles, including 130 villages, 40 towns, and 34 castles. Hissheep are said to amount to 3,000,000,t Other nobles own flocks of from ten to thirty thousand. The demi-savage Magyar serf, whose labor costs nothing, whose principal garment is a sheep-skin, and whose miserable and scanty food is more than half stolen,t makes a most econom- teal shepherd! Hungary lacks facilities for internal communication, and her convenience to the Mediterranean markets—excepting Turkey—so as * Paget’s Hungary and Transylvania, vol. i.p,; 46. t Youatt. } See Paget’s Hungary, &c., p.13 to 19. SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. LY to first throw her agricultural products into ports where the demand is good, is decidedly inferior to that of Italy, France and Spain. The Danube is the only natural outlet to her commerce—which, thanks to a liberality of policy on the part of Turkey,* contrasting most favorably with that of several enlightened nationst+ under similar circumstances, she enjoys without limitation. To reach Trieste, a long land carriage is indispensa- ble. Her exports too, are embarrassed by the imposts and narrow restric. tions of the Imperial Government. She cannot, therefore, export cheap heavy articles, such as provisions, to so great advantage as the Levantine nations : but every circumstance points to her as a country which should be one of the first on the Eastern Continent, for the production of wine, silk, wool, &c. Separated from Hungary and Transylvania only by the Carpathian Moun- tains and Turkish Moldavia, lie the fertile provinces of South-eastern Rus- sia, the basins of the Dniester, the Dnieper, and the Don. From the Car- pathians to the Caspian, across’ the entire extent of the plains of ancient Scythia, not an elevation which could be properly dignified with the ap- pellation of a mountain, breaks the immense expanse! The lower valley of the Dniester or Borysthenes, formerly known as the Ukraine, has been celebrated for centuries for its pasturage—for its horses t and cattle : and re- cently flocks of Merino sheep have been introduced there and successfully crossed with the native variety. In 1839, Mr. Slade states that many of the colonists on the Steppe,and in Bessarabia had 20,000 sheep. Merinos were introduced into Crimea or Taurida, by M. Rouvier, a French ad- venturer, in about 1802.|| In this favored peninsula, which the learned Pallas describes as little less than an earthly Paradise, they have multiplied exceedingly, and extended to Cherson, Ekatherinoslay, Bessarabia and other provincial Governments.§ The export of wool from Odessa in 1829 was 3,402 lbs.; in 1830, 21,361 lbs.; in 1831, 35,058 lbs.; in 1832, 41,558 lbs. ; in 1833, 66,457 lbs.; in 1834, 66,901 lbs.{] In one respect Southern Russia has the advantage over Hungary. Itis more sparsely populated, and land is perhaps in still lower estimation. As in the Jatter, the land, much of it, is fertile and well adapted to pasturage, and the price of labor is next to nothing. But for causes adverted to in the opening part of my eighth Letter, there is a wide disparity in the climates of the two countries, if we leave Crimea out of view. That of Russia, affect- ed by the north and north-east winds—which the Carpathians exclude from Hungary—has a winter which for length and intensity is entirely unequaled in the latter, excepting in its northern mountainous regions. Sheep must be housed, and fed for some months on dry food, in Southern Russia. Ta king into view the broad, level s¢eppes** and their luxuriant natural verdure— taking into view the climate, warm in summer, cold and exposed to winds of great severity in winter, it strikes me that there must be no inconsider- able resemblance between this portion of Russia and our own north- western prairies in corresponding latitudes (45° to 46°). But when the cost of land and labor is taken into consideration, wool can be produced cheaper, in my judgment, in South-western Russia than in Spain, France, {aermany, Italy or any other portion of Europe, excepting Hungary. Were te. g., the policy of England in relation to the navigation of the St. Lawrence. { This wild region and its horses have been rendered classic by Mazeppa. Who, that ever read, has for- got the description of the horse on which the Hetman performed his fiery and perilous ride ! F || For an interesting account of the adventures of this fortunate French Jason, see Slade’s “ Travels in Germany and Russia,” published London, 1840. See Slade’s Travels; also McCulloch’s Com. Dic.—art. Odessa. McCulloch's Com. Dic.—art. Odessa. ** This Russian word has a similar signification to prairte, pampas, llanos, &c. 118 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. European Turkey differently populated, and under different institutions, it might constitute another exception. Central and Northern Russia, like the States north of Germany, are north of the wool zone. Their winters are too long and seyere to allow them to compete with regions lying farther south, in wool-growing. Asia Minor, or Turkey in Asia, and Persia have been alluded to—the former, much of it, a fine country with a most delightful climate; but its natural advantages all neutralized by its political systems and the charac- ter of its population—the latter, except in occasional favored positions, such as the valleys of Shiraz and Ispahan, a land of mountain and desert, of intense heat and intense cold. Independent Tartary, lying immediately north of it, is less exposed to the hot winds of Arabia, but more so to the freezing ones of Siberia. Its vast dry plains are usually deserts, excepting on the borders of its exceed- ly rare streams. Great Bucharia, however, in the south-east, on the head waters of the Amoo (Oxus)—from the Capital of which Timour (Tamer- lane) issued on his desolating path of conquest—is a country of great fer- tilitv. Its natural beauties constitute a favorite theme with the poets and geographers of Persia and Arabia. Since the opening of the navigation of the Indus, it has annually sent some wool to Bombay, which constitutes a part of that which is shipped thence to England, and is known in Table S as East Indian wool. Afghanistan and Beloochistan, protected on the north from the Siberian winds by the lofty Hindoo Koosh mountains, and less exposed on the south to those of Arabia, exhibits a milder and less variable climate than that of the conterminous regions of Persia. Among the Highlands of the north, and those skirting the Indus on the east, there is much good pasturage. Sir Alexander Barnes states that four-fifths of the whole surface of Cabul, a Province of the former, is excellent pasture land. The wool of the broad- tailed sheep of these countries also finds its way, by the Indus, to Bombay, and is classed as East India wool in the Table. From the high, cold, mountain regions of Thibet, Little Bucharia, &c., some wools are exported, through the same channels, which come under the same classification. These countries also export shawl wool.* Most of China north of the great Desert of Cobi is a cold, mountainous country. The southern portion, or China Proper, is too densely populated and closely cultivated to be devoted to pasturage. The wool trade which followed the opening of the Indus (the raw ma- terial being supplied by Afghanistan, Great Bucharia, Thibet and some of the Hindostanese Provinces) might doubtless be swelled into one of great importance, particularly by introducing finer breeds of sheep; but we can scarcely expect this, from what we know of the habits, agri- cultural and commercial, of the population. Among constant politica} changes wrought by the only Asiatic argument—the sword—the persona] habits and occupations of the Asiatic remain ever the same, and are, per haps, the best type of persistency to be found in anything short of iy. mobile matter. Indeed, the stony features of the Sphinx have changed scarcely less through revolving generations, than have the ethnic ones of this great family of the human race! : Let us now pass to those regions of the Old World, south of the Equa- tor, included in the wool-growing zone. The southern extremity of Africa—the Cape of Good Hope—is included * The table-land of Thibet is elevated 15,000 feet above the level of the sea. Mr. Trail remarks that every animal here, including Carnivora, produce that down under their hair which is known as shawl wool— though that manufactured comes mainly from a species of goat. | . va SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 119 in the wool-growing zone. The following description of it is by Rev. Robert Moffat, for twenty-three years a resident of it as the agent of the London Missionary Society :* “ The Colony extends from west to east about six hundred miles, its average breadth being about twohundred..... Between the coast and the vast chain of mountains, beyond whic!: Nie the Karoo, the country is weli watered, fertile and temperate. The other portions of the Colony, with few exceptions, and without a change in the seasons, appear to be doomed to perpetual sterility and drouth. The Karoo country, which is in the background of the Colony, is, as Lichstenstein correctly describes it, a parched and arid plain, stretching out to sich au extent that the vast hills by which it is terminated, or rather which divide it from other plains, are lost in the distance. The beds of numberless little rivers, (in which water is rarely to be found) cross, like veins, in a thousand directions, this enormous space. The course of them might, in some places, be clearly distinguished by the dark green of the mimosas spreading along their banks. Excepting these, as far as the eye can reach, no tree or shrub is visible... . 4 But even on these hills and sunburnt plains thousands of sheep pasture on a thin sprinkling of verdure and esculents. . . . . The entire country, extending in some places hundreds of miles on each side of the Orange River, and from where it emp- ties itself m the Atlantic, to beyond the 24th degree of east longitude, appears to have the curse of Gilboa resting upon it. It is rare that rains to any extent or quantity full in those regious. Extreme drouth continues for years together. The fountains are exceedingly few, precarious, and latterly many of these have been dried up altogether.” According to Barrow, nearly seven-tenths of the Colony are destitute of vegetation during a greater part of the year. Sand drives before the winds, exercising an unfavorable influence on sheep and wool. Lions, tigers, wolves, hyenas, jackals, wild dogs, etc., are numerous on the very skirts of the settlements, making much vigilance necessary for the protec- tion of the sheep; and they must be nightly driven into the settlements to be folded. But the natives have proved a vastly more destructive enemy than these.t|_ The sheep introduced by the English colonists will probably eventually considerably increase beyond their present number in a country of so great extent, but we are scarcely authorized to believe that the Cape will ever take a high rank among the wool-producing countries of the world. That great island, or continent, known as New South Wales, or Aus- tralia, has a superficial area equaling that of the United States. But a limited portion of it, however, is included in the wool zone. All of Van Diemen’s Land, or Tasmania, is in that zone. The export of wool from these countries, as will be seen from the Table,f reached nearly ten million pounds in 1840—nearly half that of Germany, including Austria and Prussia, and almost e7ght times that of Spain! Here, as at the Cape of Good Hope, there are no woolen manufactories, and being Colonies of England, their export to that country exhibits their whole production. The soil, products, &c. of Australia are thus spoken of by Mr. McCul- loch : || “ The fertility of the soil in most parts of New-Holland that have been explored with any care, is very far indeed from corresponding with the glowing descriptions of some of its casual visitors, whose imaginations seem to have been dazzled by the magnificence of its botanica! productions and the clearness and beauty of the climate. The truth is that the bad land bears a much greater proportion to the good in New-Holland than in almost any other coun- try with which we are acauainted. . . . . Of course it is not to be supposed Sut that in a country of such vast extent there must be some fertile districts; but along the east coast, with which we are best acquainted, these seem to be much more confined than might have been expected; and the little experience we have had on the west side, at Swan River and other places, does not seem to lead to any more favorable conclusions.” After stating that if the Government price of lands “is not a great deal * Missionary Labors and Scenes in Southern Africa, pp. 23—24. +See Letter V., and Note. t Including Port Philip, Swan River, and Scutk Australia, the exports of which are carried out separately ‘a Table 8. |] McCulloch’s Com, Dic.—Art. Sydney. 120 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. above the mark in New-Holland, it must be a great deal below it in Upper Canada,” Professor McCulloch continues : aes “If the Americans exacted the same price for their public lands that we do, something might be found in favor of extending the principle to Canada. They, however, do nothing of the sort, but sell much better land at a decidedly lower rate. . . . . If slaves could be imported into a Colony of this sort, there might be some chance of its succeeding. But while land of the very best quality may be had in the Valley of the Mississippi for about a dollar an acre or less, we think better of the common sense of our countrymen than to suppose that any one able to carry himself across the Atlantic will resort to Australia.” Of the climate he says: “The climate of such parts of New South Wales as have been explored by the English is particularly mild and salubrious. . . . . On the other hand, however, it has the serious defect of being too dry. It seems to be subject to the periodical recurrence of severe drouths. These prevail sometimes’ for 2, 3, or even 4 years together. The last ‘ great dronth’ began in 1826, and did not terminate until 1829. Very little rain fell during the whole of this lengthened period, and for more than six months there was not a single shower. [Iu consequence, the whole surface of the ground was so parched and withered that all minor vegetation ceased; and even culinary vegetables were raised with much difficulty. There was also a pretty, severe drouth in 1835. This is the great drawback of the Colony ; and were it more populous the drouths would expose it to still more serious difficulties.” Another drouth occurred in 1841, and Mr. Hood thus describes its ef- fects on the sheep :* ‘Tt will be scarcely believed in England that the estimated number of sheep which have died within the last twelve months in the Colony from catarrh and drouth is 70,000 !! that colonists are compelled in order to save the dam from starvation, to cut the throat of her lamb; that no means are adopted for securimg a stock of lambs for next year; -or that a stockholder would offer 8,000 sheep to any one that would remove them from his runs, and finding that no one could be prevailed upon to taint his own flocks by accepting so danger- ous a present, had recourse to consuming them by fire, and had actually killed and burnt QIOW ON geviente Of the country Mr. Hood remarks : “The first object on the arrival of every settler should be to procure a good country for his flocks, and this, I have elsewhere said, is his grand difficulty. Let him be wary on this point. Almost every desirable or habitable spot in the old countries, as the early settled districts are called, is already occupied.” Some diseases seem to be peculiar to the country, or, rather, peculiarly inveterate in it. Mr. Youatt says :t “ The sheep frequently suffer from the wild and poachy nature of a considerable portion of the pasture. The foot-rot seems to assume a character of its own. . . . . If neglected, it speedily becomes inveterate and preys upon and destroys the animal. The losses occasioned by it in the early existence of the Colony were frightful.” The astringency of the water and other causes have produced severe epidemics. In some years, some of the flockmasters have lost half of their sheep.t The scab is a prevailing disease, and Doct. Lang says :]|| ‘When a convict shepherd has a pique against his master, or even against his overseer, it is often in his power to subject the whole of his master’s flock to this obnoxious disease, merely by driving his own flock a few miles from their usual pasture, and bringing them into contact with a diseased flock. The chief source of the wealth and prosperity of the (olony is thus, in a great measure, at the mercy of the most worthless of men.” The cost of both land and labor is comparatively (td est, compared with the unoccupied lands of the United States) high. The Government mini- mum is 5s. ($1 15) per acre, but very little if any good land is sold at that price. Mr. Hood states that the portion of Capt. McArthur’s immense estate which was obtained by purchase, cost, on the average, 7s. 6d, ($1 724) per acre. Shepherds receive from £15 to £20 ($69 to $92) with * Quoted by Spooner in “ History, Diseases, &c., of the Sheep.” London, 1844, p. 67. + Youatt on Sheep, p. 189. {See Spooner, pp. 417-421, || Lang—Historical and Statistical Account, vol. i. p, 351, 4 : SHEEP HUSBANDRY} IN THE SOUTH. 12] a house and rations, per annum; overseers of a superior description £50 to £60 ($230 to $276),* also with a house and rations.t The sheep are exposed to the depredations of various animals, but the wild dog is their most dangerous enemy, with the exception of the ruwn- away convict. The sheep are therefore folded nightly, guarded by a vatchmen with his dogs, and with a fire to scare away the wild beasts.t One shepherd usually takes care of about 300 sheep, and “in the more sterile parts of the Colony, where three acres of the uncultivated ground are scarcely sufficient for the support of one sheep, the labor is very severe.” || Mr. Samuel Lawrence recently wrote me: “Tsaw a gentleman from England a few months since who has an admirable flock in New South Wales, of twenty-five thousand sheep, and he assured me he had not received a penny of income from them since 1838.” Van Diemen’s Land (containing 28,000 square miles) is claimed by Mr Youatt§ to be superior in several respects to Australia as a wool-growing country. Table 8 does not, however, show that its exports increase any more rapidly. Both of these Islands, as colonies of Great Britain, send their wool to the latter duty free, and they save 1 cent per pound on wool costing less than 24 cents, and 2 cents on that exceeding that value. But this by no means offsets against the additional cost of freight, over that exported from the United States, Hungary, or the south of Russia. While tt is only 3,375 miles from New-York to London, it is not less than 13,000 miles from Sydney or Hobart’s Town to the latter place. Professor McCulloch states (art. Sydney) that the expense of conveying a passenger to Sydney is about three times that of conveying one to Quebec. I see no reason why a corresponding difference should not exist in the freights; and in that case, freights from the United States would be two-thirds less than from Australia. I pretend, Sir, to no power of vaticination on this subject, but the con- clusions which I draw from a review of all the foregoing facts are as follows : 1, That wool-growing is never likely to permanently and importantly] increase in any of the countries of Europe, unless it be in Hungary, Tur- key, and the south of Russia. 2. That it is more likely to decrease than increase in Great Britain, France, Portugal and Italy. 3. That such a decrease is next to certain in Spain and Germany, (in- cluding Prussia and Austria in the latter,) excepting Hungary and Tran- sylvania; that the decrease will be much more considerable in Germany ; that its rapidity and extent will be proportioned to the rapidity and extent with which the market is supplied from countries which can grow wool cheaper, such as North and South America, Hungary, Southern Russia, and Australia. 4. That wool-growing will undoubtedly largely increase in Hungary and Southern Russia—and that it owght to in European and Asiatic Turkey, but will not, extensively, until the character of the people and their po- litical institutions are changed. 5. That it will also increase at the Cape of Good Hope, Australia and Van Diemen’s Land ; but that its economical extension in either of these countries is limited, especially if America becomes a competitor. * Calling the English shilling 23 cents, according to Report of Director of U. S. Mint, 1827. t Report vf a Committee, &c., quoted by Mr. McCulloch—Com. Die. ; art. Sydney. { Cunningham’s Two Years in New South Wales, vol. i., p. 254. || Youatt on the Sheep, p. 188. § Quem vide, p. 190. §] [say “importantly,” because Sweden, Norway, Denmark, &c., in that spirit of rendering themselves in. dependent of foreign supplies, which characterizes all nations, may, and probably will extend their woo] culture ; but it will be too unprofitable a struggle against Nature, to be carried to a very great extent. 122 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 6. That no part of the Eastern Continent or its islands, all things con- sidered, possess equal advantages for wool-growing with some parts of the United States. 1. The climate of many portions of the latter (in the South) is not excelled by that of the most favored situations in Hungary or Australia; and in this respect it is decidedly superior to the south of Russia. 2. The soils of vast sections of the United States, with the above climate, are more wxiformly fertile and adapted to pasturage than those of either Hungary or Southern Russia—and, as a whole, are entirely supe- rior to those of Australia. 3. The regions alluded to in the United States, are better watered with running streams than either of the other named countries—have not the vast and unhealthy morasses of Hungary—and are not subject to the destructive drouths of Australia. 4. The land is chéaper in the United States than in Australia, and (my impression is) than in Hungary or Southern Russia; and, in the Southern States, labor costs no more than in the two latter, and far less than in the former. 5. In accessibility and nearness even to the great Ewropean wool market, the United States stand on equal terms, at least, with Hungary and Southern Russia, and the distance from Sydney (in Australia) to London is nearly four times the distance from New-York to London. 6. In no respect do either of these countries, the most favored in the Old World, excel, in my judgment, for the purposes of Sheep Husbandry, large portions of the United States ; and I believe those portions of the United States can sell wool in the English market at a better profit on all the capital invested than either of the above countries, with the possible exception of the most favored portions of Hungary. Our surplus wools can, therefore, at any time, be exported to England at a reasonable profit. This is true, even of wools grown in the Northern States. In 1845, the United States exported wool, (mainly to England,) to the value of $22,153; and in 1846, to the value of $203,996. This was a | commercial experiment, and although it is not understood to have resulted in any profit to the exporters, the wool sold at an advance on the Ameri- can prices current—and would have sold so as to have realized a handsome profit to the exporters, had it been properly sorted and otherwise prepared to meet the requisitions of the English market. Statements of this kind have been published by one of the most prominent of the exporters. It would seem, from Mr. Lawrence’s statement, already quoted, that the prices of Australian wools have not yielded a profit over all expenses, during the same years. The quality and style of our wool have been praised by the English press, and are understood to have given high satis- faction to the English manufacturers. On the whole, then, we may regard this experiment as a successful one. The American prices current of those years were about 32 cents per pound. We have seen that the actual cost of wool (including all expenses, and 7 per cent. on price of land and sheep) in the Northern States may be set down at about 27 cents per pound.* These facts show that a vemunerating price can be obtained for even North- ern wool in England—if a profit on investment considerably exceeding the highest legal rate of interest (7 per centum) is to be considered “ re- munerating.” And if this is true of the Northern wools of the United States, how much more so would it be of those of the South, the first cost of which has been estimated at less than one-third that of the former! t I see not, therefore, a shadow of a reason why our Southern States might not embark, at once, with perfect safety, in an extensive production of wool, if they had only the foreign market to look to. I hesitate not to * See Letter V. + Ib. ee i a ee SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 123 assert that they could drive all the European nations from the market, with the two or three exceptions heretofore specified; and with these, as well as the most favored Austro-Oriental regions, they could main- tain a successful competition. The same remark is true of the Austro- Occidental regions of our own continent. And it is difficult to foresee the ultimate extent of this trans-Atlantic demand for wool. Vast portions of the Old World, in those zones where wool must eventually become the principal article of clothing, are but just stepping within the verge of civilization—just laying aside the skins and peltry of the pastoral nomad and the savage hunter, for garments of cloth. In 1771, England imported 1,829,772 lbs. of wool; in 1840, the import was 52,959,221 lbs.!| In 1771, the export of woolens was £4,960,240. In 1840, the export of woolens was, £5,652,917, and of woolen and worsted yarn £3,796,644. Making all necessary allowance for the difference in prices, the increase in the ex- port bears no comparison whatever to that in the import. What seems to be the unavoidable conclusion? It is that the consumption of a population of 27,000,000 (the population of Great Britain and Ireland) has thus enor- mously swelled within the period of sixty-nine years! This too in a coun- try with a mild climate—which at the beginning of that period (1771) was as far advanced in social and political civilization, and the mass of whose people were as well clothed and better fed, than those of any nation on the Eastern Continent! It is not necessary to follow up this idea. Progress is an inseparable condition of humanity,* and civilization is its fruit. With the latter, new wants—a demand for greater comforts and luxuries—steadily keep pace ; and with these again keeps pace the increase of population.t Both the latter causes conspire to swell the demand for cloths; and both causes are at work in this Nineteenth Century, in a ve- locity of ratio which would fill a Malthus and Ricardo with consternation— if, indeed, it did not convince them of the fallacy of their gloomy theories. I dare to predict that the time will come when the present Russian Em- pire will consume a greater amount of woolens than the whole Eastern Continent now does! This may not come to pass in a day or a century— but unless retarded by unnatural, not to say wnusual causes, our posterity in the third or fourth remove will be likely to witness it! Away, then, with those fallacious fears of over-production of cotton, bread-stufts, ete——the opposite extreme of Malthusianism—which have disturbed the repose of producers who are not content to let the great natural currents of demand and supply regulate each other; or rather, who are not content with those fair and just profits which they would receive under such an order of things. t But the American wool-grower is not compelled to look to the European market, unless he enormously increases his own production—and contin- ues to increase it with the increase of the population. The Census of 1840 shows that the number of sheep in the United States, in 1839, was nearly 20,000,000. These have been steadily increasing, and probably now greatly exceed that number. Yet these have never supplied the demand of our * This may not be thought to accord with preceding statements in relation to the unchangeability of Asiatic character and customs. Particular families or races of mankind have always advanced slowly, but the course of the world, as a whole, is onward. The circle of civilization widens, and races which come in contact with it, receive it, or are conquered and absorbed by the civilized races. + When I speak of luxuries promoting the increase of population, I do not use the word in its invidious ae I mean by it those things which, though not. strictly speaking, necessaries, tend to promote human comfort. $ I mean this remark in no ultra spirit. Governments must be supported and resources raised. Inci- dental protection may be justly atforded to the products of agricultural or mechanical skill, under certain circumstances. Butthe fewer of these restrictions that are found necessary, the more rapidly, as a general rule, the wealth and comfort of mankind and nations are advanced. 124 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. own manufactories alone. The following Table* will show the value of the imports of wool into the U. 5. from 1837 to 1847: TABLE No. 9. a | Average im- Average im- | ports of 1837,|ports of 1840, 1838 & 1839.|1841 & 1842. Wool not costing to exceed 7 cts.| 7 $558,458 $759,646 $190,352 $754,441 | $1,553,789 | $1,107,305 + Import of | Import of | Import of | Import of 843. 1844. 1845. 1846. 'Bxe’ding 7 cts.a lb 801,027 | 1.004,312 54,695 97,019 136,005 26,921 Total..2. 2.1 $1,359,545 | $1,763,958 | $245,047 | $851,460 | $1,689,794 | $1,134,226 dae ag cd a elle hee It may be a matter of interest to know from what countries these wools were imported. The following Table} will give this information for the last fiscal year, (1846,) and will also give a general idea of our wool trade. TABLE No. 10. Wools not exceeding 7 cents Wools exceeding 7 cents WHHENCE IMPORTED. per pound. per pound. Quantity. Value. Quantity. Value. Pounds. Dollars Pounds. Pounds. Russia....----- se ee eee ere eee e eee ees 955,163 60.678 Hanse Towns. .-------+--+-----++--- 6,966 330 13,820 8,433 lands eth o ecsale were mien 170 93 Dutch West Indies......-.---------- 10,774 556 | Belgium...-..---------+-++-+++++--- 7,177 248 1,407 775 England..\....---------+-----2-++-+° 1,188,800 35,944 28,406 6,668 GOT aid a: ccclateicln ele aeinvelate o aaeemsinte|= wine 91,132 1,382 Gibraltatisi ose. tue ee kie se een 207,006 12,339 Cape of Good Hope....-.------------ 83,662 6,810 British Wiest Indies=:..-. 2... cn'--- 8.694 537 522 70 British American Colonies.........--. 168,589 9,543 39,346 4,562 INR AN COS sara Sia) rae elaine cient (ool eli 84,799 5,424 396 40 Spain... 22. - ese eee e ewer ee cee 20,730 1,425 Weal iy or ayetes stets)ayeinialnteie eis) elei=)= =e ialalm acelin 81,156 4,720 Trieste (Austria)...-.....-..:-------- 111.981 8,151 Turkey... c..0c eee -e- ccc sere esse 5,744,328 398,822 Morocco (Africa)....-.--.----------- 72,816 4,554 Io Ghar Seton Ne ee BOE SINe cate ae ae 425,148 26,984 raaliejes fae hi ee Sai et aerial 45, 215 3,083 Argentine Republic. .......--------- 4,295,659 327,572 43,831 € 011 RTT teenie tee o staiets ceca ee Sie eale See 1,819,772 130,837 Bei ies sigs eo ee a OS eee cee eee ebro ae 122,686 8,588 ' Aaa Bederalliy icin elise cenen aie 945,729 58,778 2397 269 MG tal fo cS) e 6 mele Obs oe sya 16,427,952 1,107,305 130,295 26,921 That the course of trade indicated bythe above Table, will, as has been already intimated, be materially affected by the New Tariff, I think there can be but little doubt. That of several of the places enumerated, too, has been, heretofore, merely a transit one. To the following letter from the most extensive, and concededly leading American woolen manufacturer, I would call your particular attention. Several of its declarations, placed in italics, by me, are highly significant. LowE Lt, Mass., Feb. 10, 1847. Henry S. RanpAxt, Esq., Cortland Village, N. Y. My Dear Sir: Your very kind and interesting favor of the 27th ult. duly came to hand and should, if practicable, have received an earlier reply. The business of wool-growing in this country is destined to be of immense importance, and I am firm in the belief that within twenty-five years we shall produce a greater quantity than any other nation. * Compiled by me from Reports of the Secretary of the Treasury. + The fiscal year 1842 ended on the 30th of September. Since then, the returns of imports and exports have been made up to the 30th of June. This year, therefore, embraces the imports of nine months only, anding on June 30, 1843; and subsequent years end 30th of June, 1844, 1845, and so on. t Report of the Secretary of the Treasury, 1846, SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN ‘THE SOUTH. _ —_— You ask, ‘(Is the present home demand supplied?” There is not enough annually raised in the country by 10,000,000 lbs. to meet the demand of the manufactories. You ask, ‘‘ What countries we can export wool to, &c.?’’ This country will not export wool regularly for fifteen years, for the reason that the consumption will increase as rapidly as the production. Ican point out articles made of wool now imported, which will require thirty millions of pourds of that of a medium and fine quality, to supply the consump- DL AoE The business of manufacturing wool in this country is on a better basis than ever before, inasmuch as the character, skill and capital engaged in it are such that FOREIGN COMPETI- TION IS DEFIED. A very few years and all articles of wool used here will be of home manu- acture. x Now | beg of you to keep the wool-growers steagly to the mark. Let them aim to excel in the blood and condition of their flocks, and the day is not distant when they will be amply remunerated. I shall always have great pleasure in hearing from you, and remain Yours most truly, SAM. LAWRENCE, Mr. Lawrence has certainly got the annual deficit of home wools low enough. Table 10 shows that it was upward of 16,000,000 lbs. during the last fiscal year, 1846. This, of itself, is something of a margin for the South, or some other new domestic producer, to fill! Hitherto we have simply considered the amount of wool necessary to supply our manufactories. But these establishments fall very far short of working up all the wool consumed in the United States, even exclusive of home-made fabrics. The following Table* will show the value of the woolens imported for twenty-five years, up to and including 1845: TABLE No. 11. 1821.. $7,437,737|1826.. $8,431,974|1831. $12,627,229 1822...12,185,904/1827... 8,742,701)1832... 9,992,424 1823... 8,268,038)1828-... 8,679,505/1833 ...13,262,509 1824... 8,386,597/1829... 6,881,489/1834...11,879,328/1839...18,575,945 1825...11,392,264|1830... 5,776,396|1835...17.834,424/1840... 9,071,184 1836. $21,080,003 1837... 8,500,292 1838... 11,512,920 1841. $11,001,939 1842... 8,375,725 1843... 2,472,154 1844... 9,475,762 1845...10,666,176 Here is another and still broader “margin” for both the American Wool-Grower and the American Manufacturer to fill! With a country well adapted to the production of wool as any the sun shines on—which, all things considered, can produce it more cheaply than any extended portion of any trans-Atlantic country—shall we continue to import raw wool ? ‘Whether we should continue to import woolens is sufficiently answered by the last paragraph but one of Mr. Lawrence’s letter, fully sustained as the facts therein set forth are by those infallible tests—the dividends of our manufacturing establishments. The minimum of these, in well managed establishments, has already been stated to be about ten per centum per annum,t and in Mr. Lawrence’s own great establishment the dividend of 1846 was jifteen per cent. Does any one suppose that the manufacturers of England, with all the advantage they can derive from cheaper labor {— (but with vastly higher prices for suitable sites and buildings—land taxes, parochial taxes, income taxes—freights and duties on imported wools, etc. etc.)—do or can make dividends touching even the lowest rate above stated? They cannot.|| * Report of the Secretary of the Treasury, 1845. f See Letter VII. ¢ Though not directly advised on the point, I take it for granted that the cost of machinery, also, is some- what less in England. || It may be said that the two last-named expenses fall on the consumer. They doubtless would, but the English manufacturer has to compete with those of France and the United States, a much larger propor- tion of whose stock is of home growth—the latter entirely, in fine fabrics. The abrogation of the Corn-Laws will be of immense advantage to the Bogie manufacturer, and enable him to better compete with other countries. But while the Bank of England ordinarily discounts paper at from 3 to 4 per cent., and while this is the common rate of interest in that country, it could not be expected that manufacturing capital would be allowed to draw 8 or 10, and much less 15 per cent. Such dividends, in a country whose uninvested capital, or that drawing so low a rate of interest, is so superabundant, would at once invite a competition which would speedily bring the profits of manufacturing capital down to a \evel with those of other commercial capita! We may, therefore conclude that no such dividends are made. 26 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN-THE S. UTH. Is it said that our manufacturing companies have often been com- pelled to suspend, or break up, even under laws as favorable to them as those now in operation? ‘The reason for this is too pointedly and perti- nently stated by Mr. Lawrence to require any addition at my hands, in the following extract from a letter to me, bearing date April 13, 1847; and it will be seen in the concluding sentence that the bold and manly decla- rations of his preceding letter were not the result of a casual or momentary confidence, but are deliberately reasserted : “The manufacture of wool has often been disastrous to parties who have embarked in it for many reasons, two of which are sufficient—a want of capital and a want of skill. These difficulties are being obviated. Capitalists are more ready to embark under certain auspices, and the amount of skill is very fast increasing, so that this branch is on a footing not to be moved.” Undisturbed by those changes of vacillating legislation, or those move- ments in the National Legislature pointing to such changes—at one time enormously pampering the manufacturing interest, and leading to over- action and rash adventure—at aféother, threatening it with disaster and utter subversion—our manufacturers will steadily, nay, rapidly advance. If Now LET ALONE, they will soon not only “defy foreign competition” in the home market, but there is not a single good reason to prevent them from defying it in the great and opening market of South America, and even in the Old World. Some evils or errors in commercial legislation are less to be deprecated than constant changes. The present Tariff, so far as it affects wool and woolens, is the result of a compromise of inter- ests. It may not be perfect in principle or detail. But it does not seem to flagrantly favor or oppress any interest. I speak not in the spirit of a politician, or of the representative of an interest or section, when I express the hope that no change will be made or attempted in this portion of the Tariff, until the lapse of years shall bring about other changes requiring it, or until ample experience shall clearly call for a revision of the system. I have spoken of two “margins” to be filled by the American wool- grower—the present deficit in supplying our own manufactories, and sec- ondly, the prospective one, as our manufactures increase, so as to overtake and then keep pace with the consumption of an increasing population. The demands of our manufactories will advance pari passu with the pro duction, Mr. Lawrence predicts, for at least fifteen years. Why not for fifty, or a hundred! Let us glance at the prospective consumption, and see if, independent of exportations, it is likely to require any curbs or limits to be placed on production or manufacture. In the debates in Congress on the Tariff in 1828-9, Mr. Mallary esti mated the consumption of woolens in our country at $72,000,000 per ann. ;—$10,000,000 imported ; $22,000,000 manufactured ; $40,000,000 home-made. The Committee of the ‘Friends of Domestic Industry,” who met in New-York in 1831, reported that the proportion between the amount of wool worked up in factories to that in families was as 3 to 2; that the entire annual product of wool and its manufactures in the U.S. was $40,000,000. These are the only accessible published estimates which uow occur to me. The Census of 1840 shows that the value of woolens made in our manu- factories in 1839, was $20,696,999. The import of foreign woolens the same year was $18,575,945, and of raw wool* $1,359,445. It should be remarked, however, that the import of woolens is considerably higher than that of any year before or since. Taking the average of the same three ~ Taking the average product of 1837-8-9, as in Table 9, The separate import of 1839 is not before me. SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 127 years for which the import of the raw wool is given,* (1837—S—9,) it would reach but $12,863,051. If we suppose the consumption to equal the sup- ply, this would give $33,560,050 as the value of the fuctory-made woolens consumed in the United States in 1839. I confess I have no data other than conjectural ones, to determine the amount of the home-made manufactures for that or any other year; nor do I know that any other person has, or can, have such information. The United States Census, singularly enough does not include this as a separate item. It strikes me, however, that Mr. Mallary’s estimate is too high, and that of the Report of the “ Friends of Domestic Industry ” too low. The proportion of home-made to factory woolens is, no doubt, annually decreasing, for reasons already stated ;+ but as far back as 1839, it would perhaps be a fair estimate to set them down as even. This would give $67,120,100 as the value of the woolens con- sumed by a population of 17,069,453, or nearly $4 per head. Allowing that every dollar in the manufactured article would represent one pound of stock, or raw wool—and taking slave-cloths, blankets, carpets, coarse home-made fabrics, factory plains, etc., all into account, a dollar is an am- ple sum to offset against every pound of the raw material—it follows that our whole population annually consume four pounds of wool per head. Judge Beatty of Kentucky, in an estimate published originally in the American Agriculturist, which has been much quoted, sets down the con- sumption as about 6 lbs. per head. An ordinary Northern farmer or la- borer, in comfortable circumstances, will consume about 20 lbs. per an- num ;{ the poorer one not far from 15 Ibs.; a boy of 8 years old, full 4 lbs. ; a girl of that age (in the country, where females are dressed in woolens,) something more than half of that amount. In the cities and villages there is a large class whose consumption for dress ranges from 30 to 40 and even 50 lbs., and, including carpets, much more. . 3, but not so great a distinction between the hair and the wool. No. 4, from a three-fourths blood 4-year- old ewe, is about 2 inches long, contains a few colored hairs, resembles No. 2, but is somewhat coarser. All these samples are destitute of yolk, and apparently come from loose, light, dry, open fleeces. They do not strike me as wools which could be as profitably cultivated as many others, for any objects or under any circumstances. If the object is mutton instead of wool, it seems to me that a better se- lection can be made, from some of the English breeds—which intermingle * Bischoff, vol i, p. 144. Mr. Youatt quotes the substance of the above, and fully sustains Mr. Varley’s views. , t Q. v., p. 285. t See Essay on Various Breeds of Sheep, by Col. John Hare Powell, published in the Memoirs of the Board of Agriculture of the State of New-York, vol. iii., p. 377, (1826.) ° || In Letter Vth I inadvertently spoke of these as a large breed of sheep. They are not above medium size, or rather, may be said to be a smallish race. [52 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. their fat and muscle in such a manner as to render both palatable, insteac of depositing a greatly disproportioned share of the former in one luscious mass, forming an impediment to breeding, and an unsightly appendage in the eye of the breeder. All the different varieties of the Broad-tailed and Fat-rumped sheep will be found described in Youatt, and I will not now consume your time with them. SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. ie LETTER XI. THE MOST PROFITABLE BREED OF SHEEP FOR THE SOUTH.—PRINCIPLES OF BREEDING. Breeds should be adapted to the cireumstances of a Country..-Cireumstances requiring a Mutton Sheep .--Comparison between Mutton Sheep—The South-Downs, Leicesters and Cotswolds. .-.How far the Feed Markets, &c., of the South demand such breeds... What breed of Sheep will give the greatest value of Wool from the feed of an acre ?...Comparative Consumption and Wool Product of the Mutton breeds and the Merino—Other Expenses—Comparative Hardiness, &c..-A pound of fine wool can be grown as cheaply as a pound of coarse—worth more for market or for consumption...The Mutton of the Merino and its Crosses... What sub-variety of the Merino best adapted to the wants of the South ?... Review of the His. tory of Wool-Growing and the Wool Markets since 1824.-..Tarifis and Prices-...Injudicious course of the Manufacturers—Have discouraged the growth of fine wool and encouraged that of medium and coarse... A surplus of medium wools, and a bare or short supply of fine... Manutacturers now in the power of fine wool growers.. Interest of the Manufacturers to encourage the growth of fine wools by paying better prices—are beginning to do so—will be compelled to continue this course...Will the North furnish the increasing demand /—No—Reasons..-Fine wool in every point of view more profitable than coarse for cultivation in the South...Comparison between Merinos and Saxons...Crosses between them...Points which constitute excellence in a Merino—proper size—per centage of wool to live-weight—shape and gen- eral appearance—skin—wrinkles. .-The wool—what parts it should cover—its gum—length and weight of fleece—evenness—sty le—softness—serration—manner of opening, &c-..Principles of breeding. .-In-and-in breeding. ..Crossing..- English Crosses with the Merino... Views of Mr. Livingston concerning the use of cross-bred rams—of the French breeders—of the author...Great importance of starting a flock with choice rams—with different strains of blood. Dear Sir: No one breed of sheep combines the highest perfection in all those points which give value to this race of animals. One is remarkable for the weight, or early maturity, or excellent quality of its carcass, while it is deficient in quality or quantity of wool; and another which is valu- able for wool, is comparatively deficient in carcass. Some varieties will flourish only under certain conditions of feed and climate, while others are much less affected by those conditions, and will subsist under the greatest variations of temperature, and on the most opposite qualities of verdure. In selecting a breed for any given locality, we are to take into consid- eration first, the feed and climate, or the surrounding natural circum- stances; and, second, the market facilities and demand. We should then make choice of that breed which, with the advantages possessed, and un- der all the circumstances, will yield the greatest net value of marketable product. Rich lowland herbage, in a climate which allows it to remain green during a large portion of the year, is favorable to the production of large carcasses. If convenient to markets where mutton finds a prompt sale and good prices, then all the conditions are realized which call for a mut- ton, as contradistinguished from a wool-producing sheep. Under such cir- cumstances, the choice should undoubtedly, in my judgment, rest between the improved English varieties—the South-Down, the New Leicester, and the improved Cotswold or New Oxfordshire sheep. In deciding betweer these, minor and more specific circumstances are to be taken into account. If we wish to keep large numbers, the Down will herd* much better than the two larger breeds ; if our feed, though generally plentiful, is liable to be shortish during the drouths of summer, and we have not a certain sup- ly of the most nutritious winter feed, the Down will better endure ucca- sional short keep: if the market calls for a choice and high-flavored mut- ton, the Down possesses a decided superiority. If, on the other hand, we * That is, remain thriving and healthy when kept together in large numbers. 154 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. wish to keep but few in the same inclosure, the large breeds will be as healthy as the Downs; if the pastures be wettish or marshy, the former will better subsist on the rank herbage which usually grows in such situa- tions; if they do not afford so fine a quality of mutton, they, particularly the Leicester, possess an earlier maturity, and both give more meat for the amount of food consumed, and yield more tallow. The next point of comparison between the Long and Middle wooled families, is the value of their wool. Though not the first or principal ob- ject aimed at in the culture of any of these breeds, it is, in this country, an important item or incident in determining their relative profitableness. The American Leicester* yields about 6 lbs. of long, coarse, combing wool; the Cotswold something more, but this perhaps counterbalanced by other considerations ; the Down from 3 lbs. to 4 lbs. of a low quality of carding wool. None of these wools are very salable, at remunerating prices, in the American market. Both will become more so, as manufactures of - worsted, and of flannels and baizes, increase. The difference in the weight of fleeces between the breeds is, per se, a less important consideration than would first appear, and for reasons which will be given when I speak of the connection between the amount of wool produced and the food con- sumed, by sheep. Of the Cheviots I have taken no notice in this connection, as they are ‘obviously inferior to the preceding breeds, except in a capacity to endure rigorous weather, and to subsist on heathy herbage. No part of the South has a climate too severe for the more valuable races, and its grasses and other esculents, wherever found, and as far as they go, are, making the proper allowances for wet and dry lands, highly palatable and nutri- tious to all the varieties which respectively feed in such situations. Under the natural and artificial circumstances already alluded to, which surround Sheep Husbandry in many parts of England—where the fattest — and grossest quality of mutton is consumed as almost the only animal food of the laboring classes—the heavy, early maturing New Leicester, and the still heavier New Oxfordshire sheep, seem exactly adapted to the wants of producer and consumer, and are of unrivaled value. To depasture poorer soils—sustain a folding system—and furnish the mutton which sup- plies the tables of the wealthy—the South-Down is an equal desideratum. Have we any region in our Southern States, where analogous circum- stances demand the introduction of similar breeds? The climate, so far as its effect on the health is concerned, is adapted to any, even the least hardy varieties ; but not so its effects on the verdure on which they are to subsist. The long, scorching summers, so utterly unlike those of England, leave the grass on lands stocked heavily enough for profit, entirely too dry and short for the heayy, sluggish Long Wools. This is particularly true in the tide-water zone. Mutton, too, sheeted over externally with three or four inches of solid fat,t even if it could be made acceptable to the slave, in lieu of his ration of bacon—a thing more than doubtful— would never find any considerable market off from the plantation. So far as the supply of feed is concerned, the above remarks apply, though not equally, tothe South-Down. It will live and thrive where the Long Wools would dwindle away, but it is a mistake to suppose that the heavy im- *Tuse the word “ American” Leicester, because it is notorious that this, as well as the Cotswold—and all the other heavy English varieties, soon lose in the weight of their fleeces when subjected to the climate and the (best ordinary) system of feeding in the United States. I should except, perhaps, a few highly pampered animals. + Five and even six inches of solid fat, on the rib, is not uncommon in England. In the Cotswolds the fat and lean are more intermixed, and the mutton is of a better quality ; but it would be considered en: tirely too luscious and tallowy by Americans. | SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 155 proved South-Down will subsist, and attain its proper weight and fatness, on very poor or very scant herbage. The old unimproved variety would, like some other smallish and hardy races, obtain a living on keep as poor as that which grew on the lightest and thinnest soils of Sussex. Moulded by the hand of Ellman, and other breeders, to better fulfill the conditions of a mutton sheep, in size and other particulars, they demand that in- creased supply of food which the formation of additional fat and muscle require. Retaining some of the properties of the parent stock, they are less sluggish, and bear travel better than the Long Wools; but with them as with the latter, and all other animals, much or prolonged exercise in pursuit of food or otherwise, is unfavorable to obesity. Men, and par- ticularly owners, in advocating the claims of this breed and that, seem not unfrequently to forget that the general physical laws which control in the development of ail the animal tissues as well as functions, are uniform. Better organs will doubtless make a better appropriation of animal food ; and they may be taught, so to speak, to appropriate it in particular direc- tions—in one breed, more especially to the production of fat—in another, of muscle or lean meat—in another, wool. But, ceteris paribus, large animals will always require more food than small ones. Animals which are to be carried to a high state of fatness must have plentiful and nutri- tious food, and they must exercise but little in order to prevent the unne- cessary “combustion” in the lungs, of that carbon which forms more than seyen-tenths of their fat. Noart of breeding can countervail these estab- lished laws of Nature. Again, there are no facilities in the South for marketing large quantities of mutton—of a tithe of that which would be annually fitted for the sham- bles, were Sheep Husbandry introduced to anything like the extent I have recommended, and with the mutton breeds of sheep. With few cities and large villages—with a sparse population—with an agricultural population the greatest drawback on whose pecuniary prosperity is their inability to market their own surplus edibles—not a particle of rational doubt can ex- ist on this point. True, I have expressed the opinion that, both as a mat- ter of healthfulness and economy, mutton should be substituted for a moi- ety of the bacon used on the plantation; but with such a change, in a country so exclusively agricultural, each landholder would raise his own supply, and thus no market be created. It may then be regarded as a set- tled point that the production of wool is the primary, the great object of Southern Sheep Husbandry. In instituting a comparison between breeds of sheep for wool-growing purposes, I will, in the outset, lay down the obviously incontrovertible proposition that the question is not what variety will shear the heaviest or even the most valuable fleeces, irrespective of the cost of production.— Cost of feed and care, and every other expense, must be deducted, to fairly test the profits of an animal. Ifa large sheep consume twice as much food as a small one, and give but once and a half as much wool, it is obviously more profitable, other things being equal, to keep two of the smaller sheep. The true question then is, with the same expense in other particulars, From what breed will the verdure of an acre of land produce the greatest value of wool ? Let us first proceed to ascertain the comparative amount of food con- sumed by the several breeds. There are no satisfactory experiments which show that breed, in itself considered, has any particular influence on the quantity of food consumed. It is found, with all varieties, that the con- sumption is in proportion to the live weight of the (grown) animal. Of course, this rule is not invariable in its individual application, but its gen- 156 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. eral soundness has been satisfactorily established. Spooner states that grown sheep take up 34 per cent. of their weight in what is equivalent to dry hay per day, to keep in store condition. Veit places the consumption at 24 per cent. My experience would incline me to place it about midway between the two. But whatever the precise amount of the consumption, if it is proportioned to the weight, it follows that if an acre is capable of sustaining three Merinos weighing 100 lbs. each, it will sustain but two Leicesters weighing 150 lbs. each, and two and two-fifths South-Downs weighing 125 lbs. each. Merinos of this weight often shear 5 lbs. per fleece, taking flocks through. The herbage of an acre, then, would give 15 lbs. of Merino wool, and but 12 lbs. of Leicester, and but 9% Ibs. of South-Down (estimating the latter as high as 4 lbs. to the fleece)! Even the finest and lightest fleeced sheep ordinarily known as Merinos, average about 4 Ibs. to the fleece, so that the feed of an acre would produce as much of the highest quality of wool sold under the name of Merino, as it would of New Leicester, and more than it would of South-Down! The former would be worth from fifty to one hundred per cent. more per pound than either of the latter! Nor does this dicate all the actual difference, as I have, in the preceding estimate, placed the live-weight of the English breeds low, and that of the Merino high. The live-weight of the four- pound fine-fleeced Merino does not exceed 90 Ibs. It ranges from 80 to 90 lbs., so that 300 Ibs. of live-weight would give a still greater product of wool to the acre.* I consider it perfectly safe to say that the herbage of an acre will uniformly give nearly double the value of Merino, that it will of any of the English Long or Middle wools. The important question now remains, What are the other relative ex- penses of these breeds? I speak from experience when I say that the Leicestert is in no respect a hardier sheep than the Merino—indeed, it is my firm conviction that it is less hardy, under the most favorable circum- stances. It is more subject to colds, and I think its constitution breaks up more readily under disease. The lambs are more liable to perish from ex- posure to cold, when newly dropped. Under wnfavorable circumstances— herded in large flocks, pinched for feed, or subjected to long journeys— its capacity to endure, and its ability to rally from the effects of such draw- backs, do not compare with those of the Merino. The high-bred South- Down, though considerably less hardy than the unimproved parent stock, is still fairly entitled to the appellation of a hardy animal. In this respect I consider it just about on a par with the Merino. I do not think, how- ever, it will bear as hard stocking as the latter, without a rapid diminution in size and quality. If the peculiar merits of the animal are to be taken into account in determining the expenses—and I think they should be— the superior fecundity of the South-Down is a point in its favor, as well for a wool-producing as a mutton sheep. The South-Down ewe not only frequently yeans twin lambs, as do both the Merino and Leicester, but she possesses, unlike the latter, nursing properties to do justice by them, But this advantage is fully counterbalanced by the superior longevity of the Merino. All the English mutton breeds begin to rapidly deteriorate in am unt of wool, capacity to fatten, and in general vigor, at about 5 years old and their early maturity is no offset to this, in a sheep kept for wool- growing purposes. This early decay would require earlier and more rapid slaughter or sale than would always be economically convenient, or even possible, in a region situated in all respects like the South. It is well, on ey is understood that all of these live-weights refer to ewes in fair ordinary, or what is called stora condition. ¥ Y speak of full-blood Leicesters. Some of its crosses are much hardier than the pure bred sheep. ee SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 157 properly stocked farms, to slaughter or turn off the Merino wether at four ov five years old, to make room for the breeding stock; but he will not particularly deteriorate, and he will richly pay the way with his fleece, for several years longer. Breeding ewes are rarely turned off before eight, and are frequently kept until ¢en years old, at which period they exhibit no greater marks of age than do the Down and Leicester at five or siz.— I have known instances of Merino ewes breeding uniformly until 15 years old! The Improved Cotswold is said to be hardier than the Leicester; but I have said less of this variety, throughout this entire Letter, as from their great size* and the consequent amount of food consumed by them, and the other necessary incidents connected with the breeding of so large animals, the idea of their being introduced as a wool-growing sheep any- where, and particularly on Jands grassed like those of the South, is, in m judgment, utterly preposterous. There is one advantage which all the coarse races of sheep have over the Merino. Either because their hoofs do not grow long and turn under from the sides, as do those of the Meri- no, and thus hold dirt and filth in constant contact with the foot, the coarse races are less subject to the visitations of the hoof-ail, and, when contract- ed, it spreads with less violence and malignity among. them. Taking all: the circumstances connected with the peculiar management of each race, and all the incidents, exigencies, and risks of the husbandry of each fairly into account, I am fully convinced that the expenses, other than those of feed, are not smaller per capita, or even in the number required to stock an acre, in either of the English breeds above referred to, than in the Me- rino. Nor should I be disposed to concede even equality, in these respects, to either of those English breeds, excepting the South-Down. You write me, Sir, that many of the South Carolina planters are under the impression that coarse wools will be most profitably grown by them, Jirst, because there is a greater deficit in the supply, and they are better protected from foreign competition; and, secondly, because they furnish the raw material for so great a portion of the woolens consumed in the South. Each of these premises is true, but are the conclusions legitimate ? Notwithstanding the greater deficit and better protection, do the coarse wools bear as high a price as the fine ones? If not, they are not as profit- able, for I have already shown that 2¢ costs no more to raise a pound of coarse than a pound of fine wool. Nay, a pound of medium Merino wool can be raised more cheaply than a pound of the South-Down, Leicester, or Cotswold! This I consider clearly established. Grant that the South requires a much greater proportion of coarse than of fine wool, for her own consumption. Ifa man needing iron for his own consumption, wrought a mine to obtain it, in which he should happen to find gold equally accessible and plentiful, would it be economical in him to neglect the more precious metal because he wanted to use the iron ? or should he dig the gold, obtain the iron by exchange, and pocket the differ- ence in value? Would it be economical to grow surplus wool, wool for market, worth from 25 to 30 cents per pound, when it costs no more per pound to grow that worth from 40 to 45 cents? And even for the home want, for the uses of the plantation—for slave-cloths, &c.—jine wool is worth more per pound than coarse for actual wear or use! Is this propo- sition new and incredible to you? I challenge the fullest investigation of its truth, through the testimony of those familiar with the subject, or through the direct ordeal of experiment. It is true that a piece of fine broadcloth is not so strong, nor will it wear like a Chelmsford plain of treble thick- * I saw two at the late N. Y. State Fair, at Saratoga, which weighed over 300 lbs. each! 158 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. ness. Tbe threads of the former are spun to extreme fineness to econo- mize the costly raw material. To give it that finish which is demanded by fashion—*o give it its beautiful nap—these threads are still farther re- duced by “ gigging” and “shearing.” But spin fine wool into yarn as coarse as that used in Chelmsfords, and manufacture it in the same way, and it would make a far stronger and more durable cloth. The reasons are obvious. Merino wool is decidedly stronger than the English coarse Long and Middle wools—or any other coarse wools—in proportion to its diameter or bulk. It felts far better, and there is therefore a greater co- hesion between the different fibres of the same thread, and between the different threads. It is also more pliable and elastic, and consequently less subject to “ breaking” and abrasion. Unless the views I have advanced are singularly erroneous, it will be seen that, for wool-growing purposes, the Merino possesses a marked and decided superiority over the best breeds and families of coarse-wooled sheep. As a mutton sheep, it is inferior to some of those breeds, but not - so much so as it is generally reputed to be. If required to consume the fat and lean together, many who have never tasted Merino mutton, and who have an unfavorable impression of it, would, I suspect, find it more palatable than the luscious and over-fat New Leicester. The mutton of the cross between the Merino and “ Native” sheep would certainly be preferred to the Leicester, by anybody but an English laborer used to the latter. It is short-grained, tender, and of good flavor. The same is true of the crosses with the English varieties. These will be, hereafter, more particularly alluded to. Grade Merino wethers (say half-bloods) are favor- ites with the Northern drover and butcher. They are of good size—ex- traordinarily heavy for their apparent bulk*—make good mutton—tallow well—and their pelts, from the greater weight of wool on them, command an extra price. They would, in my opinion, furnish a mutton every way suitable for plantation consumption, and one which would be well accept- ed in the Southern markets. In speaking of the Merino in this connection, I have in all cases, unless it is distinctly specified to the contrary, had no reference to the Saxons— though they are, as it is well known, pure-blooded descendants of the former. Assuming it now as a settled point, that it is to the Merino raee that the wool-grower must look for the most profitable sheep, let us now proceed to inquire which of the widely varying sub-varieties of this race are best adapted to the wants and circumstances of the South. A brief glance at the history of wool-growing, and of the wool markets, for the last few years, will form an useful preliminary inquiry, and will assist us materially in arriving at a correct conclusion. On the introduction of the Saxons, about twenty-four years since, they were sought with avidity by the holders of the fine-wooled flocks of the country, consisting at that time of pure or grade Merinos. The Tariff of 1824 imposed a duty of 20 per cent. on wools costing above 10 cents per pound, gradually rising to 30 per cent., and 15 per cent. on those costing Jess than 10 cents. Foreign woolen clothst were subject to an ad valorem duty of 30 per cent. until June 30th, 1825, and after that it was raised to 334 percent. The Tariff of 1828 immediately raised the duty on all wools to 40 per cent. ad valorem and 4 cents per pound specific duty, and 5 per cent, was to be annually added to the ad valorem duty, until it should reach 50 * On account of the shortness of their wool, compared with the coarse breeds. : : + Where I use the word “ cloths” here and in the statements of the different Tariffs which follow, you whl understand that I do not include carpetings, ankets, worsted stuff goods. &c. & SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH, 159 per cent. (in 1831.) The duty on woolen cloths was also raised (after June, 1829) to 45 per cent., and that exceeding $4 the square yard to 50 per cent. Under the decisive encouragement offered to both the wool- grower and manufacturer by this Act, a great impetus was given to the production of the finest wools, and the Saxons everywhere rapidly su- perseded, or bred out by crossing, the Spanish Merinos. The latter dis- appeared almost entirely from New-York and New-England. In the _fine-wool mania which ensued, weight of fleece, constitution, and every- thing else, were sacrificed to the quality of the wool. The Tariff of 1832 imposed a 40 per cent. ad valorem and 4 cents per pound specific duty on wools costing over 8 cents; and it raised the duty on all broadcloths to 50 per cent. It made wools costing less than 8 cents per pound free of duty. The “ Compromise” Tariff of 1833 commenced a system of progressive reductions until the maximum rate of duties should not exceed 20 per cent. The following Table will give the duties of each year, on wool and cloths, under this Act, estimating the ad valorem and specific duties on wools exceeding 8 cents, together in an average per centage :* TABLE 14. Per ct | 1833, | 1835. | 1837. | 189, | 1841. | 1e42. W ool costing less than 8 cents per pound Pile Poa. f peank Wiser. | tren: at place of exportation..........--.-.- 20 Wool costing over 8 cents per pound...... 54 50-60} 47-20] 43-80] 40-40] 30-20] 20 50 47 *| 44 41 38 29 20 MO HEPEOLIS Gieio fos tin oe =<\n'ioeie's mses d The Tariff of 1841 struck out tlie 20 per cent. duty on the 8 cent wools. ‘The Tariff of 1842 again imposed an ad valorem duty of 5 per cent. or wools costing seven cents or under, and raised it on the higher wools to 30 per cent. ad valorem and 3 cents per pound specific duty, and on cloths to 40 per cent. ad valorem. The Tariff of 1846 established an ad valorem duty of 30 per cent. on all wools, and on cloths. By referring to Table 7, Letter V., it will be seen that the prices of wool have not been controlled by the amount of the protection. They reached their maximum in 1836, and then fell off, not again to rally, (except during the single year 1839)— not again to reach 40 cents—until 1844. Why was this? What pro- duced the sudden depreciation of 18372 The Tariff of 1828 and 1832 gave too much protection to both wool-grower and manufacturer. Their pursuits became the E/ Dorado of agricultural and mercantile speculators. Skill without capital, and capital without skill, and in some cases probably thirst of gain without either, rushed into these favored avocations. The bank inflations of the period fanned the fires of speculation, and taught some of the wisest commercial héads of the country to forget the provi- dence that had hitherto distinguished them. The natural result followed. In the financial crisis of 1837, manufacturing, and all other monetary en- terprises which had not been conducted with skill and providence, and which were not based on adequate and real capital, were involved in a common destruction, and even the solidest and best conducted institutions of the country were shaken by the fury of the explosion. Wool suddenly fell almost 50 per cent. (from 54 to 30 cents per pound.)t In 1838 it ral- lied a little, and in 1839 it again reached 50 cents, but it went down nearly to the minimum point in 1840. The grower began to be discouraged. He who bred the delicate Saxons, (and, as I have already said, they now comprised the flocks of nearly all the large wool-growers in the country,) * The reduction of one-tenth of the excess over 20 per cent. took place Dec. 31st, each year, to 1841; then penal of the residue of the excess; and on the 30th of June, 1842, the other half of said residue was de- ucted. t rane quality of the wools here glluded to will be found specified in a note on the second page of Letter V. 160 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. was not obtaining the actual first cost per pound of his wool. He clam- ored loudly for an increase of duties on the foreign article, as the reduc- tions of the “ Compromise”? Act were now approaching their ultimate standard—20 per cent.—and he attributed the low prices to this cause: Saxon wool continued low, and did not pay its first cost in 1841 and 1842, Was this due solely to the reduction of the Tariff? A reference to Table 11 (Letter [X.) will show that the import of foreign woolens was less from 1836 up to and including 1842, than for the six preceding years! Where then was the foreign competition which was driving the manufacturer to keep down the price of wools? The Tariff of 1842 raised the duty on wool 10 per cent. and added a specific duty of 3 cents per pound; and it raised the duty on cloths from 20 to 40 per cent. The import of foreign woolens sunk, the succeeding year, to a lower point than it had touched since 1821, and in 1844 and 1845 it did not reach the average of the six years preceding the enactment of the Tariff of 1842. A reference to Table 9 (Letter IX.) will show that the import of foreign jie wools also’ largely fell off. This coincided with the expectations of the advocates of — a higher Tariff, but another and equally legitimate expectation entertained by the great body of Northern wool-growers—that they were to share in the benefits arising from the exclusion of foreign competition—was sig- nally disappointed. The Tariff of 1842 was enacted on the 30th day of August, and part of the clip of that year was sold under its operation. Wool sold that year Jower than it had for the five preceding years, viz., for 30 cents. The next year it advanced one penny! General discourage- ment now seized upon the growers of fine wool. The market was not overstocked—foreign competition was light, but. stil they could not sell their wool for its first cost! To add to their mortification, the manufac- turer, by a most short-sighted policy, would scarcely make a discrimina- tion of 6d. per pound between Saxon wool and medium Merino and grade wools weighing nearly twice as much to the fleece. If the grower of me- dium wool got 25 cents per pound for fleeces weighing 4 lbs.—thus real- izing $1 per fleece—the ordinary Saxon grower would get but, 30 cents per pound for fleeces weighing 23 lbs., and thus realize but 75 cents! * When the Saxon growers found that the Tariff of ’42 brought them no relief, they began to give up their costly and carefully nursed flocks. The example, once set, became contagious, and there was a period when it seemed as if all the Saxon sheep of the country would be sacrificed to this reaction. Many abandoned wool-growing altogether, at a heavy sacri- fice of their fixtures for rearingsheep. Others crossed with coarse-wooled breeds, and rushing from one extreme to the other, some even crossed with the English mutton breeds! Some more judiciously went back to the parent Merino stock, but usually they selected the heaviest and coarsest wooled Merinos, and thus materially deteriorated the character of their woo]. As the preceding period had been distinguished by its mania for fine wool, this was, by its mania for heavy fleeces !+ The English . . . 5 . crosses, however, were speedily abandoned.{ The Merino regained his * And though the larger, stronger sheep, bearing the medium wool, would eat more, it was far hardier, required less protection and care of every kind, and would increase more rapidly—circumstances which would far more than counterbalance its excess of consumption. +I make no claim of having possessed greater sagacity or foresight in these particulars than the mass of breeders. I began with the Merino. These I crossed with the Saxon, and Ialso bred the pure-blood Sax- ons for several years. Unsatisfied with these, I made some experiments with the English mutton breeds, both as pure bloods and crosses. Finding none of them equal to the Merino as a wool-producing sheep, I returned to the latter, and I bred for heavy fleeces until the manufacturers saw fit to make a juster discrim- ination in the prices paid by them for the different qualities of wool. {I mean by those who sought to improve their fine-toooled flocks by an English cross. English and all other coarse-wooled sheep are immensely and rapidly improved, for wool-growing purposes, by a proper fine-wooled cross, as 1 have already and shall again haye occasion to mention. 4 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 161 ‘supremacy, lost for nearly twenty years, and again became the popular favorite. It was generally adopted by those who were commencing flocks in the new Western States, and gives its type to the sheep of those re- gions. _ It will be seen from the preceding facts that the supply of fine wool* has proportionably decreased, and that of medium and coarse increased. This has driven the manufacturers to make a juster discrimination in prices. They now realize that their own short-sighted economy has been all but fatal to fine wool-growing in the United States. And they cannot ‘but feel that in destroying this interest, they destroy themselves. Our “manufacturers are not so miserably blind as to dream of drawing their raw ‘material from foreign countries—of paying an import duty of 30 per cent. and then competing with the English manufacturer who pays an import duty ‘not exceeding two pence per pound! It is doubtful, in my mind, whether the home supply will not fall considerably short of the home demand for fine wool for thts year !+ The point has been already reached where but a little more discouragement, or a little longer continued discouragement, would have banished these wools from the country! So far, the manufac- tories have not felt this evil, for they have not been compelled to import. Neither pampered nor persecuted by the Tariff of 1846—called for by the consumption of the country—with solid capital and greater experience and skill at their command—they are rapidly increasing, and rising on a solider basis than ever before. So, to sustain our manufacturing interest, (that engaged in the manufacture of fine cloths,) it is absolutely necessary that the diminution of fine wools be not only immediately arrested, but that the growth of them be immediately and largely increased. These facts now first beginning to be clearly appreciated by the manufacturer— will deter him from resorting to his former suicidal policy. Instances have recently come to my knowledge of manufacturers offering to contract with fine-wool growers for their entire clips, for a term of years, at an ad- vance on present prices—prices, be it remembered, higher than they have been except for two years (1839 and 1844) since the overthrow of 1837. Should the manufacturer, however, again forget his own interest, the fine- wool grower has it in his power to teach it to him most effectually. In- stead of being discouraged and driven from the business, he has but to withhold his wools for a season—say for a few months, to compel the for- mer to import wools at a ruinous cost—stop his machinery, or pay fair prices at home! I believe in no combinations to control prices. Some- thing far better than vague report, however, says that several of the large manufacturing establishments of New-England employed the same agents, last seasoygto buy much, if not all of their wools—and that these wools were subsequently divided by bidding or otherwise, among the parties to the transaction! Is this. denied? *I think it will not be denied. If this was so, what was it but a combination to control prices?{ But whether *To make myself clearly understood, I will, in the remarks which follow, classify wools as follows: su- perf.ne, the choicest quality of wool grown in the United States, and never grown here excepting in com. aratively small quantities; fine, good ordinary Saxon; good medium, the highest quality of wool usually nown in the market as Merino; mediwm, ordinary Merino; ordinary, grade Merino and perhaps selected South-Down fleeces ; coarse, the English long wools, &e. This subdivision is not minute enough, by any means, to express fully the number of well-defined classes which exist in woo}. A farther multiplication of them here, however, I have thought would only tend to confusion. 1 The posage has been all along taken that the general supply was under the demand, but the deficit hitherto has been principally in medium and coarse wools. See Table 9, Letter IX ¢ And before leaving this point, I will ask another question: Why were most of the wools of New-York and New-England untouched and unlooked at by the agents of the manufacturers this year, contrary to all preceding customs for two or three months subsequently to shearing? These same agents fucked in droves to the Western States and bought up their entire clip iramediately after shearing, while reports were constantly coming back that this manufactory and that had purchased its entire supply for a year, or perhaps two years? Was this because the Eastern growers demanded exorbitant prices? Wes it because anything like an approach to a supply of fine wools could be found in the West? Or was it the result of a 162 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. so or not, when we compare the profits which have inured to the growers and manufacturers of fine wool for the last few years, it behooves the for- mer both to speak and act decidedly. Their interests have been sacrificed long enough ! But it isto be hoped that the grower of these wools wil} not be hereafter driven to the alternative of either suffering himself, or of defending himself by retaliatory measures. Some few of the manufac- turers have always, I believe, taken a high and liberal course. Enough. others, as already remarked, now see the necessity of such liberality to prevent any combined or general effort to depress prices. Will the North again turn its attention to the growth of superfine and — fine wools—again supply the demand, and keep up with it as it increases ? Not unless stimulated by the inducement of extraordinary profits—not, certainly, against the competition of the South. The climate north of 419, or, beyond all dispute, north of 42°, is too severe for any variety of sheep commonly known, which bear either of these classes of wools. In fact, the only such variety, in anything like general use, is the Saxon; and this is a delicate sheep, entirely incapable of safely withstanding our Northern winters, without gpod shelter, good and regularly administered food, and careful and skillful management in all other particulars. When the season is a little more than usually backward, so that grass does not start prior to the lambing season, it is difficult to raise the lambs of the mature ewes— the young ewes will in many instances disown their lambs, or, if they own them, not have a drop of milk for them; and if in such a crisis, as it often happens, a north-east or north-west storm comes driving down, bearing snow or sleet on its wings, or there is a sudden depression of the temper- ature from any cause, no care will save multitudes of lambs from perish- ing.* And it will not do to defer the time of having them dropped tu es- cape these evils, or they will not attain size and strength enough to pass safely through their first winter.t A few large sheepholders, whose farms, buildings, etc., have been arranged with exclusive reference to the rearing of these sheep, may continue to grow fine wool until driven from it by the competition of the South; but many of these have recently adopted a Merino cross. The ordinary farmers, the smal] sheepholders, who, in the ageregate, erow by far the largest portion of our Northern wools, have im- bibed a deep-seated aversion—nay, a positive disgust—against the Saxon sheep. They have not the necessary fixtures for their winter protection, and they are entirely unwilling to bestow the necessary amount of care on them. Besides, mutton and wool being about an equal consideration with this class of farmers, they want larger and earlier maturing breeds. But, above all, they want a strong, hardy sheep, which demands no more care than their cattle. The strong, compact, medium-wooled ee per- haps still more generally, its crosses with coarse varieties, producing the wool which I have classified as ordinary—will be the general favorites — The same reasons will weigh still more strongly in the North-west, where, as I have shown, the climate is a still worse one for delicate sheep. All these causes will tend to swell the amount of medium, ordinary and coarse concerted movement to bring the Eastern grower into taking last year’s prices? It actually did so, in a multitude of instances—or, he was contented to receive the slightest advance on them! This will be found true of nearly all who sold soon after the market opened in the East. If not the result of a concerted and combined movement, the general desertion of the Eastern and resort to the Western market by the manu- facturers was a most singular coincidence! These manufacturers are now fain to purchase Eastern wools at a considerable advance from the prices of 1846—and. as already hinted, it is highly problematical, in my mind, whether they will not be compelled to import at a still higher advance, to eke out a deficiency! It is to be hoped that this will be the last Act in the drama of folly and suicide played by our manufacturers. * Not even in close barns, and with constant attendance. + North of latitude 429, it is necessary, as a general rule, that lambs be dropped in the first half of May, te give them this requisite size and strength Occasional cold storms come nearly every season up to that riod, and not unfrequently up to the first of June. Mr. Grove was a decided advocate of early lambs.— e used to say that ‘it was better to lose two of them in the spring than one in the fall.” ——— | ——- oe Se ee a id ee. SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 163 wools. Though the reaction has been but recent, the market demand for medium and ordinary wools is now better supplied—nearer being glutted, so far as I am enabled to judge—than that for fine and superfine. And should the market become glutted with either or both, it is important to remember that the latter will be far more profitable for export than the former. Every consideration, then, in my judgment, points to wools ranging from good medium upward, instead of the lower classes, as the most profitable staples for cultivation in the South. The only question which now arises on this point is, from which variety, the Saxon or Merino, shall the South attempt to cultivate these wools 4 It is generally supposed, and as a general thing it is true, that the Me- rino bears no better wool than that which I have classified as good medi- um. But the measurements of Dr. Emmons (given in Letter X.) show, by the infallible testimony of the microscope, that heavy-fleeced Merinos sometimes equal—nay, surpass Saxons, in fineness. The fact is more de- cisive, as the Saxon fibres there measured came not only from the most celebrated flocks—from the prize sheep at State Fairs—but it also came from samples, in most instances, given by the owners for public exhibition. I do not claim that Merinos like these are common. They are rather to be regarded in the light of those prodigies of excellence which occasion- ally appear, but which it is difficult to reproduce with anything like uni- formity. Nor are lesser fleeced Merinos, bearing wool equal to ordinary Saxon, very common. During the jie wool mania, all, who sought fine wool, bred the Saxon sheep, or crossed with it; and the few who stood out, and clung to the Merino, generally aimed to distinguish it as widely as possible from the former, by increasing the weight of its fleece, to the disregard of its fineness. This, too, was the general disposition during the heavy-fleeced mamia. Of consequence, but very few of our breeders have ever, or until recently, sought a high degree of fineness in fleece in breed- ing the Merino. Recent experience has satisfied me that this is rapidly attainable. Mr. Lawrence, in a quotation already made by me (in Letter I.), says: “I believe a breed may be reared which will give four pounds of exquisitely fine wool to the fleece.” I know by multiplied experiments that once interbreeding between an ewe bearing good medium wool (the fleece weighing, say, from 44 lbs. to 5 lbs.), with a Merino ram of sufh- ciently high quality, will produce wool in the offspring equaling ordinary Saxon, and a fleece averaging 4 lbs., with none of its weight made up of gum. The result of ¢wo such interbreedings will bring the progeny of a heavy-fleeced medium ewe (provided her fleece is properly even) to the same point. The four-pound fine-fleeced Merino would be a far more profitable animal than the Saxon, other things being equal. But other things are not equal. The former is every way a hardier animal, and a better nurse. It is about 20 lbs. heavier, and therefore consumes more feed; but I consider this additional expense more than counterbalanced by the additional care and risk attending the husbandry of the Saxon. If required to keep the number good, and give the proper attention to the rearing of lambs, I would sooner engage to keep, at the same price, one thousand such Merinos for a year, than t keep the same number of Saxons. It would be practicable, doubtless, to increase the Saxon’s fleece to 4 Ibs.; but any one, familiar ‘with such experiments, knows tnat it is far easier to increase fineness of wool, by diminishing weight of fleece and carcass a little, than it is to increase weight of fleece and carcass without lowering the quality of the wqol. And there is this additional cbjection to the latter 164 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. system of breeding, so far as the Saxon is concerned. The breeder is now only called upon to increase the weight of its fleece and carcass, but to en- graft on it hardiness of constitution, nursing properties, etc., which by no means follow, as a matter of course, its improvement in the former partic- — ulars. These, and particularly the latter, could only be attained, so as to be transmissible with a proper degree of certainty from parents to offspring, ~ by years of breeding, accompanied by a rigorous course of selection. If, therefore, you were called upon to form a variety just suited to your wants, — the Merino would present the most ductile and the safest materials. But the Southern agriculturist, just entering upon sheep-rearing, would not be prepared to conduct nice experiments in breeding. He wants a breed or variety already prepared to his hand. And for the same reasons, notwith- standing the fineness of his climate, he wants a hardy breed—one that de- mands no extra skill, no great experience, for its management. Merinos reaching or closely approaching the standard above specified are now to be found, while there is no corresponding variety of Saxons ; and to incur - the risks arising from inexperience, want of preparation, &c., the superior hardiness of the former would, of course, render them entirely prefer- able. Some have recommended a cross between the Saxons and Merinos, asa cheap and ready method of obtaining a four-pound fine-fleeced sheep. A properly selected Saxon ram, crossed with good medium and medium- wooled Merino ewes, cutting from 5 Ibs. to 54 Ibs. of wool, will almost uni- formly produce this result. And it is easier now to get the Saxon than the Merino, fine enough for this purpose. Or a flock may be bred up from Saxon ewes and a Merino ram. The objection to both courses is the same, though not equal to that which exists against breeding the full-blood Sax- ons—yviz., the production of a feeble and a poor nursing sheep. The latter evil, especially, clings for generations to these cross-bred animals, so far as my experience and observation have extended. And unless Saxons are selected which do not possess the characteristic faults of the variety, the eross-breds are inferior to pure-blood Merinos in many other and essential particulars, notwithstanding the fleece may be all that we desire. There is another important point where the pure-blood Merino possesses a marked advantage. Few Southern wool-growers will commence their flocks exclusively with high-bred animals of any kind. With a few of them to breed rams from, and to gradually grow up a full-blood flock, they will mainly depend upon grading up the common sheep of the country. With the long-legged, bare-bellied, open-wooled sheep common in the South (as it once was in the North’, the Saxon makes an indifferent cross. Their faults run too much 7m the same direction, in all save the fineness of wool, for, however good its shape, the wool of the Saxon is comparatively short and open. It therefore shortens the wool of the common sheep, without adding much or any to its thickness, and thus the fleece remains a light one. Precisely all this is the reverse of what results from a cross between the Merino and the common sheep. The wool is but little shortened, un- less the staple of the common sheep was very long; it is essentially thick- ened ; it is made to extend over the belly; the fieece is, therefore, greatly increased in weight; thegheep is rendered more compact and “stocky,” and it is brought nearer to the ground. Even the first cross, though its fleece is somewhat wneven, is a prime sheep for the wants of ordinary farm- ers, and among these it is, accordingly, a decided favorite, over the whole Northern States. A majority of them would, I think, give it preference over any other kind or variety of sheep. Two or three more proper Me- rino crosses raise it to the rank of a jirst-rate wool-growing sheep—scarcely SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 163 inferior to the full-blood Merino in anything, save that 7¢ does not transmis tts good qualities with quite so much certainty to its offspring.* Let us now proceed to inquire what are the points which constitute ex- cellence, or mark a departure from it, in the class of Merino sheep which I have attempted to show form, in every point of view, the most suitable variety to commence wool-growing with in the South. What should be its size, weight of fleece, shape, general appearance, style of wool, &c. &c.1? Size, within extremes, is not, per se, a matter of much consequence.— There should, however, be uniformity in this particular, at least through the same flock, not only for their good appearance, but larger sheep are apt, by their superior strength, to crowd away small ones from the rack or trough. A sheep very snfall of z¢s breed and family, is commonly less hardy. If very large, i¢ must travel farther to fill itself ; and, therefore, this would be ag objection to it in a breed designed to graze on short and scant pas- turage—for the extra exercise thus made necessary would cause it to waste (in the form of carbon, in the lungs) a considerable portion of the food, which would, under other circumstances, be converted into animal tissues. Very large, like very small animals, of the same species—and, I am in- clined to think, the former more frequently—lack the robustness, vigor of muscle, capacity to endure unusual and protracted exercise, or privation of food, or any other unfavorable deviation from ordinary habits, possessed by compact medium-sized animals. This rule will be found to apply among all domestic animals. Lastly, lam not prepared to prove, but I delzeve that, with the same breeding, the woolly, like the osseous and muscular tis- sues of a large Merino sheep, will not be as fine as those of a smaller one. Ido not found this opinion, so far as wool is concerned, upon, nor do | claim that it is supported by, any analogies. I state it as solely the result of individual observation. If it is a tendency which can be successfully re- sisted, | never have been fortunate enough to have a sufficient number of instances brought under my eye, in any one flock, to have them constitute anything more than sparse exceptions to what I deem a well established rule. I have never known a family of very large Merinos bearing anything better than medium wool; and the first step to any decided improvement in them immediately reduces their weight, for it can only be effected by interbreeding with finer and smaller families. Ewes weighing from 80 lbs. to 90 lbs. alive, in good fair store condition, are of about the proper size, in my judgment, where fine wool is the object.t Rams should weigh 40 Ibs. or 50 Ibs. more. Ewes of the large Merino families weigh from 100 Ibs. to 110 lbs.—the rams 50 lbs. more; nor do even these equal the size of some of the late imported French Merinos. A relation analogous to the preceding one, exists between the weight of the fleece and its quality. This point has already been sufficiently set forth on another page. The opinion is there expressed that the Merino may be easily bred, by judicious selection of sire and dam, to bear 4 lbs. of fine wool, or wool equaling ordinary Saxon. I would now add that, as a gen- eral rule, and in large flocks, I do not believe more than this can be ob- tained, without a depreciation in the quality, among ewes. The ram’s fleece should in all cases, in a very superior animal, be about double that of the ewe. T'ive per cent. of the live-weight of the carcass, with ewes, is the maximum weig¢ht of jime wool, which we can, in the present state of breeding, look for with any uniform certainty. This would give a fleece of 4 lbs. to 80 Ibs. of live-weight. As the fine-wool Merinos increase, and thus give a wider range and better selection of materials for nice exper * The latter point will be more particularly adverted to in a subsequent part of this Letter. t Saxons weigh about 20 lbs. less. 166 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. ments, it is very possible that the per centage of the fleece may be increased, Mr. Lawrence, in speaking of attaining a four-pound fleece of “ exquisite’ quality, undoubtedly alluded to the wool which I have classed as superfine. The four-pound fleeced jfime Merino can undoubtedly be made superfine, by diminishing the weight of its fleece 10 or 12 ounces or a pound; and even then it will be a hardier and better animal than the finer class of Saxons which now produce this wool. But whether Mr. Law- rence’s standard can be fully attained, neither experience nor obser- vation enable me to decide. If it could, and the sheep be equal to the four-pound jfine-fleeced Merino in other respects, we should have a perfect heep. Such wool has sold this year at upward of 60 cents per pound, which would bring the fleeces to $2 40 a piece! # It may be well here to glance at the comparative worth of fleeces in the several Merino families, taking this year’s prices, and taking the weights which are usually — accompanying the several qualities, in prime ordinary flocks. A jie fleece of 4 Ibs., at 50 cents,* would be worth $2; good medium, weighing 43 ~ Ibs., at 40 cents, $1 80; medium, weighing 5 lbs., at 32 cents, $1 60. And the consumption of feed rises with the diminution of quality. Admitting the daily consumption of hay for 150 days to be 3 per cent. to the live- weight, 100 fine Merinos, averaging 85 lbs. each, would consume about 19 tons of hay; and 100 medium Merinos, averaging 105 lbs. each, would consume about 234 tons—an important difference in their relative ex- penses! The fine-wooled Merino does not, like the Saxon, lose his ad- vantage in this particular by his inferior hardiness. The shape and general appearance of the Merino should be as follows; The head should be well carried up, and in the ewe hornless. It would be better on many accounts to have the ram also hornless, but, being usu- ally characteristic of the Merino, many prefer to see them. The face should be shortish, broad between the eyes, the nose pointed, and in the ewe fine and free from wrinkles. The eye should be bright, moderately prominent, and gentle in its expression. The neck should be straight (not curving downward), short, round, stout—particularly so at its junction with the shoulder, forward of the upper point of which it should not sink below the level of the back. The points of the shoulder should not rise to any perceptible extent above the level of the back. The back, to the hips, should be straight; the crops (that portion of the body immediately back of the shoulder-blades) full; the ribs well arched; the body large and ca- pacious; the flank well let down; the hind-quarters full and round—the flesh meeting well down between the thighs, (or in the “ twist.”) The bosom should be broad and full; the legs short, well apart, and perpendic- ular, (2.¢., not drawn under the body toward each other when the sheep is standing.) Viewed as a whole, the Merino should present the appearance of a low, stout, plump, and—though differing essentially from the English mutton-sheep model—a highly symmetrical sheep. The skin is an important point. It should be loose, singularly mellow, of a rich, delicate pink color. A colorless skin, or one of a tawny, ap- proaching to a butternut hue, indicates bad breeding. On the subject of wrinkles, there is a difference of opinion. Being rather characteristic of the Merino—like the black color in a Berkshire hog, or the absence of all color in Durham cattle—these wrinkles have been more regarded, by novy- ices, than those points which give actual value to the animal ; and shrewd breeders have not been slow to act upon this hint! Many have contended that more wool can be obtained from a wrinkled skin; and this is the view * This is not high for fine Merino wool. Though I sold my lot for 42 cents, I was offered 50 cents for the fleeces of nearly all my later-bred sheep, if I would sell them separately. SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 167 _ of the case which has induced both the Spanish and French breeders to cultivate them—the latter to a monstrosity. I confess that I agree, to a considerable extent, with Mr. Joshua Kirby Trimmer,* that “this idea is as wild as that which some of our theorists have entertained, that, by lay- ing lands in high ridges and low furrows, the surface of ae earth and its produce i is increased. ” Though I once entertained a different opinion, the steel-yards have satisfied me that an exceedingly wrinkled neck does not add but a little to the weight of the fleece—not enough to compensate for the deformity, and the oreat impediment which it places i in the way of the shearer. I have wnied: rams, the labor of shearing six of which, in a nice and workmanlike manner—cutting the wool off short and smooth, on anu among the multitude of folds and wrinkles—was fully equivalent to shear- ing fifteen ordinary Merino rams, or twenty-five ewes—that is to say, a day’s work for one man. And none but a skillful shearer could, with any time given him, clip the wool short and smooth among the wrinkles, with- out frequently and severely cutting the skin. A smoothly drawn skin, and absence of all dewlap, on the other hand, would not, perhaps, be desirable. The wool of the Merino should densely cover the whole body, where it can possibly grow, from a point between and a little below the eyes, and well up on the cheeks, to the knees and hocks. Short wool may show, particularly in young animals, on the legs, even below the knees and hocks—but long wool covering the legs, and on the nose below the eyes, is unsightly—without value—and on the faces it frequently impedes the sight of the animal, causing it to be ina state of perpetual alarm, and disqualifying it to escape teal danger. Neither is this useless wool, as seems to be thought by some, the slightest indication of a heavy fleece. I have as often seen it on Saxons scar cely shearing 2 lbs. of wool, and on the very lightest fleeced Merinos. The amount of gum which the wool should exhibit, is another of the mooted points. Here, as in many other particulars, experience has changed my earlier impressions. Merino wool should be yolky or “ oily,” prior to washing—though not to that extreme extent, giving it the ap- pearance of being saturated with grease, occasionally witnessed. The extreme tips of the wool may exhibit a sufficient trace of gum to give the fleece a darkish cast—particularly in the ram—but a black, pitchy gum, resembling semi-hardened tar, extending an eighth or a quarter of an inch into the fleece, and which cannot be removed in ordinary washing, is, inmy opinion, decidedly objectionable. There is a white or yellowish concrete gum, not removable by common washing, which appears in the znterior of some fleeces, which is equally objectionable. The weight of fleece remaining the same, medium length of staple, with compactness, is preferable to long, open wool, inasmuch as it constitutes a better safeguard from inclemencies of weather, and better protects the sheep from the bad effects of cold and drenching rains in spring and fall The wool should be as nearly as possible of even length and thickness over the whole body. Shortness on the flank, and shortness or thinness on the belly, are serious defects. ““Evenness of fleece” is a point of the first importance. Many sheep exhibit good wool on the shoulder and side, while it is far coarser and even hairy on the thighs, dewlap, &c. Rams of this stamp should not be bred from by any one aiming to establish a superior fine-wooled flock, and all such ewes should be gradually excluded from those selected for breeding. The “style of the wool” is a point of as much consequence as mere * “ Practical Observations on the Improvement of British Fine Wools, &c.” by the above, 1828. 168 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. fineness. Some very fine wool is stiff and the fibres almost straight, like — hair. It has a dry, cottony look. This is a poor, unsalable article, how- ever fine the fibre. Softness of wool—a delicate, silky, highly elastic feel, between the fingers or on the lips, is the first thing to look after. " This is usually an index, or inseparable attendant, of the other good qualities, so that an experienced judge can decide, with little difficulty, between the quality of two fleeces, in the dark! Wool should be finely serrated or crimped from one extremity to the other—~. e., it should present a regular series of minute curves, and, generally, the greater the number of these curves in a given length, the higher the quality of wool in all other particulars. The wool should open on the back of the sheep in connected masses, instead of breaking up into little round spiral ringlets of the size of a pipe-stem, which indicate thinness of fleece; and when the wool is pressed oper each way with the hands, it should be dense enough to con- eeal all but a delicate rose-colored line of skin. The interior of the wool should be a pure, glittering white, with a lustre and “liveliness” of look not surpassed in the best silk. The points in the form of the Merino which the breeder is called upon particularly to eschew, are—a long, thin head, narrow between the eyes— a thin, long neck, arching dowuwelta before ‘dae shoulders—bad crops—- back falling behind the EiiGlacrs: saben loin—flat ribs—steep, narrow hind quarters—long legs—thighs scarcely meeting at all—legs drawn far under the body at the least approach of cold. All these points were sep- arately or conjointly illustrated in many of the Saxon flocks which have been recently swept from the country. The points to be avoided in the fleece have been sufficiently adverted to. Having thus attempted to establish a standard for the Merino-breeder, it remains that we examine some of the most important principles, in breeding, by which that standard is to be reached or maintained. The first great starting-point, among pure-blood animals, is that “like will beget like.” If the sire and dam are perfect in any given point, the offspring will generally be; if either is defective, the offspring will (sub- ject to a law presently to be adverted to) be half way between the two; if hoth are defective in the same point, the progeny will be more so thar either of its parents—it will inhtrit the amount of the defect in both pa- rents added together. “There are exceedingly few perfect animals. Breed- ing, then, is a system of counterbalancing—breeding out—in the offspring, the defects of one parent, by the marked excellence of the other parent, om the same points. The highest blood confers on the parent possessing it the greatest power of s stamping its own characteristics on its progeny ; but blood being the same, the male sheep possesses this power in a greater degree than the female. We may, therefore, in the beginning, breed from ewes possessing any defects short of cardinal ones, without impro- priety, provided we possess the proper ram for that purpose; but the fiockmaster, aiming at a high standard of quality, should gradually throw out from breeding all ewes possessing even considerable defects. Every year should make him more rigorous in his selection. But from the be- ginning—and in the beginning more than at any other time—the greatest care should be evinced in the selection of the ram. If he has a defect, that defect is to be inherited by the whole future flock. If it is a material one, as, for example, a hollow back, bad crops, a thin fleece, or a’ highly uneven fleece, the flock will be one of low quality and little value. If on the other hand, he is perfect, the defects in the females will be lessened, and gradually Bred out.’ But it being difficult to find perfect sams, we ure to take those which have the fewest and lightest defects, and none of ——- ee ee SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 169 these material ones, like those just enumerated. And these defects are to be met and counterbalanced by the decided excellence (sometimes running to a fault) of the ewe, in the same points. If the ram is a little too long- legged, the shortest- leewed ewes should be selected for him; if gummy, ‘the dryest-wooled ewes ; if his fleece is a trifle below the proper standard of fineness, (but he has been retained, as it often happens, for weight of fleece and general excellence,) he is to be put to the finest and lightest fleeced ewes, and so on. Having a selection of rams, this system of coun- terbalancing would require little skill, if each parent possessed but one fault. If the ewe was a trifle too thin fleeced, and good in all other par- ticulars, it would require no nice judgment to decide bets she needed to be bred to an uncommonly thick-fleeced ram. But most animals possess, to a greater or less degree, several defects. To select so that every one of these in the dam shall meet its opposite in the male, and vice versa, re- quires not only plentiful materials to select from, but the keenest dis- crimination. The time and the convenient method of selecting the ewes for the several rams, and the subsequent management, will be hereafter pointed out. We will now suppose that the breeder has established his flock—that he has done so successfully, and given them an excellent character. He is soon met with a serious evil. He must ‘“ breed in-and-in,” as it is called —that is, interbreed between animals more or less nearly related in blood —or he must seek rams from other flocks, to the risk of losing or chan ging the distinctive character of his flock, hitherto sought so sedulously, and built up with so much care. It is contended by the opponents of in-and-in breeding that it renders diseases and all other defects hereditary, and that it tends to decrease of size, to debility, and a general breaking up of the constitution. Its apologists, on the other hand, insist that, if the parents are perfectly healthy, incestuous connexion does not, per se, tend to any diminution of healthiness in the offspring; and they also claim, what must be conceded, that it enables the skillful breeder much more rapidly to bring ‘his flock toa particular standard or model—and much more easily to keep. it there—unless it be true that, in course of time, they will dwin- dle and grow feeble. So far as the effect on the constitution is concerned, both positions may be, to a certain extent, true. But it is, perhaps, dif. cult to always decide with certainty when an animal is not only free from disease, but from all tendency or predisposition toward it. A brother and sister may be apparently healthy—may be actually so—but may possess an idiosyncrasy which, under certain circumstances, will manifest itself— If these circumstances do not chance to occur, they may live, apparently possessing a robust constitution, until old age. If bred together, their off- spring, by a rule already laid down, will possess the idiosyncrasy i in a double degree. Suppose the ram ie interbred with sisters, half-sisters, daughters, grand-daughters, &c., for several generations, the predisposition toward a particular disease—in ‘the first place slight, now strong, and con- stantly growing sty onger—will pervade, and become radically 1 incorpor ated into, the constitution ee the whole flock. The first time the requisite ex- citing causes are brought to bear, the disease breaks out, and, under such circumstances, with peculiar severity and malignancy. If it be of a fatal character, the flock is rapidly swept away; if not, it becomes chronic, or periodical at frequently recurring intervals. The same remarks apply, in part, to those defects of the outward form. which do not at first, frcm their slightness, attract the notice of the ordinary breeder. They are rapidly increased until, almost before thought of by the owner, they destroy the value of the sheep. That such are the common effects of in-and-in breed. 170 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. ing, with such skill as it is ordinarily conducted, all know who have given attention to the subject; and for these reasons the system is looked upon with decided disapprobation and repugnance, as among all kinds of domes- tic animals, by nine out of ten of the best practical farmers of the Northern States. How, then, shall the sheep-breeder avoid the effects of in-and-in breed- ing, and at the same time preserve the character of his flock? He should do so by seeking rams of the same breed, and possessing, as nearly as pos- sible, the characteristics which he wishes to preserve in his own flock. If the latter rule is neglected—if he draws indiscriminately from all the different families or varieties of a breed—some large and some small—some long and some short-wooled—some medium and some superfine in quality— some tall and some squabby—some crusted over with black gum, some entirely free from it, &c. &c.—breeding will become a mere: hotch-potch, and no certain or uniform results can be looked for. So many varieties cannot be fused into one, for a number of generations ;* and it not unfre- ~ quently happens, as between the different classes of Saxons alluded to by {r. Spooner,t that certain families can never be successfully amalgamated. But suppose the breeder has reached no satisfactory standard—that his sheep are deficient in the requisites he desires? If the desired requisites are characteristic of the breed he possesses, he is to adhere to the breed, and select better animals to improve his own inferior ones. If he has an infe- rior flock of South-Downs, and wishes to obtain the qualities of the best South Dams, he should seek for the best rams of that breed. But if he wishes to obtain qualities not characteristic of the breed he possesses, he must cross with a breed which does possess them, If the possessor of South- Downs wishes to convert them into a fine-wooled sheep similar to the Me- rino, he should cross his flock steadily with Merino rams—constantly in- creasing the amount of Merino and diminishing the amount of South-Down blood. To effect the same result, he would take the same course with the common sheep of the country, or any other coarse race. There are those who, forgetful that some of the finest varieties now in existence, of several kinds of domestic animals, are the result of crosses, bitterly imveigh against the practice of crossing, under any and all circumstances. As fre- quently conducted, where objects incompatible with each other are sought to be attained—as, for example, an attempt to unite the fleece of a Merino and the carcass of a Leicester, by crosses between those breeds—it is an unqualified absurdity. But under the limitations already laid down, and with the objects specified as legitimate ones, objection to crossing savors, in my judgement, of prejudice the most profound, or quackery the most unvarnished. The cry, “ buy full-bloods,” with such men, generally means, “buy our full-bloods!” It is neither convenient, nor within the means of every man wishing to start a flock of sheep, to start exclusively with full- bloods. With a few full-bloods to breed rams from, and to begin a full- blood flock, the Southern breeder will find it his best policy to purchase the best common sheep of his country, and gradually grade them up with Merino rams. In selecting the ewes, fair size, good shape, and a robust constitution, are the main points—the little difference that exists between the quality of the common sheep’s wool is of no consequence. For their wool they are to look to the Merino; but good form and constitution they can and ought to possess, so as not to entail deep-rooted and entirely wa- necessary evils on their progeny. * This occasions the want of uniformity in the Rambouillet flock in France, which was begun by a pro miscuous admixture of all the Spanish families. t Quoted in Letter X. SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 171 I have already spoken, in this Letter, incidentally, of the effect on the fleece of the common sheep, by crossing with the Merino and breeding steadily toward the latter; and also of the mutton of this cross, as well as that of the Merino and the English breeds. The result of the cross with the common sheep has been sufficiently described. I would add a few remarks in relation to that with the South-Down and Leicester —both of which I have tried until sufficiently satisfied with the result Resolved on making an experiment with a Down and Merino cross, a few years since, and finding it difficult to obtain Down ewes* of the proper quality, I obtained a small, compact, exceedingly beautiful, fine and even- fleeced Down ram,t and crossed him with a few large-sized Merino ewes. The half-blood ewes were bred to a Merino ram, and also their female progeny, and so on. The South-Down form and disposition to take on fat manifested itself, to a perceptible extent, in every generation which I bred,{ and the wool of many of the sheep in the third generation (2-blood Merino and +-blood Down) was very even, and equal to medium, and some of them to good medium Merino. Their fleeces were lighter than the full-blood Merino,*but increased in weight with each succeeding cross back toward the latter. Their mutton of the first, and even the second cross, was of a beautiful flavor—and it retained some of the superiority of South-Down mutton to the last. lat the same time purchased a few Leicester ewes,|| and, as in the preceding case, taking one cross of the blood, I bred toward the Merino. The mongrels, to the second generation (beyond which I did not breed them) were about midway between the size of the two parent stocks— with wool shorter, but far finer and more compact than the Leicester— their fleeces about the same in weight as in the present stocks§—and alto- gether they were a showy and profitable sheep, and well calculated to please the mass of farmers. Their fleeces lacked evenness—their thighs remaining disproportionately coarse and hairy; and making up my mind that this would always be a tendency of the sheep of this cross, | aban- doned them without farther experiment. In relation to the number of crosses necessary before it is proper to breed from a mongrel ram, there is a difference of opinion. Mr. Livings- ton says :{] < “Tt is now so well established as not even to admit of the smallest doubt that a Merino in the fourth generation, from even the worst-wooled ewes, is in every respect equal to the stock of the sire. No difference is now made in Europe in the choice of a ram, whether he is a full-blood or a fifteen-sixteenths.” .... ‘The French agriculturists say that however coarse the fleece of the parent ewe may have been, the progeny in the fourth generation will not show it.” I am constrained to differ with even this high authority. I admit that the only value of blood or pedigree, in breeding, is to insure the hereditary transmission of the properties of the parent to the offspring. As soon as a mongrel reaches the point where he stamps his characteristics on his progeny, with the same certainty that a full-blood does, he is equally valuable, provided he is, individually, as perfect an animal. But I do not * To carry out the commonly received principle in breeding, that in crossing between different races, the ram ofthe smaller should be put to ewe of the larger one. + This ram, obtained from Francis Rotch, Esq., was got by a prize ram of Mr. Ellman’s, and from one of his choicest breeding-ewes, and showed infinitely more style, as well as fineness and evenness of wool, than the common Downs of our country. He was not larger than a large-sized Merino ram. | These I finally put off to save myself the trouble of breeding several kinds of sheep on the same farm. || Descended from the flock of the late Robert Adcock. of Otsego County, N. Y.—considered at the time equal to any flock in the State. § That is, about 5Ibs. [ have put down the Leicester fleece, in my description of the breed, at 6 lbs., as this is the amount generally claimed for them; but in the few cases brought within my direct knowledge, they have never averaged it. My ewes above alluded to did not, I think, average quite 5 Ibs. q Essay on Sheep, pp. 181, 183. 172 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. believe that this can be depended upon, with any certainty, in rams of the | fourth Merino cross. My only experience in this particular is in the ob- — servation of other men’s flocks who have bred with high-grade rams.* These have invariably lacked the style and perfection of thorough-bred flocks. The sixth, seventh, or eighth cross might be generally, and the - last perhaps almost invariably, as good as pure-blood rams, but I confess I should still prefer to adhere to the latter. Pure blood is a fixed stand- ard, and were every breeder to think himself at liberty to depart from it, in his rams, each one more or less, according to his. own judgment or caprice, the whole blood of the country would become adulterated. No man would be authorized to sell a ram of any cross, be it the tenth, or even the twentieth, as a full-blood. It is all-important for those commencing flocks either of full-bloods, or by crossing, to select the choicest rams. A grown ram may be made to serve || from 100 to 150 ewes in a season. A good Merino ram will, speaking within bounds, add more than a pound of wool to the fleece of « the dam, on every lamb got by it, from a common-wooled ewe.§ Here is one hundred or one hundred and fifty pounds of: wool for the use of a ram for a single season! And every lamb subsequently got by him addsa pound to this amount. Many a ram gets, during his life, 800 or 1,000 lambs! Nor is the extra amount of wool all. He gets from 800 to 1,000 half-blooded sheep, worth double their dams, and ready to be made the basis of another and higher stride in improvement. teewwe' i i separate field from that containing the flock from which she was taken. - A powerful and vigorous ram from three to seven years old, and properly fed, can thus be made to serve from 150 to even 200 ewes, with no greater mjury than from running loose with 50 or 60. SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 199 This, too, looks like a great amount of labor to attain the result sought, but having had it formerly practiced for two years on my farm, I know that when conducted with system, and by a prompt and handy shepherd, it consumes no great amount of time. Rams will do better, accomplish more, and last two or three years long- er, if daily fed with grain, when on service, and it is well to continue it, gradually decreasing the quantity, for a few days after they are withdrawn from the flock of ewes. A ram should receive the equivalent of from half a pint to a pint of oats, daily, when worked hard. They are much more - conveniently fed when kept in huts. If suffered to run at large, they should be so thoroughly tamed that they will eat from a measure held by the shepherd. Careful breeders thus train their stock-rams from the time they are lambs. It is very convenient, also, to have them halter-broke. so that they can be led about without dragging or lifting them. An iron ring attached to one of the horns, near the point, to which a cord can be at- tached for leading, confining, &c., is very useful and handy. If rams are wild, it is a matter of considerable difficulty to feed them separately, and it can only be effected by yarding the flock and catching them out. Some breeders, in addition to extra feeding, take the rams out of the flocks nights, shutting them up in a barn or stable by themselves. There is no objection to this practice, and it is a great saving of their strength. Rams should not be suffered to run with the ewes over a month, at least in the North. It is much better that a ewe go dry than that she have a lamb later than the first of June. And after the rutting season is over, the rams grow cross, frequently striking the pregnant ewes danger- ous blows with their heavy horns, at the racks and troughs. Division or Frocxs.—If flocks are shut up in small inclosures during winter, according to the Northern custom, it is necessary to divide them into flocks of about 109 each, to consist of sheep of about the same size and strength. Otherwise the stronger rob the weaker, and the latter rap- idly decline. ‘This would not be so important where the sheep roam at large, but even in that case some division and classification are necessary, —or, at all events best. It is best, indeed, as already stated, even in sum- mer. The poorer and feebler can by this means receive better pasture, or a little more grain and better shelter in winter. By those who grow wool to any extent, breeding ewes, lambs, and weth- evs are invariably kept in separate flocks in winter; and it is best to keep yearling sheep by themselves with a few of the smallest two-year-olds, and any old crones which are kept for their excellence as breeders, but which cannot maintain themselves in the flock of breeding-ewes. Tue Hosprrat.—Old and feeble, or wounded sheep, late-born lambs, etc., should be placed by themselves, if the number does not even exceed a score. They require better feed, warmer shelter, and more attention. But after all, unless the sheep are of a peculiarly valuable variety, it is better to sell them off in the fall at any price,—or to give them to some poor neighbor who has time to nurse them, and who may thus commence a flock. Yarps.— Experience has amply demonstrated, that in the climate of the Northern and Eastern States—where no grass grows from four to four and a half months in the winter—and where, therefore, all that can be obtain- ed from the ground is the repeatedly frozen, innatritious herbage left in the fall—it is better to keep sheep confined in yards, excepting where the ground is covered with snow. If suffered to roam over the fields at other 200 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. times, they get enough grass to take away their appetite for dry hay, but not enough to sustain them; they fall away, and towards spring they be- come weak, and a large proportion of them frequently perish. I speak, of course, of flocks of some size, and on properly stocked farms. A few sheep, with a boundless range, would do better. Some of our flock-masters let out their sheep occasionally for a single day, during a thaw; others keep them entirely from the ground until let out to grass in the spring. I prefer the former course, where the sheey ordinarily get nothing but dry fodder. It affords a healthy laxative, and a single day’s grazing will not take off their appetite from more than one succeeding dry feed. It is necessary, here, to keep the sheep in the yards until the feed has got a good start in the spring, or they, particularly breeding-ewes, will get off from their feed, and get weak at the most crit- ical time for them in the year. Yards should be firm-bottomed, dry,—and they should, (in tis climate,) be kept well littered with straw. My impression is that the yarding system will never be practiced to any extent in the South. It certainly should not be, where sheep can get their living from the fields. How far, and under what circumstances, they will do this, has already been sufficiently discussed in my preceding Letters. Ferpine-Racxs.—When the ground is frozen, and especially when covered with snow, the sheep eats hay better on the ground than anywhere else. When the land is soft, muddy, or foul with manure, they will scarce- ly touch hay placed on it. It should then be fed in racks. © These are of various forms. Figure 31 gives the common box Fie. 31 rack, in the most general use in MCR OLN the North. It is ten feet long, two and a half wide, the lower boards a foot wide, the upper ones about ten inches, the two us aed = about nine inches apart, and the CIT en ae eet corner posts three by three, or three and a half by two and a half inches. The boards are spiked on these posts by large flat headed nails wrought for the purpose, and the lower edges of the upper boards and the upper edges of the lower ones are rounded so they shall not wear the wool off from the sheep’s necks. The lower boards and the opening for the heads, should be two or three inches narrower for lambs. If made of light wood, as they should be, a man standing in the inside and middle of one of these racks, can easily carry it about—an important desideratum. Unless overfed, sheep waste very lit- tle hay in them. A capital shed or barn rack is represented in the following cut. The Im "HOLE RACK. holes are eight inches wide, nine inches high, and eighteen inches from center to center, Sheep do not crowd and take advantage of each other SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 201 ac much with these as with box racks. But they would be too heavy and unnecessarily expensive for a common out-door rack. Fig. 32 represents a box, the front formed of a board nailed on horizontally, but they are usually formed by nailing the boards perpendicularly, the bottoms on the sill of a barn, and the tops to horizontal pieces of timber. In the South, as in England, racks will not be so necessary for that constant use to which they are put in colder countries, as for aia: of dry food, for the occasronal visitation of the sheep. In soft warm weather, when the ground is unfrozen, and any kind of green herbage is to be obtained, sheep will scarcely touch dry fodder—though the little they will then cat will be highly serviceable to them. But in a sudden freeze, or on the occurrence of cold storms, they will resort to the racks, and fill themselves with dry food. By an instinct beautifully illustrative of the providence of the Creator, sheep anticipate the coming storm, and eat an extra quantity of food to sustain the animal heat, during the succeeding depression of temperature. They should always have racks of dry fod- der to resort to in such emergencies. These occasionally used racks should have covers or roofs to protect their contents from rain, as otherwise the feed would be often spoiled be- fore but a small portion of it was consumed. Hay or straw saturated with water, or soaked and dried, is only eaten by the sheep as a matter of ab- solute necessity. The common box rack (fig. 31) would answer the pur- pose very well by placing on the top a triangular cover or roof formed of a couple of boards, (one hung at the upper edge with iron or leather hin- ges so that it could be lifted up like a lid;) making the ends tight; draw- ing in the lower edges of the sides so that it shall not be more than a foot wide on the bottom ; inserting a floor; and then mounting it on and mak- ing it fast to two cross sills four or five inches square to keep the floor off from the ground, and long enough to prevent it from being easily overturn- ed. The lower side board should be narrower than in fig. 31, on account of the increased hight given its upper edge by the sills. Still better, but somewhat more expensive, would be a rack of the same construction, with the sides like those of fig. 32. Or, the sides might consist of rundles as in fig. 33. In either of the preceding, the top might be nailed down, and the fodder inserted by little doors in the ends. , The following form and description of an English rack is from the “Book of the Farm.”* SPARRED RACK. ' “T have found,” says Mr. Stephens, “this form convenient, containing as much straw at atime as should be given, admitting the straw easily into it, being easily moved about, of * It will be found in the reprint of this splendid work, in The Farmers’ Library, vol. ii., p. 449. 2C 902 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. —e easy access to the sheep, and being so near the ground as to form an excellent shelter. It is made of wood, is 9 feet in length, 44 feet in hight, and 3 feet in width, having a sparred rack with a double face below, which is covered with an angled roof of boards to throw off the rain. The rack is supported on two triangular-shaped tressels }, shod with iron at the points, which are pushed into the ground, and act as stays against the effects of the wind from either side. The billet ¢, fixed on the under or acute edge of the rack, rests upon the ground, and in common with the feet. supports it from bending down in the middle. The lid @ is opened on hinges when the fodder is put into the rack... . . Such a rack is easily moved about by two persons, and their position should be changed according to a change of wind indicative ofa storm.” T used racks formed of rounds (or “ sparred”) for several years, and found them decidedly objectionable. ‘The sheep grasping a lock of hay in its mouth, brings the head to its natural position, and then draws in the adhering fibres in the process of mastication. But when eating from a rack, 7¢ will not pick up the hay which it drops under foot. In the box or hole racks (figs. 31 and 32) most sheep will not withdraw their heads from the openings, as they can there hold them in the ordinary position for mastication, and as, if they step Muck to do so, they are very lable to be crowded out of their places. The hay, therefore, is not drawn out of the rack, and if any is dropped, it falls within it and is saved. Ata sparred rack, the sheep will not keep its nose between the rundles (in a horizon- tal or upward position) until it detaches a mere mouthfull of hay. It will, particularly when partly sated, twitch out its fodder prior to mastication, and all which scatters off and drops to the ground, is trampled under foot and wasted, except for the mere purpose of manure. A considerable loss will always result from this cause. And there is another objection to this form of rack, particularly where it runs down to an acute edge on the bottom, as in fig. 33. The sheep frequently drawing the hay from the lower part, will shake down from above hay-seeds and chaff into the wool on their head and necks; and the wind will sometimes carry these as far as their shoulders and even their backs. As heretofore remarked, these cannot be washed out, and they materially lower the market value of the wool. The following rack has been used and is highly approved by my friend, George Geddes, Esq., of Fairmount, N. Y., to whom I am indebted for the drawing and description of the cut. It serves both for a rack and feeding-trough. THE HOPPER-RACK. “ The above is intended to represent a section of what I think the best sheep-rack J have seen. “A piece of durable wood about 44 feet long, 6 or 8 inches deep, and 4 inches thick, has two notches, a, a, cut into it, and two troughs, made of inch boards, b, b, b, b, placed in SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 203 these notches, and nailed fast, constitutes the foundation. If the rack is to be 14 feet long. three sills will be required. The ends of the rack are made by nailing against the side of the sill-boards that reach up as high as it is desired to have the rack, and nails driven through these end-boards into the ends of the side-boards f, f, secure them. The sides may he farther strengthened by pieces of board on the ontside of them, and fitted into the trough. A roof may be put over all if desired. With a roof, the fodder is kept entirely from the weather, and no seeds or chaff can get into the wool.” Trovers.—Threshed grain, chopped roots, &c., when fed to sheep should be laid in troughs. With any of the preceding forms of racks, ex- cepting fig. 34, a separate trough would be required. For a number of years I have used those of the following form, and have found them every Way satisfactory. Fig. 35. SHEEP-TROUGH, One of the side-boards is usually about ten and the other eleven inches wide. The feet are commonly of two-inch plank, rising high enough on the sides to keep the sides of the.trough firm in their places. In our snowy climate they are turned over after feeding, and when falls of snow are anticipated, one end is laid on the yard fence.* The following elaborately ingenious contrivance for keeping grain where sheep can feed on it at will, is from the “ Book of the Farm,” and I ap- fsid. the author’s description of it.t Fig. 36. Fig. 37. Zn. SoEssseass<4 f VERTICAL SECTION OF INTERIOR OF GRAIN BOX. GRAIN BOX FOR SHEEP. “ There is a mode of preserving corn (grain) for sheep on turnips which has been tried with success in Fife. It consists of a box like a hay-rack, in which the grain is at all times kept closely shut up, except when sheep wish to eat it, and then they get it by a simple contrivance. The box a 4 contains the grain, into which it is poured through the small hinged lid y. The cover ¢ d concealing the grain, is also hinged, and when elevated the sheep have access to the grain. Its elevation is effected by the pressure of the sheep’s fore- feet upon the platform e f, which, moving as a lever, acts upon the lower ends of the up- right rods g and h, raises them up, and elevates the cover ed, under which their heads then find admittance into the box. A similar apparatus gives them access to the other side of the box. The whole machine can be moved about to convenient places by means otf * To you, Sir, living on the ocean shore of South Carolina, and who, I think, have not visited the North, in the depth of winter, the idea of a farmer’s finding the racks used by him the day before, buried under from eighteen inches to three feet of snow, and having to dig them out, may be rather an odd one! But, nevertheless, it is a matter of no very rare occurrence, at least at the lowest depth mentioned. t See Farmers’ Library, vol. ii., No. 10, p. 476. 204 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. four wheels. The construction of the interior of the box being somewhat peculiar, another, fig. 37, is given as a vertical section of it, where } is the hinged lid by which the grain is put into the box, whence it is at once received into the hopper d, the bottom of which being open, and brought near that of the box, a small space only is left for the grain to pass into the box, the hopper forming the grain-store, @ is the cover of the box raised on its hinges by the rod f, acted upon by the platform e f, fig. 35; and, when in this po- sition, the sheep put their heads below a at c, and eat the grain at d. Machines of simi- lar construction to this have also been devised to serve poultry with grain at will.” I never have thought it best in feeding or fattening any animals, or, at all events, any quadrupeds, to allow them grain at will—preferring stated feeds ; and the same remark is applicable tofodder. If this system is de- parted from in using depository racks, as heretofore recommended, it is because it is rendered necessary by the circumstances of the case. A Me-— rino store-sheep, allowed grain ad libitum, would stand a chance to inflict an injury on itself, and I cannot but believe that grain so fed would gen- erally be productive of more injury than benefit. Barns anp Sueps, &c.—Sheep barns and sheds, at the North, are fre- quently made very elaborate contrivances—particularly on paper. But expensive barns, with feeding-cellars and other arrangements for keeping sheep within doors during a greater portion of the winter, would, it strikes me, be entirely out of place in the South. Even in our rigorous climate, none but the breeders of Saxons pretend to make a regular practice of feeding under cover. Humanity and economy both dictate, here, that sheep be provided with shelters to lie under nights, and to which they can resort a¢ will. In our severe winter storms, it is sometimes necessary, or at least by far the best, to feed under shelter fora day or two. It is not an uncommon circum- stance in New-York and New-England, for snow to fall to the depth of 20 or 30 inches within 24 or 48 hours, and then to be succeeded by a strong and intensely cold west or north-west wind of two or three days’ continuance,* which lifts the snow, blocking up the roads, and piling huge drifts to the leeward of fences, barns, &c. A flock without shelter will huddle closely together, turning their backs to the storm, constantly step- ping and thus treading down the snow as it rises about them. Strong, close- coated sheep do not seem to suffer as much from the cold, for a period, as would be expected. But it is next to impossible to feed them enough or half enough, under such circumstances, without an immense waste of hay —entirely impossible, without racks. The hay is whirled away in an in- stant by the wind, and even if racks are used, the sheep leaving their hud- dle where they were kept warm and even moist by the melting of the snow in their wool, soon get chilled and are disposed to return to their huddle. Imperfectly filled with food, the supply of animal heat is lowered, and at the end of the second or third day, the feeble ones have sunk down hope- lessly, the yearlings and oldish ones have received a shock which nothing but careful nursing will recover them from, and even the strongest have suffered an injurious loss in condition. Few holders’ of more than 40 or 50 sheep now attempt to get along here without some kind of shelters. The following (fig. 38) is a very common form of a Northern sheep-barn with sheds. The sheds front the south, or, what is a better arrangement, one fronts the east, and the other, being turned to a right angle to the direction of this, fronts the south. I have represented hole racks, as in fig. 32, running round the sheds, as, although not yet in general use, they are undoubtedly the best in such sit- * These terribl2 wind-storms are of much longer continuance in many parts of New-England. SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 205 uations. The sheds are not usually framed or silled,—but are supported by posts of some durable timber set in the ground. The roofs are formed of boards “battened” with slabs. The barn has no partitions within, and is entirely filled with hay. Fig. 38. So = HOWL AN SHEEP-BARN. There are many situations where these open sheds are very liable to have snow drifted under them by certain winds, and they are subject in all cases in severe gales, to have the snow carried over them to fall down in large drifts in front, which gradually encroach on the sheltered space, and are very inconvenient—particularly when they thaw. I therefore much prefer sheep-houses covered on all sides, with the exception of a wide door-way for ingress and egress, and one or two windows for ventilation when it is necessary. They are convenient for yarding sheep, for the various process- es where this is required, as for shearing, marking, sorting, “doctoring,” Fig. 39, THE OUTSIDE STELL. &c., and especially so, for lambing places or the confinement of newly shorn sheep in cold storms. They should be spacious enough, so that in 206 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. addition to the outside racks, others can be placed temporarily through the middle when required. In many parts of Scotland, ‘“Stells,” as they are called, are made use of to shelter sheep. Fig. 39 on the preceding page is the form of one given in “ The Book of the Farm,” and the author’s description of it : “Tn a storm, their provender cannot be given to the sheep upon snow, safely and conven- iently, as ground-drift may blow and cover both; and no place is so suitable for the purpose asastell..... It may be formed of planting or high stone-wall. Either will afford shel- ter; but the former most, though most costly, as it should be fenced by a stone-wall. Of this class I conceive the form represented (fig. 38) a good one, and which may be char- acterized as an ovtside stell. . . . . The circumscribing strong black line is a stone-wall six feet high; the dark ground within is covered with trees. Its four rounded projections shel- ter a corresponding number of recesses embraced between them, so that let the wind blow from what quarter it may, two of the recesses will be always sheltered from the storm, The size of this stell is regulated by the number of sheep kept; but this rule may be remem- bered in regard to its accommodation for stock, that each recess occupies about $ part of the space comprehended between the extremities of the 4 projections; so that in astell covering 4 acres—which is perhaps the least size they should be, every recess will contain 4 an acre.’ The two following are forms of stells, composed of stone-wall, without planting, Fig. 40. Ze aS myn yaa ANCIENT STELLS. Figures 42 and 43, on the following page, are forms of circular stells, the first made by stone-walls and planting, as in fig. 39. The open space @ is occupied by the sheep, and 4 is a funnel-shaped opening to it. On the whole I should consider fig. 42 preferable to any of the preceding forms. Figure 43 represents one of the same form, but without the planting, with a stack in the middle, &c. Either of the stells which are formed in part of trees, would be convenient in severe winds, would form excellent shades in summer, and would constitute highly ornamental ob- jects on the farm, and in the landscape. On the most northerly of the Southern mountains, where considerable snow falls, they might even be good contrivances for winter shelter. They might also be convenient on the lowlands farther south, provided the shelter of evergreens could be made dense enough to protect the sheep from the winter rains. ‘In this case, the stell or covert might be of any shape, and ought to have no cen SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 207 - tral opening. It would be merely a dense clump of evergreen trees, for the sheep to take refuge under in storms of rain, and it might be surround- ed on the outside with a tight board fence or stone-wall, if much exposed Fig. 42. THE INSIDE CIRCULAR STELL. to the sweep of cold winds. As the sheep would lie among the trees, a clump 50 or 60 feet in diameter—though 100 feet would be better—would suffice for 100 sheep. { DDN (CcCe Ro SOS ae ye / THE CIRCULAR STELL FITTED UP WITH HAY-RACKS. But in determining upon the best winter shelters, for the various re- gions in the South, the fact must not be lost sight of that cold rains, or rains of any temperature, when immediately succeeded by cold or freezing weather, or cold, piercing winds, are more hurtful to sheep than even snow- storms—and that consequently sheep must be adequately guarded against them. There must also be suitable shelter from any storms to which the country is subject, 7m the lambing season. Any person with the least ex- perience can determine whether an inclosed clump of trees will answer chese purposes, in his own immediate region. I think it very probable that in the Gulf States, and some of the lowez Atlantic ones—particularly in regions near the ocean—these tree coverts, 208 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. surrounded by fences to break the winds, would be found sufficient. In sections infested with wolves, they might also be made to answer for Jolds, by carrying the fence to the requisite hight, to bar the ingress of the wolf But farther north, and on the high lands and mountains, better shelters would, I am inclined to think, in the end, be found more economical. The simplest and cheapest kind of shed is mee a in the following cut (fig. 44). ‘It is formed by poles or rails, the upper*ends resting on a strong horizontal pole supported by crotched posts set in the ground. It may be rendered rain-procf by pea-haulm, straw, or pine boughs. Fig. 44. W.HOWLAND SC ii, SHED OF RAILS. In a region where lumber is very cheap, planks or boards (of sufficient thickness not to spring downward and thus open the roof) battened with slabs, may take the place of the poles and boughs; and they would make a tighter and more durable roof. If the lower ends of the boards or poles are raised a couple of feet from the ground, by placing a log under them, the shed will shelter more sheep. : These movable sheds may be connected with hay-barns, “ hay-barracks,” stacks, or they may surround an inclosed space with a stack in the middle like fig. 43. In the latter case, however, the yard should be square, in- stead of round, on account of the divergence in the lower ends of the boards or poles, which the round form would render necessary. Sheds of this description are frequently made, in the North, between two stacks. ‘The end of the horizontal supporting pole is placed on the stack-pens, when the stacks are built, and the middle is propped by crotched posts. The supporting-pole may rest, in the same way, on the upper girts of two hay-barracks; or two such sheds (at angles with each other) might form wings to this structure. The “ barrack,” as it is pro- vincially termed in the North, would, it strikes me, afford a most econom- ical and a most convenient way of storing fodder in the South. It is ea- sily movable, so that it possesses the same advantage that stacks do, in manuring different parts of the field or farm. On the other hand, the fod- der cannot be drenched by a winter rain, as in a partly fed out stack. Hay can be more rapidly stored in it than on a stack at any time, and you can pitch into it to the last moment, when threatened with rain, without stopping to round up the top as is necessary in a stack. The outside is not weather-beaten and damaged, as is the case with the sides, and fre- quently with a considerable of the top of a stack. Fig. 45 (on the next page) represents the form of a barrack. It is 12 feet square on the bot- tom, and the frame is formed by girting together four strong poles, 16 feet long, at the bottom, and 6 feet from the bottom. Boards 6 feet long are nailed perpendicularly on the girts. Two-inch holes are bored at con- venient distances through the corner poles, so that the roof, which rests SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 509 on pins thrust through these holes, can be raised or lowered, at pleasure. It is occasionally lowered as the fodder gets lower in the barrack, so that rain or snow shall not drive under it. Itseems to me that this structure would be remarkably well adapted to the storing and feeding out of un- Fig. 45. threshed peas, which, as has been remarked in a former Letter, are so advantageously raised at the South, and constitute so admirable a feed for sheep. On al] large sheep-farms con- venience requires that there be one barn of considerable size, to con- tain the shearing-floor, and the ne- cessary conveniences about it for yarding the sheep, &c. This should pase also, for economy, be a hay-barn, SSO AND ots SN (where hay is used,) and from its eet necessary size (for the shearing- floor), it should hold hay for 400 sheep. It may be constructed in the corner of four fields, so that four hundred sheep can be fed from it, with- out making improperly sized flocks. At this barn it would be expedient to make the best shelters, and to bring together all the breeding-ewes on the farm, if their number did not exceed 400. Thus the shepherd would be saved much travel at all times, and particularly at the lambing-time, and each flock would be under his almost constant supervision. I offer the following ground-plan of a barn with fixtures, &c., as one which I think will be found well adapted to the purpose above specified. The upper is the north part of the plan. Fig. 46. The dotted lines a,a,a,a, are the fences dividing four fields, which would corner at the south-east corner of the barn. The barn is surrounded by double lines, and the sheds by double lines on the backs and ends—the dots in front of them, representing the crotched posts supporting their front. The single black lines round the yards, represent tight board fences, which screen the four yards 4, c, d, e, from every wind. There are two pumps and troughs at f, h, which accommodate the whole four fields, if a want of springs or streams in them render tess necessary. The sheds are so ar- 210 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. me MN oe UE ee ao ea a eo ranged that even without the screens they entirely shut out the north and west winds—the prevailing and severe winter ones of this region—and if other ones are more prevalent in other regions, the sheds can be changed accordingly. Each of the sheds is 50 feet long and 12 feet wide—six square feet being the smallest proper allowance of sheltered area for each sheep. The barn is 48 feet square, a floor 13 feet wide running east and west through the center, for shearing and for the drawing in of hay. An alley 4 feet wide and 8 feet high (boarded up on the side toward the mow, and covered at the top) cuts off the lower part of each bay from the east wall of the barn. This is for carrying hay into the yards 6, c. It is carried into the yardsd, e, from the large doors at each end of the shearing- floor (or from smaller ones cut through them.) The south bay is repre- sented as divided by a temporary fence, cutting it into two pens f, g. The outside inclosure c, for yarding the sheep, communicating by a door with f, and g being used as a room to tie up wool in, presents precisely the same arrangement which is exhibited in the cut of the shearing-barn (fig. 22) in Letter XII. The barn here given (fig. 46) is probably larger than would be neces- sary for 400 sheep, in most parts of the South. Its necessary size is a question to be entirely determined by the climate. For large flocks of sheep, I should regard the storage of some hay or other fodder for winter as an indispensable precautionary measure, at least, in any part of the United States ; and, other things being equal, the farther north, or the more elevated the land, the greater would be the necessary amount to be stored. The shearing-floor shortened to 30 or 35 feet, would still, perhaps, be sufficiently commodious, and this would reduce the dimensions of the barn east and west 13 or 18 feet; and one of the bays might be dispensed with. But having construeted so large, so smooth, and so tight a barn-floor as the shearing one ought to be, it would be good economy to use it for the threshing of grain. One of the bays, therefore, might be used for the storage of grain in the sheaf. I have always considered this an excellent arrangement in a Northern barn of this description, as in our cold climate the sheep require much straw litter in their sheds, yards, &c. Thrown out to them daily, as threshed, much bright straw and chaff will be con- sumed by them—particularly of greenish cut oats. The yards c, e, in fig. 46 are represented but the width of the barn, 48 feet. 1f these were reduced too much, by diminishing the size of the barn, the shed of c could be carried farther west at 7, and that of e farther north at 7, being connected with the barn by wind-breakers, composed of a tight board fence, as high as the summit of the sheds. Or, what would perhaps be better, the fences thrown forward in a straight line from the ends these two sheds might be continued until they intersected each other, a a fence from their point of intersection to the south-east corner of the barn would divide the two yards. ae FEEDING SHEEP WITH OTHER STock.—Sheep should not run or be fed, én yards, with any other stock. Cattle hook them, often mortally. Colts tease and frequently injure them. It is often said that “ colts will pick up what sheep leave.” Well-managed sheep rarely leave anything—and if they chance to, it is better to rake it up and throw it into the colts’yard, than to feed them together. If sheep are not required to eat their feeds pretty clean, they will soon learn to waste large quantities. But if sheep are overfed with either hay or grain, it is not proper to compel them by starvation to come back and eat it. They will not unless sorely pinched. Clean out the troughs,—or rake up the hay, and the next time feed less. ~ SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. Sil Hay-Houpers.— Where hay or other fodder is thrown out of the upper doors of a barn into the sheep-yard, as it always must necessarily be in a barn constructed like fig. 38, or any mere hay-barn, or where it is thrown from a barrack or stack, the sheep immediately rush on it, trampling it and soiling it, and the succeeding forkfulls fall on their backs, filling their wool with dust, seed and chaff. This is avoided by hay-holders—yards 10 feet square—either portable by being made of posts and boards, or simply a ‘pen of rails, placed under the doors of the barns, and by the sides of each stack or barrack. The hay is pitched into the holder, in fair weather enough for a day’s foddering at a time, and is taken from this by forkfulls and placed in the racks. I would here offer a necessary caution in rela- tion to the use of rails or poles, for stack-pens or hay-holders. The poles should be so small as to entirely prevent the sheep from inserting their heads between them after hay. A sheep will often insert its head where the opening is wide enough for that purpose, shove it along or get crowded along, to where the opening is not wide enough to withdraw the head, and it will hang there until observed and extricated by the shepherd. If, as it often happens, it is thus caught when its fore parts are elevated by climb- ing up the side of the pen, it will continue to lose its fore footing in its struggles, and will soon choke to death. Winter Dry Freep ror Sueer.—The proper dry winter fodder for sheep has already been repeatedly alluded to, in general terms. Volumes have been expended on this subject, particularly in Germany—and curious and elaborate systems of feeding given. In Germany great stress is laid on variety in the winter fodder. Inthe German Farmer’s Encyclopedia, the following table of the proper variations and amounts of feed is given by Perri. TABLE 15. : Loth Loth, Loth, 1 Day. | Lbs. equal Morning. Lbs. | equal Noon. Lbs. | equal Evening. 1 21 |hay 21 |hay 21 |hay 21 11] 1 |rye straw 1 | 22 thay 1 1 |rye straw i 3 23 |bean straw 26 |vetch-hay 23 |bean straw 4 iL wheat straw 1 sainfoin 1 wheat straw 5 | 1] 6 |oat straw 21 |hay 1 | 6 /oat straw 6 1 6 |artichoke stalk 1 | 19 |red clover 1 6 |artichoke stalk 7A 8 |turkey wheat 1 | 12 {lucern * 1 8 |turkey-wheat str’w 8 | 1] 8 |buckwheat straw 1 | 16 |hay 1 | 8 [buckwheat straw 9 1 6 joat straw 7 |horse-beans 1 6 loat straw 10 19 jred clover 19 |red clover 19 |red clover 11 18 |sainfoin 18 |sainfoin 18 |sainfoin 12 1 6 |millet straw a 6 |millet straw 1 6 |millet straw 13 30 |lentil straw 21 |bhay 30 |lentil straw 14 30 |pea straw 21 |hay 30 |pea straw 15 30 |barley straw 1 artichoke stalk 30 |barley straw 16 1 | 10 |horse-bean straw 1 | 10 |horse-bean straw 1 | 10 |horse-bean straw 17 1 1 |rye straw 1 | 11 joat straw 1 1 |rye straw 18 1 3 |wheat straw il 9 joat straw 1 3 |wheat straw 19} 1) 6 [rye straw 1 turkey-wheat 1 | 3 |wheat straw 20; 1 | 6 joat straw 1 turkey-wheat 1 |. 6 joat straw 21 1 3 |wheat straw 22 |artichoke stalk 1 6 joat straw 22 | 30 |lentil straw 1 | 30 |vetch straw 30 jlentil straw 93 i 6 loat straw 1 6 |wheat straw 1 6 joat straw The same writer gives the following as the proper winter feed of a ewe, the month preceding lambing : 212 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. TABLE 16. In the morning, 3 lb. of good oat straw. lst day... -- noon ....3 .. of good hay of clover. -- evening..3 .. of good barley straw. -- morning .$ .- of millet straw. ' 2d day .. i -- noon ....2 .. of potatoes with 4 oz. of chopped straw, and 4 oz. of oats. -- evening..$ -. of barley straw. -- morning -? -. of hay. 3d day-.< .. mnoon....% -. of hay, . -- evening..1 .. of wheat, oat, barley or buckwheat straw. (.- morning .3 .. of summer straw. ah aa ; -- noon ..-.} .. of chopped straw, with 3 oz. oats and 3 oz. bran, moistened ete with water. { -. evening..$ -- of winter straw. - morning -3 -- of hay. 5thday..’ -.- noon ....2 -. of potatoes with lb. of chopped straw. -- evening..$ -. of winter straw. -- mornmg-.# -- of hay. 6thday..{ -. noon .-.-asin 4th day, | -- evening..1 lb. of straw. Allthis would be infinitely “ more nice than wise,” in any part of the United States. Variations of dry fodder are well enough, but hundreds and thousands of Northern flocks receive nothing but ordinary hay, con- sisting mainly of Timothy, (Phlewm pratense,) some Red and White Clo- ver, ( Trifolium pratense et repens,) and frequently a sprinkling of June or Spear grass, (Poa pratensis,) during the entire winter. Others receive an occasional fodder of corn-stalks and straw—and some farmers give a daily feed of grain through the winter. Where hay is the principal feed, it may be well, where it is convenient, to give corn-stalks (or “blades”) every fifth or sixth feed, or even once a day. Or the daily feed, zot of hay, might alternate between blades, pea-straw, straw of the cereal grains, &c. Should any other fodder besides hay be the principal one, as, for example, corn- blades or pea-haulm, each of the other fodders might be alternated in the same way. It is mainly, in my judgment, a question of convenience with the flock-master, provided a proper supply of palatable nutriment within a proper compass, is given. Hay, clover, properly cured pea-haulm, and corn- blades are palatable to the sheep, and each contain the necessary supply of nutriment in the quantity which the sheep can readily take into its stom- ach. Consequently, from either of these, the sheep can derive its entire subsistence. The same remarks may, possibly, apply to greenish cut oat and barley straw; but it would not, I apprehend, be economical or alto- gether safe to confine any kind of sheep to the straw of the cereal grains unless some of those little hardy varieties of sheep which would be of no value in this country. Experiment will readily show the flock-master what kinds of food are palatable and agree with the health of his flock. The following exceedingly valuable Table, prepared by Boussingault, will give the value of various kinds of feed in comparison with ordinary natu- ral meadow hay, as ascertained by himself, Von Thaér, Block, and other distinguished Agricultural Chemists. The results are obtained by chemi- cal analysis, and by actual experiments in feeding. The amount of nitro- gen in 100 parts is made the chemical test of value, as it shows the quan- tity of fibrin, albumen, and casein, (by multiplying by 6.3.) The experi- mental result is obtained by weighing the animal and the feed, and giving him enough of each to maintain him in good condition. ° SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOJSTH. 215 TABLE 17. FODDERS. TABLE OF THE NUTRITIVE EQUIVALENTS OF DIFFERENT KINDS OF FUDDERS. o vey de of Be are eee P = P<} 5 ry : Kinds of Food. eo) &o/hss] 8 § = Pa = Remarks, gi}e?ifes|a|ale|ele|é a Ss Zz lee = 5 a Ee a NS (ey ee a) a eS (ee eee ae) PES Ordinary-natural meadow hay.-.-| 11.0} 1.34] 1.15} 100} 100} 100] 100} 100} 100 ao, Or tine, quality... 2.252 .2-.5. 14.0] 1.50] 1.30) 98 Thy SE Cee eee eee 18.8} 2.40} 2.00} 58 Do. freed from woody stems..... 14.0} 2.44) 2.10) 55 PoICeEn Hay se. .= = sis ds chen econo 16.6} 1.66} 1.38) 983 90 90} 100/90, 90 Dombasle, Red clover hay, 2d year’s growth.| 10.1] 1.70} 1.54) 75] 100} 90 90| 100 (Crud. Red clover cut in flower, green, do.| 76.0 0.64) 311] 430 450) 425 New wheat straw, crop 1841.-...- 26.0] 0.36} 0.27) 426] 200] 360] 150] 450) 300/500 Rieder. ‘Old wheat straw.....:-.--..-2... 8.5] 0.53! 0.49} 935 Do. do. lower parts of the stalk...| 5.3] 0.43] 0.41) 280 Do, do. upper part of do. andear..-| 9.4| 1.42] 1.33) 86 New rye-straw.....-..-.--..2--- 18.7} 0.30} 0.24) 479} 200) 500) 150! 666 (06 Wes to ee oe a ee ee 12.6] 0.50} 0.42) <5 Oat-straw 21.0] 0.36} 0.30) 383] 200! 200) 150] 190! 200/400 Schwertz. Barley do 11.0} 0.30} 0.25] 466] 193) 180] 150] 150} 200/400 do. PER Oise <1 8.5] 1.95) 1.79) 64) 165) 200] 150} 130) 150|90 Pohl. ME Rea ete Sei ed Stele = cio ars 19.0] 0.96) 0.78) 147 250 Buckwheat do 11.6} 0.54} 0.48) 240 200 LentiliGo.-. 2-2-2 epivnin--= =~ 9.2| 1.18] 1.01) 114] 160] 20 130} 150 Vershes cet io fower and dried ¥) 410] 136] 1.14] 101| | 15 100 GPAVO ODE sim ath seas oss< St os 0 76.0} 2.30) .055) 209 300 Field-beet leaves..............-.. 88.9] 4.50| 0.50] 230) 600) 600 hn ith CEO e Sa ee 70.9] 2.94} 0.85] 135 Jerusalem artichoke stems....... 86.4] 2.70) 0.37) 311 325 Lime-trees, young shoots......... 55.0] 3.25) 1.45) 79] 73 Canada Poplar do...----........ 62.5) 2.29) 0.86] 134] 67 O06) eps SBS ee eee 57.4} 2.16) 0.92) 125) 83) Acacia do. (autumn)............-. 53.6] 1.56] 0.72] 160] PRIMED MER Os ecb a< ona 5 ae 5 92.3) 3.70) 0.28) 411) 556) 500) 250] 429} 600 SOveMIBNGULHIN cen e tec. ss oes 91.0) 1.83) 0.17) 676 300 300} 250 RUSE, Sega N Ma's eine cela eens 5 sone 92.5) 1.70; 0.13) 885) 533) 600} 290} 526) 450 ield-peet (leds)..ccs+--ccecenc ~~ 87.8) 1.70} 0.21) 548) 366! 400) 250 460) 250 Do. white Silesian. ...........--- 85.6] 1.43} 0.18] 669! 366! | Girrotmereire seven ta. 2.0. 2s 87.6] 2.40) 0.50) 382! 205) 250) 225] 300) 250/380 Boussingault. Jerusalem artichokes (1839). -.--- 79.2) 1.60] 0.33) 348 2280 do. LUTE OUR ERS eS ie ee ee ee ee 795.9} 2.20) 0.42] 274 1 SLVATU STOEU GUSH 12) a 65.9) 1.50] .0.36) 319) 216) 200] 150} 200; 200/980 Boussingault. Duwttssiiacces sete ce cota ced deptamawieneles's stow. ses 1 scruple. Tartarized antimony ...---.. SEsitadsmu cue castes hl ¢ (dO. 240 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. The few cases I have seen have been of a sub-acute character, and would not bear treatment so decidedly and J think dangerously antiphlogistic. Mr. Youatt remarks : “Depletion may be of inestimable value during the continuance—the short continuance— of the febrile state; but excitation like this will soon be followed by corresponding ex- haustion, and then the bleeding and the purging would be murderous expedients, and gentiaa, ginger, and the spirit of nitrous ether will afford the only hope of cure.” Broncuitis.—It would be difficult to suppose that where sheep are sub- ject to pneumonia they would not also be subject to bronchitis—which is an inflammation of the mucous membrane which lines the bronchial tubes —the air-passes of the lungs. I have seen no cases, however, which ] have been able to identify as bronchitis, and have examined no subjects, after death, which exhibited its characteristic lesions. Its symptoms are those of an ordinary cold, but attended with more fever and a tenderness of the throat and belly when pressed upon. Treatment.—Administer salt in doses from 14 to 2 0z., with 6 or 8 oz. of lime-water, given in some other part of the day. This is Mr. Youatt’s prescription. Catarru.—Catarrh is an inflammation of the mucous membrane which lines the nasal passages—and it sometimes extends to the larynx and pha- rynx. In the first instance—where the lining of the nasal passages is alone and not very violently affected—it is merely accompanied by an in- creased discharge of mucus, and is rarely attended with much danger. In this form it is usually termed snuffles, and high-bred English mutton sheep, in this country, are apt to manifest more or less of it, after every sudden change of weather. When the inflammation extends to the mucous lining of the larynx and pharynx, some degree of fever usually supervenes, ac- companied by cough, and some loss of appetite. At this point the Eng- lish veterinarians usually recommend bleeding and purging. Catarrh rarely attacks the American fine-wooled sheep with sufficient violence in summer, to require the exhibition of remedies. I early found that depletion, in catarrh, in our severe winter months, rapidly produced that fatal prostra- tion, from which it is next to impossible to recover the sheep—entirely im- possible, without bestowing an amount of time and care on it, costing far more than the price of any ordinary. sheep. The dest course is to prevent the disease, by judicious precautions. With shat amount of attention which every prudent flock-master should bestow on his sheep, the hardy American Merino is little subject to it. Good, comfortable, but well-ventilated shelters, constantly accessible to the sheep in winter, with a sufficiency of food regularly administered, is usually a sufficient safeguard ; and after some years of experience, during which I have tried a variety of experiments on this disease, I resort to no other remedies—in other words, | do nothing for those occasional cases of ordina- ry catarrh which arise in my flock, and they never prove fatal. Matienant Epizootic Cararru.—Essentially differing from the pre- ceding in type and virulence is an epidemic, or, more properly speaking, an epizovtic, malady, which as often as once in eight or ten years sweeps over extended sections of the Northern States, destroying more sheep than all the cther diseases puttogether. It usually makes its appearance in win- ters characterized by rapid and violent changes of temperature. The Northern farmers speak of these as the “ bad winters ” for sheep—fre- quently without assigning any name to the malady. Others term the lat- SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 241 ter “ The Distemper,” and others again call it the “ Grub in the Head,” at- tributing the evil exclusively to the presence of these parasites. The latter, as I shall hereafter show, is an entirely erroneous hypothesis. The winter of 1846-7 was one of these ‘‘ bad winters,’’ and the de- struction of sheep in New-York, and some adjoining States, was very ex- tensive. Some flock-masters lost half, others three-quarters, and a few seven-eighths of their flocks. One individual within a few miles of me lost five hundred out of eight hundred—another nine hundred out of one thousand! But these severe losses fell mainly on the holders of the deli- cate Saxon sheep, and perhaps, generally, on those possessing not the best accommodations, or the greatest degree of energy and skill. I lost about fifty sheep during this winter, and never having seen any de- scription of the pathology of this disease, its diagnosis, its lesions—or, in short, any attempt to ascertain its specific character or proper classifica- tion in our ovine nosclogy—lI shall attempt to supply some of these omis- sions. Not dreaming then of a publication of this kind, my notes were only taken for private reference, and were not as full as they should be for a veterinary treatise. I might supply some of these omissions accurately from recollection, but do not consider it proper thus to endanger the accu- racy of records, which as far as they go, I think may now be implicitly re- lied on. My post-mortem examinations were made at intervals snatched from other pressing engagements. This fact, and certain preconceived views—which I subsequently found erroneous—prevented me from making these examinations, and more particularly the records of them, as minute and extended as could be wished. I then sought only to convince myself of the true nature and character of the disease. In detailing the results of my experience in the premises, I conceive ita duty to frankly state the whole facts. The records of mismanagement and error, are often as useful, nay, more so, than those of successful manage- ment, and it is a pitiful pride which prevents any man, who pretends to communicate information to the public, from giving that public the bene- fit of his examples which are to be avoided, as well as those which are to be followed. Up to February, my sheep remained apparently perfectly sound, and they were in good flesh. Each flock had excellent shelters, were fed re- gularly, etc., and although sheep were beginning to perish about the coun- try, my uniform previous impunity in these “bad winters” led me to en- tertain no apprehensions of the prevailing epizodtic. About the first of February, my sheep went into the charge of a new man, hired upon the highest recommendations. A few days atter, I was called away from home for a week. The weather during my absence was, a part of the time, very severe. ‘The sheep-house occupied by one flock containing one hundred sheep, was, with the exception of two doors, as close a room as can be made by nailing on the wall-boards vertically and without lapping, as is common on our Northern barns.* One of the doors was always left open, to permit the free ingress and egress of the sheep, and for necessary ventila- tion. A half dozen ewes which had been untimely impregnated by a neighbor’s ram, were on the point of lambing, and it being safer to confine the ewes in a warm room over night, the shepherd, instead of removing them to such a room, confined the whole flock in the sheep-house every night, and rendered it warm by clesing both doors ! After two or three hours, the air must have become excessively impure. On entering the sheep-house, on my return, I was at once struck with the fetid, highly of- fensive smell. A change, too, slight but ominous, had taken place in the * Bourds in these cuses shrink so as to leave i i ie between them. 242 SHEEP HUSBANDRY N THE SOUTH. ; appearance of a part of the flock. They showed no signs of violent colds, 1 heard no coughing, sneezing, or labored respiration—and the only indica- — tion of catarrh which I noticed, was a nasal discharge, by a few sheep, — But those having this nasal discharge, and some others, looked dull and drooping ; their eyes ran a littke—were partially closed, the caruncle and lids looked pale—their movements were languid—and the shepherd com- — plained that they did not eat quite so well as the others. The pulse wags | nearly natural—though | thought a trifle too languid. | Not knowing what the disease was—and fully believing that depletion — by bleeding or physic was not called for, let the disease be what it would. — I contented Ba with thoroughly purifying the sheep house—seeing that the feeding, etc.,* was managed with the greatest regularity—and closely watching the farther symptoms of disease i in the flock. In about a week, the above described symptoms were evidently aggravated, and there had been a rapid emaciation, accompanied with debility, in the sheep first at- tacked. ‘The countenance was exceeding dull and drooping—the eye kept more than half closed—the caruncle, lids, &c. almost bloodless—a_ gummy yellow secretion below the eye—thick glutinous mucus adhering in and about the nostrils—appetite feeble—pulse languid—and the muscu- lar energy greatly prostrated. Nothing unusual was yet noticed about — their stools or urine. I now had all the diseased sheep removed from the flock, and placed in rooms the temperature of which could be easily regulated. I commenced giving slight tonics and stimulants, such as gentian, gin- ger, etc., but apparently with no material effect. They rapidly grew weak- er, stumbled and fell as they walked, and soon became unable to rise. The appetite grew feebler—the mucus atthe nose, in some instances, tinged — with dark grumous blood—the respiration oppressed, and they died with- in a day or two after they became unable to rise. I proceeded to make some post-mortem examinations, which T shall here detail, although, as I have before remarked, they are extremely im-_ perfect. I was at first inclined to suspect that the primary disease was one of some of the abdominal or thoracic viscera, and this impression was cone firmed by the abnormal condition of these viscera in the first subjects exam- ined. I therefore improperly confined my attention to these, and some of the external tissues, without any examination of the interior organs of the head and neck. I shall give my notes verbatim as they were taken down at the time, whether the appearances detailed have, as I now believe, any connection with the fatal disease or not. Case 1st. Old sheep. Much emaciated—mouth and lips covered with yellow froth—yellow waxy matter under eyes—adhesiyve mucus in and about nostrils. On opening, external tissues appear healthy—two hyda- tids on omentum’ of the size of a walnut—gall-bladder enlarged and enor- mously distended with pale, and apparently not properly eliminated bile —gall-bladder slightly adhering to omentum—mesenteric glands enlarged —-other abdominal viscera believed to be normal-—feeces in rectum thought to indicate a constipated habit—stomachs rather empty. Thoracie viscera healthy. Case 2d. Two years old. External appearances as in Case Ist, with the exception of the yellow froth about the mouth. External tissues healthy. Gall-bladder very small and nearly empty—bile pale and un- eliminated—mesenteric glands enlarged—schirrous tumor at the junction — * They had been fed with bright hay three times a day, and turnips. As those affected as above did not | eat their turnips well, I commenced feeding some oats, in addition to the turnips. I believed thata gener pus feed was called for, and I gave it. 2 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 243 of the coecum and colon of the size of a butternut. Superior lobe of left lung adherent to pleura costalis—three lobes of right lung ditto, with slight traces of recentinflammation. Hydro- -pericarditis—the pericardium s light. ly inflamed and containing something more than a gill of serum. Case 3d. Old, and in lamb. External appearances and tissues as in Case 2d. Omentum dark-yellowish, or yellowish-brown by deposition of lymph, the result of inflammatory action—gall-bladder precisely as in Case 2d—tabes mesentrica or enlargement of the mesenteric glands, as in the preceding cases. Middle lobe of right lung slightly hepatized, and adher- ent to pleura costalis—hydro-pericar ditis, (a gill of serum in pericar- dium.) Cuse 4th, Yearling ram. External appearances and tissues as in pre ceding cases. Two small hydatids on omentum—gall-bladder as in two preceding cases—mesenteric glands as in preceding cases. Traces of diar- rhea. Thoracic viscera healthy. Case 5th. Lamb, External appearance as in preceding cases—omen- tum as in Case 3d, and small hydatid on it—gall-bladder as in three pre- ceding cases—ditto of mesenteric glands. Thoracic viscera healthy. Case 6th. Four-year-old ram, killed for examination, in the first stage of the disease. Yet strong, appetite good, in fair condition, and exhibited no particular external indications of disease except running at the eyes, a slight gummy deposition below them—and some. mucus about the nostrils. Gall-bladder but little better filled than in preceding cases—mesenteric glands same as in preceding cases. Thoracic viscera healthy. Remarks on Preceding Cases—lI had started on the supposition that the fatal disease would be found one of the lungs, consequent on ca- tarrh. I thought it mig’t prove a species of pneumonia, though some of the characteristic symptoms of that disease seemed to be wanting ; but I believed it would rather prove to be phthisis pulmonalis, or pulmonary consumption. ‘To the last disease, when it assumes the form of what is popularly called ‘quick consumption,” it seemed to me to bear several striking analogies. But the post-mortem examinations above detailed, en- tirely overthrow these suppositions. Except in Case 2d, there were no manifestations of vecent inflammation of the lungs. The adhesions in Case 3d, were evidently referable to a past date. In the other four cases, the lungs were in a healthy condition—exhibiting not a trace of hepatization, tubercles, ulcers, or other abnormal action! In Case 6th, where the dis- ease was in its first observable and therefore inflammatory stage, none of the thoracic viscera presented a particle of inflammation ! Then what was the disease? It was evidently the same in the several cases, yet the lesions disclosed by post-mortem examination were very va- rious. Hence, I was led to conclude that these lesions were the results of symptomatic disease, and that the primary one was not yet discovered. The malady continued to spread. New cases occurred daily—it began to exhibit itself in my other flocks. It had manifestly put on the charac- ter of an epizoétic—or, if I may be permitted to coin a word, an en-zo- otic. | now gaye orders to have every sheep removed from the several flocks, as soon as it should be attacked with disease. I also resolved on more ex- tended post-mortem examinations. The following are the notes taken in the immediately succeeding cases. Case 7th. Yearling. External appearance as in the preceding cases— external tissues normal—mesenteric glands slightly enlarged—gall-blad- der of natural size, with good bile, and with the natural discolorations about it. Thoracic viscera healthy, with exception of pericardium, which exhibited traces of recent inflammation aad contained a gill of serum * 244 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. The thorax also contained considerable fluid, which escaped without ad- measurement. I now examined the bronchial tubes, the lower portions of the windpipe, esophagus, &c., and found them all in an apparently healthy condition, Before tracing these passages to the throat, I removed the upper portion of the skull and carefully examined the brain and its investing mem- branes. All seemed in a perfectly normal state. I then made a longitu- dinal section down through the middle part of the whole head, as is shown in fig. 49, and the seat and character of the fatal malady stood at once revealed | The mucous membrane lining the whole nasal cavity, highly congested and thickened throughout its whole extent, betrayed the most intense in- flammation. At the junction of the cellular ethmoid bones with the cribri-_ form plate, (in the ethmoidal cells,) slight ulcers were forming on the mem- braneous lining! The inflammation also extended to the mucous mem- brane of the pharynx, and say three inches of the upper portion of the eeso-. phagus. Here it rather abruptly terminated. Case 8th. Old, in lamb. External appearances as in preceding cases— abdominal parietes healthy—all the viscera apparently healthy. The in- flammation of the mucous membrane lining the nasal cavity, pharynx, and upper portion of cesophagus, as in Case 7th, only not quite so acute—no ulcers on the membrane. Cases Sth and 6th reviewed. The heads of these two subjects haying been accidentally preserved, I examined them, and found the inflammatory action of the mucous membrane same as in cases 7th and 8th. Nor have I a particle of doubt that the same would have been found the case in all the preceding subjects, had they been examined. ; Nosology and Treatment.—I had little difficulty in coming to the conclu- sion that the primary and main disease was a species of catarrh. It evidently, however, differed from ordinary catarrh in its diagnosis, and in the extent of the lesions accompanying both the primary and symptomatic dis- eases. In no case, even in the first attack, did I notice anything—the fever— the accelerated pulse—the redness about the eyes and nostrils—the cough- ing, etc., accompanying an ordinary severe attack of catarrh. And it was for this reason that I was misled as to the seat of the malady. From the very outset, according to my observations, the type of the disease was typhoid—sinking—rapidly tending to fatal prostration. How to reduce the local inflammation of the membrane lining the nasal cavities, | was at a loss to determine. I was satisfied that there was too much debility to admit of an antiphlogistic course of treatment. Still, to make myself sure, I bled in three or four cases, and, as I anticipated, it evidently accelerated the fatal catastrophe. Blistering could not be brought near to the seat of the inflammation, excepting on the nose, and independ- ent of the extreme difficulty of treating a blister on a spot so constantly exposed to dirt, the rubbing of hay, etc., in winter feeding, I believed it could have little effect, on an account of the thick nasal bone intervening between it and any portion of the inflamed membrane. And, moreover, the greater portion of the inflamed membrane rested on bones detached, except at one extremity, from all connection with the nasal bone. I blew Scotch snuff (through paper tubes) up the nostrils of some of the sheep, for two objects—1, to remove, by sneezing, the mucus, which mechanical- ly, and evidently injuriously, obstructed respiration; and 2, to produce a new action, by which an increased mucous secretion would be excited, and thus the congested membrane relieved. But, farther than this, I re- itt SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 245 sorted to no local or other treatment designed specifically to reach the local inflammation. The next step was to fix on the constitutional treatment. The liver was evidently in a torpid state. There was a functional derangement in the “mesenteric and probably other glands, and a want of activity in the general secretory system. What medicine would stimulate the liver, cause it to secrete the proper quantity as well as quality of bile, change the morbid action of the glands and secretory system, and restore activity and health tothe vital functions generally? In my judgment, nothing promised so well as mercury ; and by its well known effect on the entire secretory sys- tem, it would powerfully tend to relieve the congested membranes of the head. In this opinion I was joined by a learned and experienced physi- cian, who, both as a matter of taste and humanity, has given no little at- tention to veterinary science and practice. The proto-chloride of mercury (calomel) was supposed to possess too much specific gravity to reach the fourth stomach, with any certainty, administered in a liquid; and if ad- ministered as a ball or pill, it would be almost swre not to reach that stom- ach.* The dissolved bi-chloride of mercury (corrosive sublimate) was therefore hit upon. One grain was dissolved in two ounces of water, and one-half ounce of the water (or one-eighth of a grain of corrosive sublimate) was exhibited in a day, in two doses. As constipation existed in most of the cases, it was thought that the bowels required to be stimulated into action, and slightly evacuated with a mild laxative. Having noticed in similar cases of debility and torpor of the intestinal canal, that purgation is often followed by a serous diarrhea, difficult to correct, and leading to rapid prostration, and there being no in- testinal irritation to suffer exacerbation, I thought that rhubarb—from its well known tendency to give tone to the bowels, and its secondary effect as a mild astringent—was particularly indicated. It was givenin a decoc- tion—the equivalent of ten or fifteen grains at a dose—accompanied with the ordinary carminative and stomachic adjuvants, ginger and gentian, in infusion. To a portion of the sheep I administered the rhubarb and its adjuvants alone ; to others I gave the bi-chloride of mercury im addition to the prece- ding. I employed these courses of treatment in a number of cases, the records of all which have been accidentally destroyed with the exception of the following three. Case 9th. Ram, three years old. Has been drooping and weak, with feeble appetite, for some time—has been separated from flock, Has eaten his oats irregularly for several days, and refused turnips, bran, etc., alto- gether—much emaciated—eyes partly closed, with a yellowish deposit below them—caruncle and lids bloodless—nostrils impeded with adhesive yellowish mucus. March 17th. Weaker than before—would not rise to feed—not seen to eat or ruminate—gait, when helped up, weak and staggering ; eyes near- ly closed—stooled dry, hard feeces——urine dark and reddish. Exhibited rhubarb with ginger and gentian in gruel—blew snuff into nostrils. March 18th, morning—Weaker; refused to eat anything. Exhibited rhubarb, ginger and gentian in gruel. Noon—Urine seemingly bloody: breathing labored : exhibited corrosive sublimate in gruel. Night—Dying. March 19th, morning—Dead. Post-mortem appearances. Inner edges of both lobes of liver softened about two inches from horizontal fissure: hypropericarditis and hydro- * For reasons which will be hereafier given under the head of “The Proper Way of Administering Medicines.” 246 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. thorax—nearly half pint of serum in latter. Other viscera apparently normal. Lining of superior portion of cesophagus and nasal cavity as in Case 8th. Case 10th. Three-year-old ewe. Drooping for several days: sleepy— emaciated and weak: cannot rise without help: appearances about nos- trils and eyes as in Case 9th: appetite considerable—rumination not ob- served. March 17th. Exhibited ginger and gentian in gruel; blew snuff in nostrils. Latter produced sneezing and a discharge of mucus. 18th: Morning. Weaker and would not eat. Noon. A little live- lier: ate hay and grain; exhibited ginger and gentian. Night. Evac- — uations thin: urine of a natural color. 19th. Morning: same. Noon. Exhibited same remedies as before. The same course was pursued for three days: the sheep appearing rather to gain, when one morning it was found dead. No post-mortem examination made. Case 11th. Old ewe. Symptoms precisely as in Case 10th, except an occasional grinding of the teeth. March 17th. Treated exactly as in Case _ 9th. Lived three days and appeared to rally a little, then brought forth a lamb and died. Post-mortem examination. Abdominal parietes healthy —gall-bladder filled with pale bile: liver normal in size but softened throughout its entire extent, and pale: portions of it paler and more disor- ganized than others: no parasites in its ducts. Thoracic viscera normal. Sub-acute inflammation of the mucous lining of the nasal cavity, and of the superior portion of the cesophagus. Slight ulcer in the ethmoidal cells. I made various other post-mortem examinations. Some of the viscera in every case were in a more or less abnormal state; but there was the same variety in the locality of the diseased action as in the preceding cases. But so far as the seat and character of the catarrhal affection was concerned, it was uniform in every case. The only difference was in in- tensity, as exhibited by the extent of the lesions. Not a single sheep recovered after the emaciation and debility had pro- ceeded to any great extent! One such only lingered along until shearing. Its wool gradually dropped off: it seemed to rally a little once or twice, and then relapse; and it perished one night in a rain-storm. In the gen- erality of instances the time from the first observed symptoms until death, varied from ten to fifteen days. A few died in a shorter time. Inthe three cases last detailed, the disease had evidently proceeded too far to be arrested by any treatment. I muchregret the loss of the records of the other cases, which would throw farther light on the subject. [ thought that the treatment produced favorable effects in some instances— particularly when resorted to at the commencement of the disease. At all events, some of the sheep recovered under the treatment—particularly un- der that including the exhibition of the bi-chloride of mercury—and_ yery few, if any, recovered without any treatment. Candor compels me to say, however, that the results of the treatment were far from being highly sat- isfactory—that the cases of recovery were much fewer than the deaths. I have merely stated what I believe to be the facts in the premises ; I do not feel prepared to make any recommendations. The epizootic gradually abated toward spring, and my flock have since been in perfect health. Near spring, many farmers found what seemed to them an unusual num- ber of grubs in the head (frontal sinuses) of the sheep which died of the prevailing epizoétic, and therefore they attributed the disease to this cause, and this seems to be the prevailing popular opinion. In some of the /atese cases in my flock, I discovered more or less grubs ; and, in two or three ‘nstances, an unusual number. In other cases where the external symp- SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 247 toms and the post-mortem appearances were almost identical, no erubs were to be seen. Tor this reason, and others which [ shall assign when treating of grub in the head, I conclude that the popular opinion is erro- neous. Tue Ror.—The existence and prevalence of the Rot in the United States have been sufficiently alluded to in Letter XIV. Notwithstanding its comparative rareness here, so far as is known, at present, I think it expedient to give a full description of it. It may be more prevalent hereafter, or it may be found peculiar to localities where sheep have not yet been introduced. And whether so or not, as its existence will often be feared and suspected in diseased flocks, it is proper that the flock- master always have it in his power to clearly identify this terrible des- troyer. The diagnosis of the disease is thus given by Mr. Spooner.* “ The first symptoms attending this disease are by no means strongly marked ; there is no loss of condition, but rather apparently the contrary ; indeed, sheep intended for the butcher have been purposely cothed or rotted in order to increase their fattening properties for a few weeks, a practice which was adopted by the celebrated Bakewell. A want of liveliness and paleness of the membranes generally may be considered as the first symptoms of the disease, to which may be added a yellowness of the caruncle at the corner of the eye. Dr. Harrison observes, ‘when in warm, sultry or rainy weather, sheep that are grazing on low and moist lands feed rapidly, and some of them die suddenly, there is fear that they have contracted the rot.’ This suspicion will’be farther increased if, a few weeks afterward, the sheep begin to shrink and become flaccid about the loins. By pressure about the hips at this time a crackling is perceptible now or soon afterward, the countenance looks pale, and upon parting the fleece the skin is found to have changed its vermilion tint for a pale red, and the wool is easily separated from the pelt; and as the disorder advances the skin be- comes dappled with yellow or black spots. To these symptoms succeed increased dullness, loss of condition, greater paleness of the mucous membranes, the eyelids becoming almost white and afterward yellow. This yellowness extends to other parts of the body, and a watery fluid appears under the skin, which becomes loose and flabby, the woo! coming off readily. The symptoms of dropsy often extend over the body, and sometimes the sheep becomes chockered, as it is termed—a large swelling forms under the jaw, which, from the appearances of the fluid it contains, is in some places called the watery poke. The duration of the disease is uncertain; the animal occasionally dies shortly after becoming affected, but more frequently it extends to from three to six months, the sheep gradually losing flesh and pining away, particularly if, as is frequently the case, an obstinate purging supervenes.” Mr. Youatt thus describes the post-mortem appearances: t “ When a rotted sheep is examined after death, the whole cellular tissue is found to be imfiltrated, and a yellow serous fluid everywhere follows the knife. ‘The muscles are soft and flabby: they have the appearance of being macerated. The kidneys are pale, flaccid, and infiltrated. The mesenteric glands enlarged, and engorged with yellow serous fluid. The belly is frequently filled with water or purulent matter; the peritoneum is everywhere thickened, and the bowels adhere together by means of an unnatural growth. The heart is enlarged and softened, and the lungs are filled with tubereles. The principal alterations of structure are in the liver. It is pale, livid, and broken down with the slightest pressure ; and on being boiled it will almost dissolve away. When the liver is not pale, it is often curiously spotted. In some cases it is speckled like the back of a toad. Nevertheless, some parts of it are hard and schirrous; others are ulcerated, and the biliary ducts are filled with flukes. Here is the decided seat of disease, and it is here that the nature of the malady is to be learned. Jt is inflammation of the liver. . . . The liver attracts the pr‘ucipal atten- tion of the examiner: it displays the evident effects of acute and destructive inflammation ; and still more plainly the ravages of the parasite with which its ducts are crowded. Here is plainly the original seat of the disease—the center whence a destructive influence spreads on every side... . The Fluke—the Fasciola of Linneus—the Distoma hepaticum ut Rhodolphi—the Planaria of Goese—is found in the biliary ducts of the sheep, the goat, the deer, the ox, the horse. the ass, the hog, the dog, the rabbit, the guinea-pig, and various other animals, and even in the human being. It is from three quarters of an inch to an inch and a quarter in length, and from one-third to half an inch in greatest breadth. * Spooner, p. 391, et supra. t Youatt, p. 447, et supra. 248 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. Figs. 56 and 58 represent this parasite of its usual size and appearance, and its resem- blance to a minute sole, divested of its fins, is very striking. The head is of a pointed form, round above and flat benéath; and the mouth opens laterally instead of vertieally. Fig. 57. Fig. 58. ‘ Mis, ONT THE FLUKE. There are no barbs or tentacul, as described by some authors. The eyes are placed on the most prominent part of the head, and are very singularly constructed (fig. 57). They have the bony ring of the bird. . .. The anastomoses of the blood-vessels which ramify over the head are plainly seen through a tolerable microscope. The circulating and digestive organs are also evident, and are seated almost immediately below the head. The situation of the heart is seen in fig. 56, and the two main vessels evidently springing from it, and extending through almost the whole length of the flake. Smaller blood-vessels, if so they may be called, ramify from them on either side. The convolutions of the bowels appear in fig. 59, and the vent, both for the freces and the ova, and probably for the connection be- tween the sexes, is on the under part, and almost close to the neck. ... . In the beliy, if so it may be called, are almost invariably a very great number of oval particles, hundreds of which, taken together, are not equal in bulk to a grain of sand. They are of a pale red color, and are supposed to be the spawn or eggs of the parasite... . . There can be no doubt that the eggs are frequently received in the food. Having been discharged with the dung, they remain on the grass or damp spot on which they may fall, retaining their vital principle for an indefinite period of time. . . . They find not always, or they find not at all, a proper nidus in the places in which they are deposited; but taken up with the food, escaping the perils of rumination, and threading every vessel and duct until they arrive at the biliary canal, they burst from their shells, and grow, and probably mullti- Diverter: that were cut to pieces or destroyed in opening the various ducts. In other cases, and where the sheep have died of the rot, there were not found more than ten or twelve. . . . Then, is the fluke worm the cause or the effect of rot? Toa certain degree both. They aggravate the disease; they perpetuate a state of irritability and disorganization, which must necessarily undermine the strength of any animal. . ... Notwithstanding all this, however, if the fluke follow the analogy of other entoza and parasites, it is the effect and not the cause of rot... . . The rot in sheep is evidently connected with the soil or state of the pasture. It is con- fined to wet seasons, or to the feeding on ground moist and marshy at all seasons. It has reference to the evaporation of water, and to the presence and decomposition of moist vege- table matter. It is rarely or almost never seen on dry or sandy soils and in dry seasons ; it is rarely wanting on boggy or poachy ground, except when that ground is dried by the heat of the summer’s sun, or completely covered by the winter’s rain. On the same farm there are certain fields on which no sheep can be turned with impunity. "There are others that seldom or never give the rot. ‘The soil of the first is found to be of a pervious nature, on which wet cannot long remain—the second takes a long time to dry, or is rarely or never so... .. Some seasons are far-more favorable to the development of the rot than others, and there ig no manner of doubt as to the character of those seasons. After a rainy summer or a moist autumn, or during a wet winter, the rot destroys like a pestilence. A return and a coutinuance of dry weather materially arrests its murderous progress. Most of the sheep SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 249 that had been already infected die ; but the number of those that are lost soon begins to be materially diminished. It is, therefore sufficiently plain that the rot depends upon, or is caused by, the existence of moisture. A rainy season and a tenacious soil are frnitful or inevitable sources of it. .... The mischief is effected with almost incredible rapidity.” Mr. Youatt here gives various instances to prove that rot is engendered in a few hours and even minutes.* He farther says : “It is an old observation that all pasture that is suspected to be unsound, the sheep should be folded early in the evening, before the first dews begin to fall, and should not be released trom the fold until the dew is partly evaporated. .... Then the mode of prevention—that with which the farmer will have most to do, for the sheep having become once decidedly rotten, neither medicine nor management will have much power in arresting the evil—consists in altering the character of as much of the dan- gerous ground as he can, and keeping his sheep from those pastures which defy all his attempts to improve them... . .« If all unnecessary moisture is removed from the soil, or if the access of air is cut off by the flooding of the pasture, no poisonous gas has existence, and the sheep continue sound... . . The account of the treatment of rot must, to a considerable extent, be very unsatis- factory. ”’ Mr. Youatt proceeds to recommend the sale of sheep to the butcher when they are found to be.rotted! Rot hastens for a short period the accumulation of fat.. Bakewell—a man whose name is associated with the exhibition of prodigious abilities in the improvement of stock, but, in my mind, tarnished also by an equal exhibition of selfishness and absolute meanness—displayed a characteristic sagacity in purposely rotting his sheep to avail himself of the above circumstance ! f It is with pain [ make the following quotation from Youatt—the only thing of such a char- acter 1 remember to have noticed in his voluminous works : “Tt is one of the characters of the rot to hasten, and that to a strange degree, the accnu- mulation of flesh and fat. Let not the farmer, however, push this experiment too far. Let him carefully overlook every sheep daily, and dispose of those which cease to make pro- gress, or which seem beginning to retrograde. It has already been stated that the meat of the rotted sheep, in the early stage of the disease, is not like that of the sound one; it is pale and not so firm; but it is not unwholesome (!) and it is coveted by certain epicures, whe, perhaps, are not altogether aware of the real state of the animal(!!) All this is matter of calculation, and must be left to the owner of the sheep; except that, if the breed js not of very considerable value, and the disease has not proceeded to emaciation or other fearful symptoms, the first loss will probably be the least; and if the owner can get any- thing like a tolerable price for them, the sooner they are sent to the butcher, or consumed at home, the better. Supposing, however, that their appearance is beginning to tell tales about them, and they are too far gone to be disposed Sf in the market or consumed at home, are they to besabandoned to their fate? No: far from it.” Conceding to Mr. Youatt the whole benefit of that saving clause about ‘consumption at home,” the above sentence is one which I could well wish stricken from his valuable work. The sale of the meat of diseased animals, for human consumption, is abhorrent to decency and propriety, and there is not a respectable American family which would not revolt at the idea of either selling or consuming such meat. Of the treatment of rot, Mr. Youatt continues : “Tf it is suited to the convenience of the farmer, and such ground were at all within his reach, the sheep should be sent to a salt-marsh in preference to the best pasture on the best farm. There it will feed on the salt incrusted on the herbage, and pervading the pores of every blade of grass. A healthy salt-marsh permits not the sheep to become rotten which graze upon it; and if the disease is not considerably advanced, it cures those which are sent upon it with the rot.... Are there any indications of fever—heated mouth, heaving flanks, or failing appetite? Is the general inflammation beginning to have a determination to that part on which the disease usually expends its chiefest virulence? Is there yellow- * Youatt, p. 453. t So say both Spooner and Youatt. 21 250 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. ness of the lips and of the mouth, of the eyes, and of the skin? At the same time, ara there no indications of weakness and decay? Nothing to show that the constitution is fatally undermined? Bleed—abstract, according to the circumstances of the case, eight, ten, or twelve ounces of blood. There is no disease of an inflammatory character at its commencement which is not benefited by early bleeding. To this let a dose of physic succeed—-two or three ounces of Epsom salts, administered in the cautious manner so fre- quently recommended; and to these means let a change of diet be immediately added— good hay in the field, and hay, straw, or chaff, in the straw-yard. The physic having operated, or an additional dose, perchance, having been administered in order to quicken the action of the first, the farmer will look out for farther means and appliances. .... Two or three grains of calomel may be given daily, but mixed with half the quantity of opium, in order to secure its beneficial, and ward off its injurious effects on the ruminant: ‘To this should be added—a simple and cheap medicine, but that which is the sheet-anchor of the practitioner here—common salt... .. In the first place, it is a purgative inferior to few, when given in a full dose; and itis a tonic as well as a purgative. ... A mild tonic, as well as an aperient, is plainly indicated soon after the commencement of rot. The doses should be from two to three drachms, repeated morning and night, When the inflammatory stage is clearly passed, stronger tonics may be added to the salt, and there are none superior to the gentian and ginger roots; from one to two drachms of each, finely powdered, may be added to each dose of the salt... . . The sheep having a little recoy- ered from the disease, should still continue on the best and driest pasture on the farm, and should always have salt within their reach... .. The rot is not infectious.” Diarruea.—This disease is often more properly a nervous than a febrile one—in the former case, a morbid increase of the peristaltic motion of the bowels—in the latter, an inflammation of the mucous coat of the smallez intestines. But for the purpose of viewing it in connection with dysen- tery, to which it is sometimes closely allied, and into which it often runs -—and which is clearly a febrile disease—it will be described here. Common diarrhea, purging, or scours, manifests itself simply by the copiousness and fluidity of the alvine evacuations. It is brought on by a sudden change from dry feed to green, or by the introduction of im- proper substances into the stomach. It is important to clearly distinguish this disease from dysentery. In diarrhea there is no apparent general fever; the appetite remains good; the stools are thin and watery, but unaccompanied with slime (mucus) and blood; the odor of the feces is far less offensive than in dysentery ; the general condition of the animal is but little changed. Treatment.—C onfinement to dry food for a day or two, and a gradual re- turn to it, oftentimes suffice. I‘thave rarely administered anything to grown sheep, and never have lost one from this disease. To lambs, especially if attacked in the fall, the disease is more serious. If the purging is severe, and especially if any mucus is observed with the faeces, the feculent mat- ter should be removed from the bowels by a gentle cathartic—as half a drachm of rhubarb, or an ounce of linseed-oil, or half an ounce of Epsom salts toa lamb. This should always be followed by an astringent, and in nine cases out of ten, the latter will serve in the first instance. JI gener-— ally administer, say, + oz. of prepared chalk in half a pint of tepid milk, once a day for two or three days, at the end of which, and frequently after the first dose, the purging will have ordinarily abated or entirely ceased, The following is the formula of the English “ sheep’s cordial” usually prescribed in cases of diarrhea by the English veterinarians, and there can be no doubt it is a safe and excellent remedy—better probably than sim- ple chalk and milk, in severe cases: Take of prepared chalk one ounce, powdered catechu half an ounce, powdered ginger two drachms, and pow- dered opium half a drachm ; mix them with half a pint of peppermint wa- ter—give two or three table-spoonsfull morning and night to a grown sheep, and half that quantity to a lamb. SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 251 Dysrentery.—Dysentery is caused by an inflammation of the mucous o2 inner coat of the larger intestines, causing a preternatural increase in their secretions, and a morbid alteration in the character of those secretions. It is frequently ¢ msequent on that form of diarrhea which is caused by an inflammation of the mucous coat of the smaller intestines. The inflam- mation extends throughout the whole alimentary canal, increases in viru- lence, and it becomes dysentery—a disease frequently dangerous and ob- stinate in its character, but fortunately not common among sheep in this part o& the United States. Its diagnosis differs from that of diarrhea in several readily observed particulars.. There is evident fever; the appe- tite is capricious, ordinarily very feeble; the stools are as thin or even thin- ner than in diarrhea, but much more adhesive in consequence of the pres- ence of large quantities of mucus. As the erosion of the intestines ad- vances, the feeces are tinged with blood ; their odor is intolerably offensive ; and the animal rapidly wastes away. The course of the disease extends from a few days to several weeks. Treatment.—I have seen but a few well-defined cases of dysentery, and in the half-dozen instances which have occurred in my own flock, I have usuaily administered a couple of purges of linseed-oil, followed by chalk and milk as in diarrhea (only doubling the dose of chalk), and a few drops of laudanum, say twenty or thirty—with ginger and gentian. Ac- cording to my recollection, about one-third of the cases have proved fatal, but they have usually been old and feeble sheep. Farther inquiry satisfies me that moderate bleeding should be resorted to in the first or inflammatory stage of the disease, or whenever decided febrile symptoms are found to be present. Mr. Youatt prescribes bleeding, cathartics, mashes, gruel, &c. He says: “Two doses of physic having been administered, the practitioner will probably have re- course to astringents. The sheep’ s cordial will probably supply him with the best; and to this, tonics may soon begin to be added—an additional quantity of ginger may enter into the composition of the cordial, and gentian powder will be a useful auxiliar y. With this—as an excellent stimulus to cause the sphincter of the anus to contract, and also the mouths of the innumerable secretory and exhalent vessels which open on the inner surface of the in- testine—a half grain of strychnine may be combined. .... Smaller doses should be given for three or four days.” . GarcetT—Is an inflammation of the udder, with or without gene- ral inflammation. Where simply an inflammation of the udder, it is usual- ly caused by a too great accumulation of milk in the latter prior to lamb- ing, or in consequence of the death of the lamb. It is not the serious mala- dy, here, described by the English veterinarians. Treatment.—Drawing the mit partly from the bag so that the hungry lamb will butt and work at it an unusual time in pursuit of its food, and bathing it a few times in cold* water, usually suffices. If the lamb is ddad: the milk should be drawn a few times, at increasing intervals, washing the udder for some time in cold water at each milking. In cases of obdurate induration, the udder should be anointed with Haine ointment. If there is general fever in the system, an ounce of Epsom salts may be given. NERVOUS DISEASES. AprorLexy.—Soon after the sheep are turned to grass in the spring, one of the best conditioned sheep in the flock is sometimes suddenly found dead. * The English veterinarians recommended warm fomentations. 252 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. The symptoms which precede the catastrophe are occasionally noted. The sheep leaps frantically into the air two or three times, dashes itself on the ground and suddenly rises, and dies in a few moments. Such cases occur but now and then, and none have ever occurred in my flock io my knowledge. I have therefore had no opportunity of observing the diagnosis, or making dissections. There can be little doubt, however, that the disease is apoplexy. . Desirous to raise the condition of a poorish flock (the poorest sheep culled from my other flocks) somewhat too rapidly, perhaps, some winters since, in addition to good hay three times a day, I ordered them fed a gill of oats per head; and as rapidly as it could be done without bringing on scours, | had them fed a liberal allowance of Swedish turnips—about as much as they would eat up clean. . They gained perceptibly. One day a sheep was reported to me as having become suddenly blind and motion- less. I immediately examined it. It was in good fair condition. It stood with its head a little down—its eyes were glassy and staring—it was stone blind! The evening before nothing unusual had been perceived about it. I bled it at the inner angle of each eye, and the blood had scarcely started before its sight began to return. In less than a minute it walked off among its companions. It had no relapse. Another case was soon re- orted; I treated it in the same way, and with the same apparent effect. he symptoms soon returned, however, and I bled again. This appeared to produce but a partial restoration of the sight. The sheep would not follow its companions into and out of the sheep-house. When approach- ed, it would run about knocking its head against fences, &c. It lost con- dition, finally became unable to rise, and died. Another one, after being bled, fed regularly, but its sight was never restored. It lived along thus for three or four weeks, and then fell into a hole containing water, and perished. Another apparently recovered, all but sight, and continued in my flock for more than a year afterward. The eye was bright and clear, as in gutta serena, and the blindness would not be suspected, unless the sheep was cornered up. Then, if the catchers remained momentarily still, it would as soon run into their arms or against the fence, as in any other direction. Perhaps fifteen cases occurred. In three or four instan- ces the blind sheep, when they moved, constantly traveled round in a circle. In about as many cases, they twisted themselves about without progressing, the head was drawn round toward one side, they fell, ground their teeth, and their mouths were covered with a frothy mucus. In neither of the latter description of cases did bleeding at the inner angles of tne syes afford anything more than temporary relief. They all proved fatal. . At the time these things occurred, I regret to say that I had paid but very little attention to veterinary science, and had never made a dissec- tion. I did nothing but bleed at the inner angles of the eyes, and made no post-mortem examinations. Taking into consideration the feed and the symptoms, there can be but little doubt, I think, that all these cases were referable to a determination of blood to the brain. The sheep were not fat, but the secretions of blood were rapidly and powerfully increased by rich and abundant food. Treatment.—If the eyes are prominent and fixed, the membranes of the mouth and nose highly florid, the nostrils highly dilated, and the respira- tion labored and stertorous, the veins of the head turgid, the pulse strong and rather slow, and these symptoms attended by a partial or entire loss of sight and hearing, it is one of those decided cases of apoplexy which require immediate and decided treatment. As the good effects of vene- Se SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 253 section, in all cases, and especially in this, depend not only upon the amount of blood abstracted, but also upon the. rapidity with which it is drawn from the veins, the eye-veins are not the proper ones to open. They are so small that the blood flows slowly, and if cut directly across, as is usually done, they soon contract, and the flow of blood is arrested before a suffi- cient quantity has been abstracted. It is better to have recourse: at once to the jugular vein. The animal should be bled until an obvious constitu tional effect is produced—the pulse lowered and the rigidity of the muscles relaxed. An aperient should at once follow bleeding, and if the anima! is strong and plethoric, a sheep of the size of the Merino would require at least two ounces of Epsom salts, and one of the large mutton sheep more, If this should fail to open the bowels, half an ounce of the salts should be be given, say, twice a day. In the milder cases which I have mentioned as occurring in my own fiock, I think had I bied more thoroughly, in the very first attack, and given a mild aperient of Epsom salts, most of the sheep would have re- covered. Purenitis, Tetanus, Eritepsy, Patsy, Rapres.—I never have seen a well-defined case of either of these maladies among our sheep, though, in a few instances, something which struck me at the time as somewhat analogous to paralysis or palsy. Palsy is a diminution or entire loss of the powers of motion in some part of the body. I have occasionally seen, in the winter, poor lambs, or poor pregnant ewes, or poor feeble ewes immediately after yeaning in the spring, lose the power of walking or standing rather too suddenly to have it satisfactorily referable to in- creasing debility. ‘The animal seems to have lost all strength in its loins, and the hind-quarters are powerless. It makes ineffectual attempts to rise, and cannot stand if placed upon its feet. Treatment.—W armth, gentle stimulants, and good nursing, might raise the patient, but in nineteen cases out of twenty it would be more econo- mical and equally humane, to at once deprive it of life. . Coric.—Sheep are occasionally seen, particularly in the winter, lying down and rising every moment or two, and constantly stretching their fore and hind legs so far apart that their bellies almost touch the ground. They appear to be in ea, refuse all food, and not unfrequently die, unless relieved. This disease is popularly known as the “ stretches,” and is erroneously attributed to introsusception of an intestine. Some farmers worry the sheep with a dog, and others hold it up by the hind legs, to effect a cure! I consider it a sort of flatulent colic induced by costiveness. Treatment—Half an ounce of Epsom salts, a drachm of ginger, and sixty drops of essence of peppermint. The salts alone, however, will effect the cure, as will an equivalent dose of linseed-oil, or even hog’s lard. 254 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. LETTER XVI. DISEASES AND THEIR TREATMENT—(Continued.) Cachectic Diseases...Hydatid on the Brain—diagnosis—common methods of treating it—treatment of French and [{nglish veterinarians...The Pelt Rot...Local diseases...Grub in the head—the nature of the disease, if one—erreneous popular opinions—location of the grub—description of the fly (@strus evis)—method of attacking the sheep—conduct of the sheep—appearance of the larva—its habits—the chrysalis—the larva found in the heads of healthy sheep—not believed to be the cause or source of fatal disease—Mr. Bracy Clark’s and Mr. Youatt’s opinion—method of preventing and of expelling the grub... Scab—nature of it—habits of the acari—desgription of them—contagiousness of the disease—post-mor- tem appearances—treatment...Erysipelatous’ scab—treatment-.-Disease of Biflex Canal—nature and treatment... Hoof.ail—first indications—erroneous statements of foreign veterinarians—of Mr. Youatt— author's experience with it—diagnosis—chronic hoof-ail—can it be cured ?—difficulties—preparation of the foot—ordinary treatment—proper treatment—cost of curing a flock—cheap partial remedies—sug- gestions—contagiousness of the disease—how communicated. ..Fouls—cause and treatment. -.Broncho- zele or goitre—diagnosis—treatment. . . Miscellaneous diseases...Poison from eating Laurel—symptoms— treatment. .-Sore Face—cause and treatment. ..Loss of cud—not a disease. . .Hoove—cause—symptoms— cure...Obstruction of Gullet, or choking—treatment...Fractures—treatment, &c..-Method of adminis- tering medicine into the stomach...Method of bleeding...The place of feeling the pulse-.-List of medi- cines employed in treating the diseases of sheep.--Ale-..Aloes...Alum---.Antimony--.-Arsenic...Blue Vitriol...Camphor....Carraway seeds....Catechu....Chalk...Cor-osive Sublimate... Digitalis... Epsom Salts...Gentian...Ginger.-.-Iodine...Lard...Lime, carbonate of. ..Lime, chloride of....Linseed Oil... Mercury..-Muriatic Acid..-Nitrate of Potash...Nitrate of Silver..-Nitric Acid...Opium. ..Pepper.-~ Pimento...Rhubarb...Salt...Sulphate of Iron...Sulphur....Sulphuric Acid-...-Spirit of Tar....'Tar-.. Tobacco. ..Turpentine...Verdigris- ..Zinc. CACHECTIC DISEASES. Hypatw on THE Brain.—This disease, known as turnsick, sturdy, staggers, etc., is spoken of by Chancellor Livingston, and other writers of reputation, as having occurred in this country within their own obser- vation. I have never seen a case of it, and shall be obliged, therefore, to make use of the descriptions of others. Mr. Spooner says : : “The symptoms are a dull, moping appearance, the sheep separating from the flock, a wandering and blue appearance to the eye, and sometimes partial or total blindness; the sheep appears unsteady in its walk, will sometimes stop suddenly and fall down, at others gallop across the field, and after the disease has existed for some time will almost constantly move round in a circle—there seems, indeed, to be an aberration of the intellect of the animal. These symptoms, though rarely all present in the same subject, are yet sufficiently marked to prevent the disease being mistaken for any other. On examining the brain of sturdied sheep, we find what appears to be a watery bladder, termed a hydatid, which may be either small or of the size of a hen’s egg. This hydatid, one of the class of entozoéns has been termed by naturalists the hydatis polycephalus cerebralis, which signifies the many-headed hydatid of the brain; these heads being irregularly distributed on the sur- face of the bladder, and on the front part of each head there is a mouth surrounded by minute sharp hooks within a ring of sucking disks. These disks serve as the means of attachment by forming a vacuum, and bring the mouth in contact with the surface, and thus by the aid of the hooks the parasite is nourished. The coats of the hydatid are disposed in several layers, one of which appears to possess a muscular power. These facts are developed by the microscope, which also discovers numerous little bodies adhering to the internal membrane. The fluid in the bladder is usually clear, but occasionaily turbid, and then it has been found to contain a number of minute worms. ” According to Mr. Youatt, this disease attacks many of the weakly lambs in the English flocks. It usually appears, he remarks, “ during the first year of the animal’s life, and when he is about or under six months old.” It succeeds a “‘a severe winter and a cold, wet spring.” — He says: “If there is only one parasite inhabiting the brain of a sturdied sheep, its situation is very uncertain. It is mostly found beneath the pia-mater, lying upon the brain, and in or upon the scissure between the two hemispheres. — If it is within the brain, it is generally in one of the ventricles, but occasionally in the substance of the brain, and, in a few instances, in *hat of the cerebellum. ... . SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 255 This is a singular disease; but it is a sadly prevalent and fatal one in wet and moorish flistricts. .... {tis much more fatal in France than in Great Britain. It is supposed that nearly a million of sheep are destroyed in France every year by this pest of the ovine The means of cure are exceedingly limited. They are confined to the removal or des- truction of the vesicle. . Medicine is altogether out of the question here.”’ Many barbarous methods have been adopted to rupture the hydatid, which I will not disgust you by repeating. Mr. James Hogg thrust a wire up the nostrils of the sheep, and through the plate of the ethmoid bone ito the brain, and thus, as he assures us, punctured the hydatid and “cured many a sheep!’’* ‘This practice, which I cannot characterize otherwise than as atrocious, is justly condemned by Mr. Youatt. The dotted lines d, e, and d, d, in fig. 49, show how limited a portion of the brain could be reached with a wire or trochar by piercing the plate of the ethmoid bone—the only portion of the walls of the skull thin enough to be so pierced by a trochar introduced at the nostrils. Mr. Parkinson “ pulled the ears very hard for some time,” and then cut them off close to the head ! tf Where the hydatid is not imbedded in the brain, its constant pressure, singularly enough, causes a portion of the cranium to be absorbed, and finally the part immediately over the hydatid becomes thin and soft enough to yield under the pressure of the finger. When such a spot is discovered, the English veterinarians usually dissect back the muscular integuments, remove a portion of the bone, carefully divide the investing membranes of the brain, and then, if possible, remove the hydatid whole —or, failing to do this, remove its fluid contents. The membranes and integuments are then restored to their position, and an adhesive plaster placed over the whole. The French veterinarians usually simply pune- ture the cranium and the cist with a trochar, and laying the sheep on its hack, permit the fluid to run out through the orifice thus made. A com- mon aw! would answer every purpose for such a puncture. The puncture would be the preferable method for the unskilled practitioner. But when we take into consideration the hazard and cruelty attending the operation at best, and the conceded liability of a return of the malady—the growth of new hydatids—it becomes apparent that, in this country, it would not be worth while, unless in the case of uncommonly valuable sheep, to resort to any other remedy than depriving the miserable animal of life. Pett Rot—lIs classified as a disease by Mr. Livingston, and various other American writers. Mr. Livingston says : “This is often mistaken for the scab, but it is in fact a different and less dangerous disease ; in this the wool will fall off, and leave the sheep nearly naked ; but it is attended with no soreness, though a white crust will cover the skin from the wool which has dropped: It generally arises from hard keeping and much exposure to cold and wet. ard, in fact, the animal often dies in severe weather from the cold it suffers by the loss of its coat. The remedy is full feeding, and a warm stall, and anointing the hard part of the skin with tar, oil, and butter.” ¢ I have seen frequent cases of the pelt rot, but never have done any- thing for it, scarcely considering it a disease. If the condition of a poor sheep is raised as suddenly as practicable, by generous keep in the winter, the wool is very apt to drop off, and if yet cold, the sheep will require warm shelter. * Hogg on Sheep, p. 59. 1 Parkinson on Sheep, vol. 1, p. 412. 1 Livingstow on Sheep, Appendix, p. 179. 256 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. LOCAL DISEASES. « Grus in Tue Heap.’—If the “ grubs” found in the frontal and max- ilary sinuses of the sheep actually, in any case, produce disease, it must be, in my judgment, by the irritation and inflammation which they induce in the mucous membrane which lines those cavities. The popular theory that the grub causes death by boring through the bony walls which sur- round the brain, and attacking the substance of the brain itself, is, it seems to me, utterly absurd. The only part of the skull where it could even be fancied that such a perforation would be practicable, is the cribriform plate of the ethmoid bone (11 of fig. 49,) which is very thin and is pierced with numerous small holes for the passage of nerves. But an inspection of the same figure will show that the sinus where the parasite is generally found — lodged, is not in immediate juxtaposition with the cribriform plate, and that a passage from the former to the brain, would lead directly through the frontal bone—the thickest oue of the whole cranium. I never saw but . one grub in the cells of the ethmoid bone near the cribriform plate, and that, I judged at the time, was thrown there accidentally by the violence attending the opening of the head.* But if the grub actually penetrates to the brain, the fact would readily be disclosed after death. The full- grown grub would necessarily leave an orifice of considerable diameter through the skull. Who has seen any such orifice in the cribriform plate or elsewhere 2 Who has seen any orifice but the natural ones of the crib- riform plate, fiJ/ed with the nerves which pass throughthem? The farmer splits open the head of a sheep with an ax, cutting, mangling and scatter- ing its contents, by the repeated blows necessary to effect his purpose— Under such circumstances grubs are sometimes found scattered through all the nasal cavities—over and among the brains—and on the ground.— The proof is just as strong, here, that prior to opening the head, some of the grubs were on the ground, as that they were in the brain ! The “grub” of popular parlance is the larva of the Gistrws ores, or gad-fly of the sheep. The latter is represented of the nat- ural size in figures 60 and 61. It is composed of five rings. It is tiger-colored on the back and belly, sprinkled with spots and patches of brown. The wings are striped. The comparative propor- tions of the head, corslet, wings, etc. are sufficient- ly seen in the cuts. He who desires a full, scien- Waaw tific description of these insects, or who would SHEEP GAD-FLY- fully investigate their habits and economy, will do well to consult the excellent monograph of them by Mr. Bracy Clark the celebrated veterinarian. The sheep gad-fly is led by instinct to deposit its eggs within the nos- trils of the sheep. Its attempts to do this, most common in July and Au- gust, are always indicated by the sheep, which collect in close clumps with their heads inward and their noses thrust close to the ground, and i- to it, if any loose dirt or sand is within their reach. If the fly succeeds in depositing its egg, it is immediately hatched by the warmth and moisture of the part, and the young grubs, or larve, crawl up the nose, finding their devious way to the sinuses, where, by means of their tentacule, they ats tach themselves to the mucous membrane lining those cavities. Durin the ascent of the larve, the sheep stamps, tosses its head violently, and of- ten dashes away from its companions wildly over the field. The larve re- Fig. 61. * The head was cloven with an az! It is proper to say, however, that various writers speak of having found the grubs in the ethmoid cells, and indeed in all the nasal cavities. ot Se eee SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SNUTH. 257 main in the sinuses feeding on the mucus secreted by the membrane, and apparently creating no farther annoyance, until ready to assume their pu- pa form in the succeeding spring. Figures 62 and 63 give the shape and an upper and under view of the full-grown larva. THE ‘‘GRUB” OR LARVA OF THE SHEEP GAD-FLY. The body consists of eleven rings, colorless in the young grub, but the elevated portions growing darker with age, and becoming a dark brown when the full size is attained. There are round spots of a still darker color on each of these bands. At the edges of the rings are a few short hairs, and lower down some round darkish spots, as shown in fig. 62.— Small red spines, as shown in fig. 63, cover the space between the rings on the belly. The remainder of the body (with the exception of the poste- tlor stigmata) is white. The tentacule, as well as certain appendages on each side of the anus, the purposes of which have not been discovered, are seen in fig. 63. The larva having remained in the sinuses through the fall and winter, abandons them as the warm weather advances in the latter part of spring. It crawls down the nose, creating even greater irritation and excitement than when it originally ascended, drops on the ground, and rapidly bur- rows into it. In afew hours its skin has contracted, become of a dark brown color, and it has assumed the form of a chrysalis, as seen in fig. 64. Or rather, this figure exhibits the she// of the chrysalis, af- ter the escape of the fly ; and fig. 65 shows the upper ex- Fig. 64 5. Rigs ite tremity or head of the pupa, detached by the fly in its. es- | cape. The experiments of Valisnieri go to show that the s- trus ovis never eats—and this is the received opinion.— The male, after impregnating two or three females, dies, and the latter having deposited their ova in the nostrils of the sheep, also soon perish. The larva in the heads of sheep may, and probably do add to the irritation of those inflammatory diseases, such as catarrh, which attack the membraneous lining of the nasal cavities; and they are, as we have seen, a powerful source of momentary irritation in the first instance, when ascending to and descending from their lodging-place in the head. But in the interval between these events—extending over a period of several months—not a movement of the sheep indicates the least annoy- ance at thejr presence, or reveals to the veterinarian whether they exist in the sinuses or not. It would be very difficult to believe that all the local irritation which these parasites could cause, would be sufficient to termi- nate life, and, so far as my observation has extended, post-mortem exam- ination discloses no lesions which would in anywise sanction such belief. The larve, moreover, are found, at the proper season, in the heads of near- ly all sheep—the healthy as well as the diseased—and I never have been able to ascertain that the number of themis greater, on the average, in the heads of those sheep which were supposed to have fallen victims to their attacks, than in the heads of perfectly healthy sheep slaughtered for the table.. And to prove that the ge ideas on the subject are but vague 2 SHELL OF CHRYSALIS. woe." SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. and crude—not the result of that long and close comparison of symptoms, results, and post-mortem appearances, which would give weight to the opinions of the most unerudite—we have but to notice a few of the cases popularly referred to the “ grub in the head.” A sheep in the highest condition and apparent health leaps into the air two or three times, and suddenly dies, and if a grub can be found in the cavities of the head, that is the undoubted destroyer. Another wastes away for months and dies lingeringly, a mere skeleton, and the same proof establishes the same fact. Whether there has been fever or no fever—whether there has been obsti- nate constipation, or equally obstinate dysentery—whether one viscus or another exhibit traces of abnormal action—whether the disease has been acute or chronic—in a word, whatever the form or character of the mal- ady—however diametrically different the diagnosis and the lesions, it is a clear case of “ grub in the head,” if two or three of those parasites are found there ! Mr. Bracy Clark and Mr. Youatt, so far from regarding the larva of the ~ | (Estrus ovis as the cause of a fatal disease, suggest that they may even promote the health of the sheep by diminishing the tendency to cerebral disease—especially determinations of blood—by establishing counter irri- tation! Mr. Spooner does not speak of their producing fatal effects in any instances, nor am I aware that any late scientific veterinarians do. Treatment.—Though the presence of the grub constitutes no disease, some think it well to diminish their number by all convenient means.— One simple way of effecting this is by turning up with a plow a furrow of earth in the sheep pasture. Into this the sheep will thrust their noses on the approach of the Géstrus, and thus many of them escape its attacks.— Some farmers smear the noses of their sheep with tar occasionally, during the proper season—the odor of which is believed to repel the fly. Others compel the sheep to smear their own noses every week or two, by feed- ing them their salt sprinkled over tar. Blacklock says that the larvae may be dislodged even from the sinuses, by blowing tobacco smoke for some moments through the tail of a pipe into each nostril. I have never tried the experiment. Tue Scas.—The scab is a cutaneous disease, analogous to the mange in horses and the itch in men. It is caused and propagated by a minute insect, the acarus. M. Walz, a German veterinarian, who has thrown great light on the habits of these parasites, says: “Tf one or more female acari are placed on the wool of a sound sheep, they quickly travel to the root of it, and bury themselves in the skin, the place at which they penetrated being scarcely visible, or only distinguished by a minute red point. On the tenth or twelfth day a little swelling may be detected with the finger, and the skin changes its color, and has a greenish blue tint. The pustule is now rapidly formed, and about the sixteenth day breaks, and the mothers again appear, with their little ones attached to their feet, and covered by a portion of the shell of the egg from which they have just escaped. These little ones im- mediately set to work, and penetrate the neighboring skin, and bury themselves beneath it, and find their proper nourishment, and grow and propagate, until the poor animal has myri- ads of them to prey on him, and it is not wonderful that he should speedily sink. Some of the male acari were placed on the sound skin of a sheep, and they too burrowed their way and disappeared for a while, and the pustule in due time arose ; but the itching and the scab soon disappeared without the employment of any remedy. The figures on the next page are copied from M. Walz’s work : The female acarus brings forth from eight to fifteen young at a litter. The scab is often produced spontaneously in England by mismanage- ment of various kinds, such as “bad keep, starvation, hasty driving, dogging, and exposure afterward to cold and wet ;” and it spreads rapidly SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. * 259 by contagion. It is very prevalent there, and annually causes an immense loss in the wool and flesh of the British flocks. In the United States it is comparatively little known, and so far as I am able to learn, never origin- ates spontaneously. It is a singular fact that short-wooled sheep, like the Fig. 66, Fig. 67. Fig. 68. THE ACARUS WHICH CAUSES SCAB. Fig. 67.—The acari of their natural size on a dark ground. : Fig. 66.—The female of 366 times the natural size, larger than the male, of an oval form, and provided with eight feet, four before and four behind. a.—The sucker. b. b. b. b.—The four anterior feet, with their trumpet-like appendices, c. &—The two interior hind feet. d. d.—The two outward feet, the extremities of which are provided with some long hairs, and on the other parts of the legs are shorter hairs. To these hairs the young ones adhere, when they first escape from the pustule. e.—The tail, containing the anus and vulva, garnished with some short hairs. Fig. 68.—The male on its back, and seen by the same magnifying power. a.—The sucker. . b. b. b. b.—The fore-legs with their trumpet-like appendices, as seen in the female. c. —The two hind-legs, with the same appendices and hairs. da.—The rudiments of the abdominal feet. e—The tail. Merino, are much less subject to its attacks, and this is probably one reason for its little comparative prevalence in the United States. Mr. Youatt observes: “The old and unhealthy sheep are first attacked, and long-wooled sheep in preference to the short; a healthy short-wooled sheep will long bid defiance to the contagion, or probably escape it altogether.” It spreads from individual to individual and from flock to flock, not only by means of direct contact, but by the acari left on posts, stones, and other substances against which diseased sheep have rubbed themselves. Healthy sheep are therefore liable to contract the malady ifturned on pastures pre- viously occupied by scabby sheep, though some considerable time may have elapsed since the departure of the latter. The sheep laboring under the scab is exceedingly restless. It rubs it- self with violence against trees, stones, fences, &c. It scratches itself with its feet, and bites its sores and tears off its wool with its teeth. As the pustules are broken, their matter escapes, and forms scabs covering red, inflamed sores. The sores constantly extend, increasing the misery of the tortured animal. If unrelieved, he pines away and soon perishes. I have never had an opportunity to observe the post-mortem appear- ances. Mr. Youatt says: “‘ The post-mortem appearances are very uncertain and inconclusive. There is generally chronic inflammation of the intestines, with the presence of a greatnumber of worms. The liver is occasionally schirrous, and the spleen enlarged; and there are frequently serous effu 260 - SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. sions in the belly, and sometimes in the chest. There has been evident sympathy between the digestive and the cutaneous systems.” Treatment.—About twelve years since, I purchased 150 fine-wooled sheep just driven into the county from a considerable distance... I placed them on a farm then owned by me, in another town, and did not see them for about three weeks. One of my men then reported to me that the sheep were amiss—that they were shedding off their wool—sore spots were be- ginning to show on them—and that they rubbed themselves against the fence-corners, &c. Though I had never seen the scab, I took it for granted that this was the disease. No time was to be lost, as I had 700 other sheep on the farm—though fortunately, thus far, the new comers had been kept entirely separate from them. Barely looking into Mr. Livingston’s work for a remedy, I provided myself with an ample supply of tobacco and set out. The sheep had been shorn, and their backs were covered with scabs and sores. ‘They evidently had thescab. I had a large potash kettle sunk partly in the ground as an extempore vat, and an unweighed - quantity of tobacco put to boiling in several other kettles. The only care was to have enough of the decoction, as it was rapidly wasted, and to have it strong enough. A little spirits of turpentine was occasionally thrown on. the decoction, say to every third or fourth sheep dipped. It was neces- sary to use it sparingly, as, not mixing with the fluid and floating on the surface, too much of it otherwise came in contact with the sheep. Not at- tending to this at first, two or three of the sheep are thrown into great ag- ony, and appeared to be on the point of dying. I had each sheep eaught and its scabs scoured off, by two men who rubbed them with stiff shoe- brushes, dipped in a suds of tobacco-water and soft soap. The two men then dipped the sheep all over in the large kettle of tobacco-water, rub- bing and kneading the sore spots with their hands while immersed in the fluid. The decoction was so stroug that many of the sheep appeared to be sickened either by immersion or by its fumes ; and one of the men who dipped, though a tobacco-chewer, vomited, and became so sick that his place had to be supplied by another. The effect on the sheep was almost magical! The sores rapidly healed, the sheep gained in condition, the new wool immediately started, and I never had a more perfectly healthy flock on my farm. Though adminis- tered with little reference to economy, the remedy was a decisive one.— With a vat like fig. 27, (Letter XII,) this would not necessarily be a very expensive method, with sheep recently sheared. But the assaults of the scab usually come on in the spring before shearing time, and it would re- quire an immense quantity of the tobacco decoction to dip sheep with their fleeces on, however carefully it might be pressed out. The following is the remedy recommended by Chancellor Livingston : ‘First, separate the sheep (for it is very infectious) ; I then cut off the wool as far as the skin feels hard to the finger ; the scab is then washed with soap-suds, and rubbed hard with a shoe-brush, so as to cleanse and break the scab. I always keep for this use a decoction of tobacco, to which Ladd one-third by measure of the lye of wood ashes, as much hog’s-lard as will be dissolved by the lye, a small quantity of tar from the tar-bucket, which contains grease, an’ about one-eighth of the whole by measure of spirits of turpentine. This liquor is rubbed apon the part infected, and spread to a little disiance round it, in three washings, with an interval of three days each. I have never failed in this way to effect a cure when the disorder was only partial... . 1 cannot say whether it would cure a sheep infected so as to lose half its fleece.”"* The following remedies are much used in Great Britain: No. 1.—Dip the sheep in an infusion of arsenic, in the proportion of * Livingston’s Essay. Appendix, p. 177. : . SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SUTH. 261 half a pound of arsenic to twelve gallons of water. The sheep should pre- viously be washed in soap and water. The infusion must not be per- mitted to enter the mouth or nostrils. No. 2.—Take common mercurial ointment, for bad cases, rub it own with three times its weight of lard—for ordinary cases, five times its weight of lard. Rub alittle of this ointment into the head of the sheep. Part the wool so as to expose the skin in a line from the head to the tail, and then apply a little of the ointment with the finger the whole way. Make a sim- ilar furrow and application, on each side, four inches from the first, and so on over the whole body. The quantity of ointment (after being com- pounded with the lard) should not exceed two ounces, and considerably less will generally suffice. A lamb requires but one-third as much as a grown sheep. This will generally cure, but if the sheep should continue to rub itself, a lighter application of the same should be made in ten days. No. 3.—Take of lard or palm oil 2 lbs., oil of tar } Ib., sulphur 1 lb.— Gradually mix the last two, then rub down the compound with the first.— Apply in the same way as No. 2. ‘No. 4.—Take of corrosive sublimate 3 lb., white hellebore, powdered, 3 Ib., whale or other oil 6 gallons, rosin 2 Ibs., tallow 2 lbs. “ The first two to be mixed with a little of the oil, and the rest being melted together, the whole to be gradually mixed.” ‘This is a powerful preparation and must not be applied too freely. Mr. Spooner gives the preference to No. 1, as least troublesome; Mr. Youatt to No.2; and the author of the Mountain Shepherd’s Manual to No. 4. I should certainly prefer No. 3, if it is, as it is asserted to be, equally effectual, for the reason that it contains no poisonous or dangerous ingredients. An erysipelatous scab, or erysipelas, attended with ‘considerable itch- ing, sometimes attacks the English flocks, but I have heard of no cases of it here. ‘This would be classified as a febrile disease. It is treated with a cooling purgative, venesection, and oil or lard applied to the sores. Disease or THE BirLex Canau.—F rom the introduction of foreign bod- ies into the biflex canal, or from other causes, it occasionally becomes the seat of inflammation. This is sometimes confounded with the hoof-ail, but the diseases are entirely distinct and different from each other. In-. flammation of the biflex canal causes an enlargement and redness of the pastern, particularly about the external orifice of the canal. The toes are thrown wide apart by the tumor. I never have known it to attack more than one foot, and never have allowed it to go to the point of ulceration, which it is said to do if neglected. There is none of that soreness and disorganization between the back part of the toes—and none of that pecu- liar fetor which distinguishes the hoof-ail. I never have found it anything like so serious a disease as it is described tc be by the English veterina- rians. Treatment—I have always scarified the coronet, making one or two deeper incisions in the principal swelling around the mouth of the cana} —covered the foot with tar—and paid no more attention to it. Hoor-Ai.—The first symptom of this troublesome malady, which is or- dinarily noticed, is a lameness of one or both of the fore feet. But on daily examining the feet of aflock which have the disease among them, it will be readily seen that the lesions manifest themselves for several days before they are followed with lameness. Scarcely any English writer whom I 262 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. have read, describes with respectable accuracy the first appearances of the hoof-ail as it exhibits itself 7 this country, and among the jine-wooled sheep.* Mr, Youatt says: “ The foot will be found hot and tender, the horn softer than usual, and there will be en- largement about the coronet, and a slight separation of the hoof from it, with portions of the horn worn away, and ulcers formed below, and a discharge of their fetid matter. The ul- cers, if neglected, continue to increase ; they throw out tungous granulations, they separate the hoof more and more from the parts beneath, until at length it drops off.” The above is mot a description of the consecutive symptoms of the hoof- ail as Ihave seen them. The hoof, instead of being softened, is percepti- bly Aardened, I think, by the presence of the disease. There is occasion- ally an enlargement about the coronet, but this is not common in the out- set; andso far from the horn first separating from the foot at that point, it is the last place where it usually adheres when the soles are eaten away by the ulcerous matter, and the mere outside shellremains. I never have known a hoof to drop off, entire, in the sense in which | understand the closing part of Mr. Youatt’s remark. My first introduction to this disease was by its breaking out in its most malignant form in a flock of eight hundred sheep, with which I had placed, early in the preceding spring, a few valuable sheep received from abroad which were infected with the hoof-ail, without my having the slightest sus- picion of the fact. The disease, when of long standing, and well kept un- der, shows itself but very little during the winter and spring, unless the foot is directly examined. Every sheep in that eight hundred took the disease, sometimes first in one foot, then in another, then in a third, and when the fourth one was attacked, perhaps it was again bursting out in one of the cured feet! 1 considered the sheep valuable, had much of the esprit du corps of a young flock-master, and was determined to conquer the malady at any cost and at all hazards. I have little doubt that every sheep in the flock was “ doctored” on the average ten times each, and it was very rarely that I permitted any other person than myself to cut away the horn and prepare the foot of a single sheep for the application of the reme- dies !_ When I look back to that period—the sheep on some remote pas- tures—not a shed on them to shelter myself or assistants fram the burning August sun as we bent ten or twelve hours a day over our task—our only “operating room” a yard in the corner of two fields—blood and pus en- crusting hands and garments, and occasionally by an unlucky stroke of the knife showered over face and bosom—the crawling maggots—the intolera- ble fetor :—I hardly know whether to take credit to myself for or to laugh at the stanchness of my zeal. But, worst of all, with all my labor, 1 had ——‘ scoteh’d the snake, not killed it!” The disease appeared in my flock, though in a much mitigated form, the next summer. I thifk I then cured it—but I was not allowed to es- cape thus. In the succeeding summer, accident again brought it among my sheep. In a word, I have first and last served a five years’ appren- ticeship to combating the hoof-ail. Having seen it in every possible phase -—having experimented with almost every recommended remedy not obvi- yusly empirical—I shall be excused if I speak my own opinions with a de- * As | have before stated, when discussing “ the most profitable breed for the South,” the hoof of the Me- rino and that of the English Long-Wooled races, is essentially different. The latter usually retains its natu- ral shape and thickness, and although the side-crust sometimes turns under, it is but a comparatively thin slip of horn, which is subsequently worn or broken oft—or it is easily removed by the knife. The hoof of the Merino grows rapidly, especially when the animal has the hoof-ail. The horny soles will sometimes be- come nearly an inch thick, and the toes will elongate and turn up in front like horns, to the length of three and even four inches. The weight of the Merino is much less than that of the Long-Wool. Take these facts into consideration, together with some of the other circumstances detailed in the introductory remarks to Letter XIV, and perhaps it sufficiently accounts for some differences in the diagnosis of the disease be- sween the two countries. ‘ SHEEP [USBANDRY IN "HE SOUTH. 263 gree of confidence, even if they chance to conflict with those of professed and eminent veterinarians. ; As all are aware, the horny covering of the sheep’s foot extends up, gradually thinning out, some way between the toes or divisions of the hoof, and above these horny walls the “ cleft” is lined with skin. When the points of the toes are spread apart, this skin is shown in front, covered with short, soft hair. The back part of the toes, or the “heels,” can be sep- arated only to a little distance, and the skin in the cleft above them is naked. Ina healthy foot, the skin throughout the whole cleft is as firm, sound, dry and uneroded, as on any other part of the animal. The first symptom of hoof-ail is a slight erosion, accompanied with in- flammation and heat of the naked skin in the back part of the cleft, imme- diately above the heels. The skin assumes a macerated appearance, and is kept moist by the presence of a sanious discharge from the ulcerated sur- face. As the inflammation extends, the friction of the parts causes pain and the sheep limps. At this stage the foot externally, in a great ma- jority of cases, exhibits not the least trace of disease, with the exception of a slight redness, and sometimes the appearance of a small sore at the upper edge of the cleft, when viewed from behind. The ulceration of the surface rapidly extends. The thin upper edges of the inner walls of the hoof are disorganized, and an ulceration is estab- lished between the hoof and the fleshy sole. A purulent fetid matter is exuded from the cavity. The extent of the separation daily increases, and the ulcers also form sinuses deep into the fleshy sole. The bottom of the hoof disappears, eaten away by the acrid matter, and the outer walls, en- tirely separated from the flesh, hang only by their attachments at the coro- net. The whole fleshy sole is now entirely disorganized, and the entire foot is 4 mass of black, putrid ulceration; or, as it more commonly hap- pens, the fly has struck it, and a dense mass of writhing maggots cover the surface, and burrow in every cavity. The fore-feet are generally first at- tacked, and most usually but one of them. The animal at first manifests but little constitutional disturbance. It eats as usual. By the time that any considerable disorganization of the structures has taken place in the first foot—sometimes sooner—the other fore-foot is attacked. That be- coming as lame as the first, the miserable animal seeks its food on its knees, and if forced to rise, its strange, hobbling gait betrays the intense agony occasioned by bringing its feet in contact with the ground. There is a bare spot under the brisket of the size of the palm of a man’s hand, which looks red and inflamed. There is a degree of general fever—and the appetite is dull. The animal rapidly loses condition. The appearance of the maggot soon closes the scene. Where the rotten foot is brought in contact with the side in lying down, the filthy ulcerous matter adheres to and saturates the short wool, (it being but a month and a half or two months af- ter shearing,) and maggots are either carried there by the foot, or they are soon generated there. A black crust is soon formed round the spot. It is the decomposition of the surrounding structures, and innumerable maggots are at work below, burrowing into the integuments and mus- sles and eating up the miserable animal alive. The black festering mass rapidly spreads, and the poor sufferer perishes, we cannot suppose other- wise than in tortures the most excruciating. Sometimes but one fore-foot is attacked, and subsequently one or both hind ones. There is no uniformity im this particular, and it is a singular fact that when two or even three of the feet are dreadfully diseased, the fourth may be entirely sound. So also one foot may be cured, while ev- ery other one is laboring under the malady. 264 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. The highly offensive odor of the ulcerated feet is so peculiar that it is strictly pathognomonic of the disease—and would reveal its character to one familiar with it, in the darkest night. When the disease has been well kept under during the first season of its attack, but not entirely eradicated, it will almost or entirely disappear as cold weather approaches, and does not manifest itself until the warm — weather of the succeeding summer. It then assumes a mitigated form— the sheep are not rapidly and simultaneously attacked—there seems to be less inflammatory action, constitutionally, and in the diseased parts—the course of the disease is less malignant and more tardy, and it more readi- ly yields to treatment. If well kept under the second summer, it is still milder the third. A sheep will occasionally be seen to limp, but its con- dition will scarcely be affected, and dangerous symptoms will rarely su- — pervene. One or two applications made during the summer, in such a way, as | shall presently describe, that one thousand sheep can be sub- mitted to the treatment in half a day—with but a trifle of labor and ex- pense—will now suflice to keep the disease under. At this point a little vigor in the treatment will entirely extinguish the disease. With all its fearful array of symptoms, can the hoof-ail be cured in its Jjirst attack on a flock? The worst case can be promptly cured, as I know by repeated experiments. Take a single sheep, put it by itself, and ad- minister the remedies daily after the English fashion, or as I shall presently prescribe, and there is not an ovine disease which more surely yields to treatment. But as already remarked, in a preceding Letter, in this country, where sheep are so cheap, and labor in the summer months so dear, it would out of the question for an extensive flock-master to at- tempt to keep each sheep by itself, or to make a daily application of rem- edies. There is not a flock-master within my knowledge who has ever pretended to apply his remedies oftener than once a week, or regularly as often as that, and not one in ten makes any separation between the dis- eased and healthy sheep of a flock into which the malady has been once in- introduced. The consequence necessarily is that though you may cure the sheep now diseased, it has infected or inoculated others—and these in turn scatter the contagion, before they are cured. There is not a particle of doubt—-nay, I know, by repeated observation, that a sheep once entirely cured may again contract the disease, and thus the malady performs a per- petual circle in the flock. Fortunately, however, the susceptibility to con- tract the disease diminishes, according to my observation, with every suc- ceeding attack; and fortunately also, as already stated, succeeding attacks, ceteris paribus, become less and less virulent. What course shall then be pursued? Shall the flock-master sacrifice his sheep—shall he take the ordinary half-way course—or shall he expend more on the sheep than they are worth in attempting to cure them? Nei- ther. The course I would advise him to pursue, will appear as I detail the experiments LI have made. Treatment—The preparation of the foot, where any separate individual treatment is resolved upon—and this is always necessary, at least in bad cases—is a subject of no dispute. But the labor can be prodigiously economized by attention to a few not very commonly observed particulars. Sheep should be yarded for the operation immediately after a rain, if prac- ticable, as then the hoofs can be readily cut. In a dry time, and after a night which has left no dew on the grass, their hoofs are almost as tough as horn. They must be driven through no mud, or soft dung, on their way to the yard, which would double the labor of cleaning their feet— The yard m ist be small, so they can be easily caught, and it must be kept SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 265 well littered down, so they shall not fill their feet with their own excre- ment. Ifthe straw is wetted, their hoofs will not of course dry and harden as rapidly as in dry straw. Could the yard be built over a shallow, grav- elly-bottomed brook,* it would be an admirable arrangement. The hoofs would be kept so soft that the greatest and most unpleasant pait of the la: bor, as ordinarily performed, would be in a great measure saved, and they would be kept free from that dung which by any other arrangement will, more or less, get into their clefts. The principal operator or foreman seats himself in a chair—a couple of good knives, a whetstone, the powerful toe-nippers (fig. 21, Letter XII,) a bucket of water with a couple of linen rags in it, and such medicines as _he chooses to employ, within his reach. The assistant catches a sheep and lays it partly on its back and rump, between the legs of the foreman, the head coming up about to his middle. The assistant then kneels on some straw or seats himself on a low stool at the hinder extremity of the sheep. If the hoofs are long, and especially if they are dry and tough, the assist- ant presents each foot to the foreman, who shortens the hoof with the toe- nippers. *If there is any filth between the toes, each man takes his rag from the bucket of water, and draws it between the toes and rinses it, un- til the filth is removed. Each then seize their knives, and the process of paring away the horn commences. And on the effectual performance of this, all else depends. A glance at the foot will show whether it is the seat of the diseased action. The least experience cannot fail in properly set- tling this question. An experienced finger, placed on the back of the pastern close above the heel, would at once detect the local inflammation (by its heat) cz the dark. If the disease is in the first stage—~.e. there is merely an erosion and ul- ceration of the cuticle and flesh in the cleft above the walls of the hoof, no aring is xecessary. But if ulceration has established itself between the hoof and the fleshy sole, the ulcerated parts, be they more or less exten- sive, MUST BE ENTIRELY DENUDED OF THEIR. HORNY COVERING, cost what it may of time and care. It is better not to wound the sole so as to cause it to bleed freely, as the running blood will wash off the subsequent applica- tion, but no fear of wounding the sole must prevent a full compliance with the rule above laid down. At the worst, the blood will stop flowing after a little while, during which time no application need be made to the foot. If the foot is in the third stage—a mass of rottenness and filled with maggots—in the first place pour a little spirits of turpentme (a bottle of it, witb a auil) treougpo tne cork, should be always ready,) on the maggots and most of them will immediately decamp, and the others can be re- moved with a probe or small stick. Then remove every particle of loose horn, though it should take the entire hoof—ana it will generally take the whole hoof in such cases. The foot should be now cleansed with a solu- tion of chloride of lime, in the proportion of one pound of chloride to one gallon of water. If this is not at hand, plunging the foot repeatedly in water, just short of scalding hot, will answer every purpose. The great object is to clean the foot thoroughly. If there are any considerable fun- gous granulations, (“ proud-flesh,”) they should be excised with a pair of scissors, or the actual cautery (hot iron.) And now comes the important question what constitutes the best remedy ? The recommended prescriptions are innumerable. The following are some of the most popular ones.} 1. 4 oz, blue vitriol, 2 oz. of verdigris. * A portion of any little brook might be prepared by planking the bottom, and widening it if desirable + The first three are given in the American Shepherd, pp. 379-80. 266 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. to a junk-bottle of wine. 2. Spirits turpentine, tar and verdigris in equal parts. 3. 3 quarts of Aleohols 1 pint spiz its of turpentine, ib pint of strong vinegar, 1 lb. blue vitriol, 1 lb. copperas, 15 lbs. verdigris, 1 lb. alum, 1 Ib. of saltpetre, pounded fine: mixin aclose bottle, shake ¢ every day, and let it stand six or eight days before using: also mix 2 pounds of honey and 2 quarts of tar, which must be applied after the previous compound. “ Two applications will entirely remove the disease,” says this recipe, which was once, I believe, hawked about the country as a patent cure—being sold at five dollars to each purchaser, he giving a promise of inviolable se- crecy! 4. Apply ae aquafortis (nitric acid) with a feather to the ul- cerated surface. 5. Apply diluted oil of vitriol (sulphuric acid) inthe same way. 6. Same of muriatic acid. 7. Dip the foot in tar nearly at the boiling point, &c. After a thor ough trial of the above and a multitude of other prescrip- tions,* I have come to the conclusion that in the first and second stages of the disease—before the ulcers have formed sinuses into the sole, and wholly or partly destroyed its structure—that no application, simple or compound, is preferable to a saturated solution of blue vitriol, (sutphate of copper.) In my judgment, no beneficial addition can be made to it as a remedy. Ofthe manner of applying it I shall speak presently. _ In the third stage, when the foot is a festering mass of corruption, after it has been cleansed as already directed, it requires some strong caustic to remove the unhealthy granulations—the dead muscular structures—and to restore healthy action. Lunar caustic I think preferable to any other application, but it is too expensive. Mr. Youatt gives a decided prefer- ence to chloride of antimony, and I think him correct. This is frequently not attainable in the country.drug-stores, and muriatic acid may be re- sorted to, or even nitric or sulphuric acid. The diseased surface is touched with the caustic (applied with a swab formed by fastening a little tow on the end of a stick,) until the objects above pointed out are obtained. I have then usually treated the foot with the solution of blue vitriol, and sub- sequently coated it over with tar which has been boiled, and is properly cooled. The last protects the raw wound from dirt, flies, &c. Sheep in this stage of the disease should certainly be separated from the main flock, and looked to as often as once in three days. With this degree of atten- tion, their cure will be rapid, and it is astonishing with what celerity the obliterated structures of the foot will be restored. The ordinary method of using the solution of blue vitriol is to pour it from a bottle with a quill in the cork, into the foot, when the animal lies on its back between the operators, as already described. In this way a few cents’ worth of vitriol will serve for a large number of sheep. But the method is imperfect, because, without remarkable care, there will al- most always be some slight ulcerations not uncovered by the knife—the passages to them will be devious, and perhaps nearly or quite closed— and the solution will not reach them. Thus the disease will only be tem- porarily suppressed, not cured. T had a flock of sheep a few years since which were in the second sea- son of the disease. They had been but little looked to during the sum- mer, and as cold weather was setting in, many of them were consid- erably lame—some of them quite so. The snow fell and they were brought into the yards, limping and hobbling about deplorably. This sight, so dis- graceful to me as a farmer, roused me into activity. I bought a quantity *Many of them resorted to “against the stomach of my sense,” to givs myself and others indisputable ocular proof of their inutility—or that they were no better than cheaper, simpler, and more easily attain- abie medicines ee SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 267 of blue vitriol—made the necessary arrangements—and once more took the chair as principal operator! Never were the feet of a flock more thoroughly pared. Into a large washing tub, in which two sheep could stand conveniently, I poured a saturated solution of blue vitriol and water, as hot as could be endured by the hand even for a moment. The liquid was about four inches deep on the bottom of the tub, and was kept at about that depth by frequent additions of hot solution. As soon as a sheep’s feet were pared, it was placed in the tub and held there by the neck, by an as- sistant. A second one was prepared and placed beside it. When the third one was ready, the first was taken out, and so on. Two sheep were thus constantly in the tub, and each remained in it about five minutes.— The cure was perfect ! There was not a lame sheep in the flock during the winter or the next summer! The hot liquid penetrated to every cavity of the foot, and doubtless had a far more decisive effect even on the uncovered ulcers, than would have been produced by merely wetting them Perhaps the lateness of the season was also favorable, as in cold weather the ulcers of ordinary virulence discharge no matter to inoculate the healthy feet, and thus, at the time of applying the remedy, there are no cases where there has been inoculation not yet followed by those lesions which admit _of cure. Whether so thorough a soaking would destroy the virus in the in- eculated foot, 1 cannot pretend to decide. I think that the vitriol required for the above one hundred sheep was about twelve pounds, and that it cost me fifteen cents per pound. ‘Hhe ac- count then would stand thus: LISHOMVILION, Bt LO CONS ss:- «\c\aaia anim ein simee 2 Sin; oti GAs chm nwid $1,80 Papoose Mon ONS day, CAC sinc dam an a< cares nace aceinc~nanecco™ moss 2,25 VIDERE. OCA Behe naa 5 ee ee ees oe ER oP R71 or about four cents per sheep. I have not a doubt that three such appli- cations at intervals of a week, would effectually cure the disease, as every new case would be arrested and cured before it had time to inoculate others. I have no doubt that it would do this at any time of year, and even during the first and most malignant prevalence of the contagion, pRo- VIDING THE PARING WAS SUFFICIENTLY THOROUGH. The second and third parings would be a mere trifle, and the liquid left at the first and second applications could again be used. Thus sheep could be cured at about twelve cents per head. This is vastly cheaper in the long run than the ordinary temporizing method—where people count the cost of a few pounds of blue vitriol, but not their time, and who thus keep the disease lingering in their flocks for years. Indeed, if partial and temporizing treatment is all that is aimed at,—if the flockmaster is content to simply keep the disease under—I can point out methods quite as efficacious as the common one by paring and applying washes from a bottle—as ordina- rily performed—and not costing a tithe as much. Between the corners of two sheep-pastures (1, 2, of fig. 69,) construct the dividing fence as represented in the cut. A 3: : ig. 69. narrow passage is thus left from one field to an-_ ——————______. other. ‘This passage should be about 2 or 23 feet | wide and 12 feet long. The fence on each side i of the passage should be an upright board fence, i so that the space can be entirely filled on the bot- tom with a flat trough, (the bottom formed of a plank) with side and end boards about five inches high. In this trongh place say a bushel and a half or two bushels of un. 268 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. — slacked lime,* slack it, and then fill the trough nearly full of water.—- Through this drive the flock several times from one field to the other—un- til the lame ones manifest much suffering. Repeat this once a week the first summer that the disease appears, putting in fresh lime each time.— This does not appear to cure the hoof-ail, but it keeps it under; the sheep keep their condition, and show little lameness. The second or third sum- — mer of the disease, three or four such applications usually answer for the entire season. Some use dry slacked lime, as the same trough-full will then answer for several applications. The trough in this case must have a roof over it. I never have tried the last method. If the dry lime will get sufficiently between the toes—and it is said to—it will answer the purpose where it touches more effectually than even the liquid, but it would not be so likely to penetrate into cavities. Some who use the lime remedy, pare the feet once pretty thoroughly prior to the first application, but afterward neglect them. Others neglect paring entirely, 2. e. beyond shortening the toes once a year, as is practiced with all fine-wocled flocks. - Fig. 70 is an improvement on the Fig. 70. more common arrangement exhib- ited in fig. 69. The dotted lines enclose good-sized yards in the cor- ners of two adjoining pastures.— Two drivers can yard the sheep in one ofthese, and drive the sheep from one to the other any number of times, without chasing them about a large field. The labor can therefore be performed much more rapidly, and it requires less force. A couple of active fellows would yard and submit a flock of two or three hundred sheep to the process in less than an hour. When the sheep are first yarded, if there are any very lame ones, draw them out and place them in one of the small pens (a, 6.) Their feet can be examined, and if necessary a little extra pains taken with them, by paring, cauterizing, ete. Each sheep as treated is put into the other small pen, where it can be re- tained until the flock is discharged, and then removed to a separate pas- ture from the others, if considered desirable. Where two yards are constructed, as in fig. 70, it is obvious that the ar- rangement can be made elsewhere as well as in the corner of two fields, though if the sheep are wild, it may require a few rods of wing fence (in the place of the dividing one between the fields, as seen in figures 69 and 70,) for the more convenient cornering of the sheep to yard them. Thus one such apparatus might be made to conveniently answer for a whole farm, though thousands of diseased sheep were scattered in different flocks over it, and may be placed at a spot where water, etc. are convenient. Where lime and water are used, the sheep must be driven through the trough slowly and quietly—as otherwise the lime will be scattered over their wool, into their eyes, &c. If the lime is fresh burned and _ highly caustic, it would be likely to destroy their eyes. Indeed, pure fresh-burned lime sometimes will take the hair off from their pasterns and shanks. It is better, therefore, to use it when somewhat re-carbonized by exposure to the air. Wood ashes are said to produce the same effect with lime. It is claimed that sheep kept on lands where the timber has been recently burned, (“new clearings,’’) will recover from the hoof-ail. Query: If this be true * To be added to, from time to time, if the number of sheep run through’ is large enough to waste it mates rially, before they are sufficiently treated. SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 269 “might not the lye of ashes, of the proper strength, make an adequate sub stitute for lime and water ? Some Northern farmers drive their sheep over dusty roads as a remedy for hoof-ail ! Opposed as it would seem to be to sound theory—sadly as it is at variance with the practice of foreign veterinarians who employ “tow-pledgets,” “ gaiter boots,” etc., to exclude all dirt from the diseased surface, it does actually seem in cases of ordinary virulence—especially where the disease is chronic—to dry up the ulcers and keep the malady under! There is an important point to be regarded in exhibiting remedies for the hoof-ail, the mention of which I have reserved until now, as it concerns all remedies equally. Many farmers select rainy weather to “ doctor” the sheep. Their feet are then soft, and it is therefore on all accounts good economy, when the feet are to be pared, and each separately treated, pro- vided they can be kept in sheep-houses, or under shelters of any kind, until the rain is over and the grass again dry. If immediately let out in wet grass of any length, the vitriol or other application is measurably washed away. This is avoided by many, by dipping the feet in warm tar —an excellent plan under such circumstances. The tar is probably a good application at any time, but I do not consider it necessary, in ordinary cases, unless the sheep must be turned out into wet grass. A flock of sheep which have been cured of the hoof-ail, are considered more valuable than one which has never had it. They are far less liable to contract the disease from any casual exposure—and its ravages are far less violent and general among them. I am strongly disposed to believe that hoof-ail is propagated in this country only by ¢noculation—the contact of the matter of a diseased foot with the integuments lining the bifurcation of a healthy foot. That it is propagated in some of thdse ways classed under the ordinary designation of contagion is certain. I could indisputably authenticate more than a hundred cases, where the sheep on a farm, indeed through a neighbor- hood, had been notoriously exempt from hoof-ail from the first settlement of the country—so that the inhabitants didnot even know what the disease was—uuntil some diseased flock was introduced from abroad. It was so in the region where I live, and I well recollect when a flock of Saxons, driven from a neighboring county, first introduced it among our sheep. There has not been a diseased flock in the county which could not trace it back to that flock. And the contagion was spread by them as readily on our dry hill-farms as on low and moist ones. That it may be propagated by ¢noculation I know by direct experiment. I have placed the matter of diseased feet on the skin lining the cleft of a healthy foot under a variety of circumstances—sometimes when that skin was in its ordinary and natural state—sometimes after a very slight scari- fication—sometimes when macerated by moisture. The disease has been communicated under each of these circumstances, and in a majority of all the instances, amounting to sixteen or seventeen. That there is not even a supposed or pretended case, to my knowledge, on record where the disease has originated spontaneously, in the Northern States, I have already asserted.* I regard Professor Dick’s statements of the manner in which the disease originates, which I have quoted, as wholly inapplicable to owr country with rts present breeds of sheep, and 1 cannot sufficiently express my surprise that this eminent veterinarian should nave adopted—what I deem so unqualified an absurdity—the non- contagion theory. Ihave been disposed to trace the propagation 2f the disease exclusive: *In the beginning of Letter XIV. tb. 270 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE 80UTH. ly to 2noculation, from having observed on my own farm and elsewhere, that healthy flocks have occupied with impunity fields adjoining those oc- cumied by diseased. ones—an open board or rail fence only separating them. I have drawn the same inference also from the manner in which the disease attacks flocks. The whole, or any considerable number, though sometimes rapidly, are never simultaneously attacked, as we should expect among animals so gregarious, if the disease could be communicated by simple contact, inhaling the breath or other effuvium. But not having pos- itive and demonstrative proof of the correctness of the proposition, | would advise no man to incur any risks, unnecessarily, founded on this assump- tion, without first satisfying himself on the point. The matter of diseased feet is left on grass, straw, and other substances, and thus is brought in contact with the inner surfaces of healthy feet— Sheep therefore contract the disease from being driven over the pastures, yarded on the straw, &c., where diseased sheep have been, perhaps even days before. The matter would probably continue to inoculate until dried up by the air and heat, or washed away by the rains. The stiff upright ‘stems of closely mown grass (as on meadews,) are almost as well calcu- lated to receive the matter of diseased feet, and deposit it in the clefts of healthy ones, as any means which could be devised artificially. I do not consider it entirely safe to drive healthy sheep over roads, and especially into washing-yards or sheep-houses, where diseased sheep have been, until rain has fallen, or time has elapsed for the matter to dry up. On the moist bottom of a washing-yard, and particularly in houses or sheds, kept from sun and wind, and rain, this matter might be preserved for some time in a condition to inoculate. Fouts.—Sheep are much less subject to this disease than cattle, but are subject to it if kept in wet, filthy yards, or on moist, poachy ground. It is an irritation of the integument in the cleft of the foot, slightly resembles incipient hoof-ail, and produces lameness. But it produces no serious structural disorganization—disappears without treatment—is not con- tagious—and appears in the wet weather of spring and fall, instead of the dry, hot period of summer when the hoof-ail rages most. A little solution of blue vitriol, or a little spirits of turpentine, either followed by a coat- ing of warm tar, promptly cures it. Gorrre or Broncuocetr.—I never have seen this classed among the diseases of sheep, but the “swelled neck” in lambs is, like the goitre, an enlargement of the thyroid glands, and it is strikingly analogous to, if not identical with, that disease. It is congenital. The glands at birth are from the size of a pigeon’s to that of a hen’s egg—though more elongated and flattened than an egg in their form. The lamb is exceedingly feeble, and often perishes almost without an effort to suck. Many even make no effort to rise, and die as soon as they are dropped. Itis rare that one lives —though three or four years since, a lamb in my flock having one of the thyroid glands enlarged, grew up a large, healthy sheep. At a year old, when disposed of, the enlarged gland was of the size of a goose-ege. No inconsiderable number of lambs annually perish from this disease.— It does not appear to be an epizodtic, though [ think it more prevalent some seasons than others. It does not seem to depend upon the water, or any other natural circumstances of a region, (as goitre is usually supposed to,) as it may not prevail in the same flock or on the same farm once in ten years. I never have been able to trace it to any particular kind of food. That when it does appear, it is induced by some common local or SHEEP HUSBANDR. IN THE SOUTH. Q71 alimentary cause, I am induced to infer from the fact that its attacks are rarely isolated. When there are any instances of it in a flock, there are usually a number of them. I have lost. lambs by it two seasons— from six to ten per cent. of the whole number. Francis Rotch, Esq. of Louisville, Otsego county, lost a much heavier per centage than this (my impression would now be nearly fifty per cent.) of his choice South-Down lambs, a few years since. I am acquainted with various other instances where the loss has ranged froin ten to twenty per centum. When congenital goitre has thus appeared among my lambs, the ewes have been in unusually high condition. The same was true of Mr. Rotch’s ewes, as he wrote me atthe time. Whether this coéxistence implies caus- ality, I do not pretend to decide. High condition in the ewe may be one of the inducing causes. Treatment-—I know of no treatment which will reach the case. Indeed, the lamb is dying, almost, when born—and remedies are out of the ques- tion. Should one having the disease chance to live, it would scarcely be worth while to attempt reducing the enlargements of the glands. Perhaps keeping the breeding ewes uniformly in fair, plump, but not high condi- tion, would be as effectual a preventive as any. ° MISCELLANEOUS DISEASES. Porson rrom Eatine Lauret.—l! often hear of this from our drovers, who take sheep in the spring to the Philadelphia and New-Jersey mar- kets, through Northern Pennsylvania, on the Old Red Sandstone formation of which the beautiful Kalmia angustifolia is abundant. The following description of the effects on the sheep of eating this plant, and the proper remedial treatment, though, I confess, not very satisfactory to me, I ex- tract entire from the “ American Shepherd,’ * as I have no experience whatever in the premises, and no better account within my reach : “Sheep and calves will often, in the winter or spring of the year, eat greedily of the low Laurel (Kalmia angustifolia). The animal appears to be dull and stupid, swells a little, and is constantly gulping up a greenish fluid which it swallows down ; a part of it will trickle out of its mouth, and discolor its lips. The plant probably brings on a fermenta- tion in the stomach, and Nature endeavors to throw off the poison herb by retching or vomiting. : Treatment.—In the early stages, if the greenish fluid be suffered to escape from the stomach, the animal most generally recovers. To effect this, gag the sheep, which may be done in this manner: Take a stick of the size of your wrist and six inches long—place it in the animal’s mouth—tie a string to one end of it, pass it over the head and down to the other end, and there make it fast. The fluid will then run from the mouth as fast as thrown up from the stomach. In addition to this, give roasted onions and sweetened milk freely.” I have somewhere, I think, seen drenches of milk and castor-oil pre- scribed for sheep poisoned with laurel and I should, without farther knowledge of the subject, consider it treatment promising petter results than the preceding. Sore Face.—Sheep feeding on pastures infested with John’s wort ( Hypericum perforatum) not unfrequently exhibit an irritation of the skin about the nose and face, which causes the hair to drop off from the parts. The irritation sometimes extends over the whole body, though no such ease has fallen under my observation. Mr. Morrel says: + “If eaten in too large quantities, it produces violent inflammation of the bowels, and is frequently fatal to lambs, and sometimes to adults.” Treatment. —Rub a little sulphur and lard on the irritated surface. If there are symptoms of inflammation of the bowels, Mr.. Morrell prescribes * American Shepherd, p. 361. t Ib. 374. 272 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. tar— putting it into the mouth of the sheep with a flattened stick.” Abundance of salt is considered, and probably truly, a preventive. I have a sheep pasture considerably infested with this difficultly extermi- nated weed, and I do not recollect an instance of a sheep exhibiting the effects of eating it, in several years. It is certain that my sheep have plenty of salt, whether this is the preventive or not. Sore Movru.—tThe lips of sheep sometimes become suddenly sore it. the winter, and swell to the thickness of a man’s hand. The malady occasionally attacks whole flocks, and becomes quite fatal. No cases of it having been brought under my observation, I am unable to state whether, in accordance with the popular description, the lesions are con- fined to the lips. I should presume not. It is usually attributed to noxious weeds cut with the hay. Treatment.—Mr. Morrell states that he has had the disease in his flock, and has cured it immediately by smearing the diseased lips with tar.* Loss or Cup.—The “loss of the cud” ranks as an important disease in the nosology of the ‘‘ Cattle Doctor,” and frequently calls forth all the skill of that functionary to manufacture a new cud, which is placed in the mouth of the animal as a substitute for the one which* was lost! That person must be little versed in the physiology of ruminants who needs to be told that the accidental loss of one of the cuds, in the process of re- mastication, would be a matter of no sort of consequence. The sheep, as well as the cow, not unfrequently nearly or entirely ceases to ruminate, but this is the result, not the cause, of disease. It is diagnostic of all important diseases, and when observed, its warning should never go un- heeded. Hoove.—This is not common, to any dangerous degree, among sheep, but if turned upon clover when their stomachs are empty, it will some- times ensue. It is a distention of the paunch by gas extricated from the fermentation of its vegetable contents, and evolved more rapidly, or in larger quantities, than can be neutralized by the natural alkaline secretions of the stomach. When the distention is great, the blood is prevented from circulating in the vessels of the rumen, and is determined to the head. The diaphragm is mechanically obstructed from making its ordi- nary contractions, and respiration, therefore, becomes difficult and imper- fect. Death soon supervenes. In ordinary cases, gentle but prolonged driving will effect a cure. Where the animal appears swelled almost to bursting, and is disinclined to move, it is better to at once open the paunch. At the most protuber&nt point of the swelling, on the left side, a little below the hip bone, plunge a trochar or knife, sharp at the point and dull on the edge, into the stomach. The gas will rapidly escape, car- rying with it some of the liquid and solid contents of the stomach. Ifno measures are taken to prevent it, the peristaltic motion, as well as the collapse of the stomach, will soon cause the orifices through the abdomen and paunch not to coincide, and thus portions of the contents of the former will escape into the cavity of the latter. However perfect the cure of hoove, these substances in the belly will ultimately produce fatal irritation. To prevent this, a canula or little tube should be inserted through both orifices as soon as the puncture is made. Where the case is not imminent, alkalies have been sometimes successfully administered, which combine * American Shepherd, p. 375. SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 273 NE OMS RI Og at iy AE eh 0 os Sh eS 2 with the carbonic acid gas, and thus at once reduce its volume. A flexi- ble probang—or, in default of it, a rattan or grape-vine—with a knob on the end, may be gently forced down the gullet, and thus the gas permitted fo escape. OxssTRUCTION oF THE GuLLET, or “ CnoxiNe,”—After pouring a little oil in the throat, the obstructing substance can be frequently moved up or down by external manipulation. If not, it may usually be forced down with a flexible rod, the head of which is guarded by a knob or a little bag of flax-seed. The latter having been dipped in hot water for a minute or two, is partly converted into mucilage, which constantly exudes through the cloth, and protects the cesophagus from laceration. But little force must be used, and the whole operation conducted with the utmost care and gentleness, or the cesophagus will be so far lacerated as to produce death, although the obstruction is removed. Fractures.—Of these Mr. Blacklock concisely says : “If there be no wound of the soft parts, the bone being simply broken, the treatment is extremely easy. Apply a piece of wet leather, taking care to ease the limb when swelling supervenes. When the swelling is considerable, and fever present, you can do no better than open a vein of the head or neck, allowing a quantity of blood to escape, proportioned to the size and condition of the animal, and the urgency of the symptoms. Purgatives in such cases should never be neglected. Epsom salts, in ounce doses, given either as a gruel or a drench, will be found to answer the purpose well. If the broken bones are kept steady, the care will be complete in from three to four weeks, the process of reunion always proceeding faster in a young than in an old sheep. Should the soft parts be injured to any extent, or the ends of the bone protruding, recovery is very uncertain, and it will become a question whether it would not be better at once to convert the animal into mutton.” TREATMENT. MetHop or ApmMINISTERING MeEpIcINE INTO THE Stomacu.—The stomach into which we wish to administer medicines, is the fourth, or digesting stomach. ‘The comparatively insensible walls of the rumen are but slightly acted upon, excepting by doses of very improper magnitude. For the reasons given when the course of the’ food through the stomachs was described, medicine to reach the fourth stomach should be given in a state as near approaching fluidity as may be. And even then it may be given in such a manner as to defeat our object. Mr. Youatt says: “Tf the animal forcibly gulps fluids down, or if they are given hastily and bodily by the medical attendant, they will fall on the canal at the base of the gullet with considerable momentum, and force asunder the pillars and enter the rumen; if they are drank more slowly, or administered gently, they will trickle down the throat and glide over these pilars, and pass on through the maniplus to the true stomach. ” : Meruop or Bueepine.—Bleeding from the ears or tail, as is commonly practised, rarely extracts a quantity of blood sufficient to do any good .where bleeding is indicated. To bleed from the eye-vein, the point of a knife is usually inserted near the lower extremity of the pouch below the eye, pressed down, and then a cut made inward toward the middle of the face. Daubenton recommends bleeding from the angular or cheek vein, in the lower part of the cheek, at the spot where the root of the fourth tooth is laced, which is the thickest part of the cheek, and is marked on the external surface of the coe of the upper jaw by a tubercle, sufficiently prominent to be very sensible to the finger when the skin of the cheek is touched. This tubercle is a certain index to the angular vein which is placed below. .. . . The shepherd takes the sheep between his lege; his left hand more advanced than his PY which he places under the head, and grasps 2 4 274 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. i the under jaw near to the hinder extremity, in order to press the angular vem, which passes in that place, to make it swell; he touches the right cheek at the spot nearly equidistant from the eye and mouth, and there finds the tubercle which is to guide him, and also feels the angular vein swelled below this tubercle ; he then makes the incision from below upward, half a finger’s breadth below the middle of the tubercle.” When the vein is no longer pressed upon, the bleeding will ordmarily cease. If not, a pin may be passed through the lips of the orifice, and a lock of wool tied round them. For thorough bleeding, the jugular vein is generally to be preferred. The sheep should be firmly held by the head by an assistant, and the body confined between his knees, with its rump against a wall. Some of the wool is then cut away from the middle of the neck over the jugular vein, and a ligature, brought in contact with the neck by opening the wool, is tied around it below the shorn spot near the shoulder. The vein will soon rise. The orifice may be secured, after bleeding, as described in the pre- ceding method. As once before remarked, the good effects of bleeding depend almost as much on the rapzdity with which the blood is abstracted, as on the amount taken. ‘This is especially true in acute disorders. Blacklock tersely remarks: “ Euther bleed rapidly or bleed not at all.” The orifice in the vein, therefore, should be of some length, and I need not. inform the least experienced practitioner that it should be made lengthwise with the vein. A lancet is by far the best implement, and even a short-pointed penknife is preferable to the bungling fleam. Another important rule in venesection is that, where indicated at all, it should always be resorted to as nearly as possible to the commencement of the malady. The amount of blood drawn should never be determined by admeasure- ment, but by constitutional effect—the lowering of the pulse, and indica- tions of weakness. In urgent cases as, for example, apoplexy or cerebral inflammation, it would be proper to bleed until the sheep staggers or falls. ‘ The amount of blood in the sheep is less, in comparison, than that in the horse or ox. The blood of the horse constitutes about one-eighteenth part of his weight, that of the ox at least one-twentieth, while the sheep, in ordinary condition, is one-twenty-second. For this reason, we should be more cautious in bleeding the latter, especially in frequently resorting to it. Otherwise, the vital powers will be rapidly and fatally prostrated. Many a sheep is destroyed by bleeding freely in disorders not requiring it, and in disorders which did require it at the commencement, but of which the inflammatory stage has passed. Tur Puace or Feerine tue Putse.—The number of pulsations ean be determined by feeling the heart beat on the left side. The femoral artery passes in an oblique direction across the inside of the thigh, and about the middle of the thigh its pulsations and the character of the pulse can be most readily noted. The pulsations per minute in a healthy adult sheep are set down by Gasparin at 65, by Youatt at 70, and by Hurtrel d’Arboval at 75. My own observations accord most nearly with those of (xasparin. LIST OF MEDICINES EMPLOYED IN TREATING THE DISEASES Of SHEEP. Aux.—In cases of debility, unaccompanied with fever, a small amount of ale is sometimes found a good stimulant. It may be given to feeble SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 275 sheep which have become unable to stand from having been too long cast —especially if they have laid on the snow, or on damp cold ground. It is sometimes given in addition to other medicine, in the place of the ordi- nary stimulants. Auors—Are occasionally used as a purgative in sheep medicine by farmers, but their use is justly condemned by all veterinarians. A.um—Used as an astringent, but is inferior to many others. Antimony ( The chloride or butyr of )—the best caustic to remove fun- gous granulations, dead muscular structures, etc., in the last and worst stage of hoof-ail—applied with a swab or feather. Arsentc—Employed in the proportion of half a pound to twelve gal- lons of water, to cure scab. An infusion of it is also used to kill ticks, &c. From its liability to adhere to vessels, or to come in contact with sub- stances which may be subsequently eaten, it is a dangerous remedy, and one which I would never have employed on my farm. Buvz-Virriot (Sulphate of Copper )—Used internally as a strong tonic, but inferior to others. Dissolved in hot water, and applied to morbid sores, an astringent, alterative, and mild caustic, of the most admirable character. It is superior to all other applications in ordinary cases of hoof-ail. CampHor—Used with oil as an external stimulant on swellings, &c. CaRRAWAY-SEEDS—Given favorably in doses of two or three drachms, as a stomachic with other medicines. Catecuu—A valuable astringent, in doses of half a drachm. It is one of the ingredients of the celebrated “ sheep’s cordial,” spoken of under the head of “ diarrhea.” Cuam&, Prepared, by its alkaline properties, neutralizes the acidity of the stomach, and thus checks diarrhea. It is a very valuable remedy in doses from half an ounce to an ounce, exhibited as directed under the head of “ diarrhea.” Corrosive Susuimate (Bi-chloride of Mercury )--The most convenient form in which mercury can be exhibited internally. The proto-chloride, or calomel, from its great gravity, could not, with any certainty, be made to reach the fourth stomach. It would seem that mercury should be a use- ful remedy in several of the diseases of sheep. I have administered it only in the cases specified under the head of “ malignant epizodtic catarrh,” and then apparently with some benefit. It would be well if a series of careful experiments could be instituted of its value in the appro- priate ovine diseases. It is very little used by veterinariaus, in this coun- try or Europe. A solution of corrosive sublimate is used for the destruc- tion of ticks, &c., and sometimes as a wash in the scab, but its use for these purposes is liable to the same objections with that of arsenic. Dietratis (Foxglove )—A sedative employed in most of the fever medicines of the English veterinarians. Dose, one scruple. Epsom Satts (Sulphate of Magnesia)—In doses from half an ounce to one, and in some few cases two ounces, the best purgative which can, in almost every disease, be administered to sheep. GerntiAN—Decidedly the best vegetable tonic in use. Dose, from one to two drachms. Gincer—A stomachic and tonic, given with almost every aperient, in doses of from half a drachm to a drachm. It prevents griping. Iopine.—The hydriodate of potash in the proportion of one part to 276 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. ahs seven or eight parts, by weight, of lard, constitutes an ointment which is | a powerful stimulant to the absorbent vessels, and therefore is an excellent application to glandular swellings, or to indurated tumors. It is a good application to the swelled udder (4g. v. ) in garget. Larp—A mild and gentle purgative in doses of two ounces. The basis of most ointments, and applied externally in almost every case as an emollient and lubricant in the place of oils. Lime, Carbonate of—Used as a caustic to run flocks of sheep through, m the “ hoof-ail,” guem vide. : Lime, Chloride of—An excellent antiseptic and disinfectant, and a good application to foul ulcers. Linserp-O1.—A good purgative in two ounce doses. Preferable to Epsom salts in cases of great intestinal irritation, but not otherwise. Mercury.—The common mercurial ointment, rubbed down with five parts of lard, for severe cases, and seven parts for ordinary cases, of scab, is an effectual cure, Muruatic Acip (Spirit of Salt)—Next to chloride of antimony, the best caustic in the worst stage of hoof-ail. Nirrate or Pogasu (Mitre or Saltpetre)—-In doses one drachm, a cooling diuretic. ; Nirrate oF Sitver (Lunar Caustic )—Superior to all other caustics, but too expensive for general use. For poisonous wounds, and particularly for the bite of a mad dog, it has no substitute. Nirric Aci ( Aquafortis )—Sometimes used as a substitute for chloride of antimony, or muriatic acid, as a caustic in hoof-ail.. Used by drovers, also, to harden the soles of feet which have become thin and tehder by driving. It is touched over the sole with a feather. ; Orrum—An invaluable sedative, and anti-spasmodic, and is employed in nearly all prescriptions for diarrhea and dysentary, and also in colic drinks. It is an important part of the “sheeps cordial.” It is commonly used in the form of a tincture, or laudanum. Dose, one drachm. Perper, Black—Given in small quantities in milk, to new-born lambs, when chilled. Pimento (Allspice)—A substitute for ginger, in the same doses, but not so valuable. Ruvsars—Unites the properties of a cathartic and subsequent astrin- gent. Insmall doses it is a tonic and stomachic, invigorating the diges- tion. When the bowels are relaxed and torpid, and the stomach in a feeble state, it would seem the most appropriate purgative, when a purga- tive is indicated. Sar (Muriate of Soda)—An ounce constitutes a purgative ; in small quantities a tonic and stomachic. The necessity of keeping sheep freely supplied with salt has been referred to under Summer and Winter Man- agement. Su.puate or [ron ( Copperas, or Green Vitriol ')—Used in washes for the hoof-ail, but superseded by sulphate of copper. Internally, a tonic. Sutpuur, Flower of—In doses of from one to two ounces, a good aperient. It is the basis of various ointments. Sutpnuric Aciww (Oil of Vitriol)—A powerful caustic, used as a sub- stitute for the acids already alluded to, in the worst stage of hoof-ail. SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. S77 Spirit or Tar—Destroys maggots, and repels the attack of flies. Flies will not approach a part over which it has been smeared. Tar—lIs a valuable application to the feet, nose, back of the horns, &c., ander the various circumstances detailed in Summer Management, and in the treatment of grub in the head, hoof-ail, &c. Tosacco—An infusion of it destroys vermin, and also is a cure for scab, quem vide. TurPentine, Spirits of—Prevents the attack of flies, and drives away maggots. It is a useful application to old sores, wounds, &c. Verpieris (Acetate of Copper )—Used in hoof-ail; but adds nothing, I think, to the good effects of the sulphate of copper. Zine, Carbonate of—Mixed with lard, constitutes a valuable emollient and healing ointment. It is mixed in the proportion of one part of the carbonate, by weight, to eight of the lard. 278 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. LETTER XVII. SHEEP-DOGS. WOOL DEPOTS, &c. The estimation in which dogs have been held by different nations, &c...The Sheep-Dog—Buffon's description of him...The Spanish Sheep-Dog—Origin—Introduction into the United States—Value— Arrogante—his history...The Hungarian Sheep-Dog—Mr, Paget’s description of—probable origin—I he Mexican Sheep-Dog—Mr. Lyman’s description of—Mr. Kendall’s...South American Sheep-Dogs—Dar- win’s description of.-.The English Sheep-Dog—Mr. Gates’s description of...Mr. Colman’‘s...The Scotch ~heep-Vog—Mr. Hogg’s account of..Mr. Peters’s...Necessity of accustoming Sheep to a dog...Wool Depots— Wr. Blanchard’s account of their origin—Letter from Mr. Peters, describing their object, methods of doing business, and advantages—Utility of these depots—their especial utility to the South...A corree- tion—Mr. Ruffin. ..Note in relation to Australia—Statisties ofits Wool Trade brought down to 1846. Dear Sir :—In all ages of the world, and among nearly all nations, savage and civilized,* the dog has been the friend and cherished com- panion of man. The Egyptians placed him among their gods. The Greeks held him in the highest estimation. | His figure mingles with that ‘o) of warriors and demi-gods on their friezes; and Argus, the dog of Ulysses, lives as immortal in the Odyssey, (vzde Book X VIL, p. 344 to 400) as his sagacious master, or the faithful Penelope. Alexander the Great founded a city in honor of a dog! The Romans treated him with similar respect. His skin covered the statues of the sacred Lares; his figure, as the emblem of care and vigilance, stood at the feet of these’ household fo) gods—venerated and loved as the tutelary manes’ of departed ancestors. Horace in his Ode to Cassius Severus (Book V., Ode VI) compares bim- self to the Molossian, or the tawny Spartan dog, which defends the flocks, and with ears erect, pursues the wild beast through the deep snows. Virgil, in the delightful Georgics, admonishes the Roman shepherds not to neglect the care of their dogs : “Nec tibi cura canum fuerit postrema: sed und Veloces Spartx catulos, acremque Molossum, Pasce sero pingui: nunquam, custodibus illis, Nocturnum stabulis furem, incursusque luporum, Aut impacatos a tergo horrebis Iberos.” [Georg. Liber III., commencing at line 404. Thus translated by Sotheby: Nor slight thy dogs ; on whey the mastiffs feed, Molossian race, and hounds of Spartan breed; Beneath their care, nor wolves, nor thieves by night, Nor wild Iberian shall thy fear excite. These ‘“ Spartan hounds,’ I may remark, par parenthesis, are the ones spoken of by Shakspeare, in that glorious description of the music of a pack in full cry, and of the points of a hound, in Midsummer-NMigh?s Dream: Hippolita.—I was with Hercules, and Cadmus, once, When in a wood of Crete they bayed the bear With hounds of Sparta: never did I hear Such gallant chiding ; for, besides the groves, The skies, the fountains, every region near Seemed all one mutual cry: I never heard So musical a discord, such sweet thunder. Theseus.—My hounds are bred out of the Spartan kind, So flewed, so sanded; and their heads are hung With ears that sweep away the morning dew: Crook-kneed, and dew-lapped, like Thessalian bulls; Slow in pursuit, but matched in mouth like bells, Each under each. A cry more tunable Was never hallo’d to, nor cheered with horn, In Crete, in Sparta, nor in Thessaly. * The only exceptions which now occur to me are the Jews, the Hindoos, and the Mahommedan nations and tribes. SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 279 Avrian, Pliny, Qppian, lian, aud a host of other writers of the Empire, descant ou the praises of the dog, or give anecdotes of his courage, strength, and fidelity. 5 In the chivalric ages, he was the companion of knights and princes~-tke soul of the manly field-sports of those times. Even prelates followed him to the chase. The abbots of St. Hubert dred a celebrated race of hounds. St. Hubert himself, St. Eustace, and many others on the canonized calen- dar, were keen hunters. ‘“ Whereupon,” says the author of the “ Noble Art of Venerie,” &c., published in 1611, “we may conceive that (by the grace of God) all good huntsmen shall follow them into Paradise!” Truly, a consoling religious sequitur / ' Scott, in his beautifully descriptive poetry, and still more poetical prose, has given us a whole pictur® gallery of dogs, from the Middle Ages down. The few which start up first in memory, (in my memory,) because, proba- bly, linked with the most interesting associations, are Fangs—a genuine Saxon—gaunt and unkempt, but stanch as his master, Gurth, the son of Beowulph; the noble hound of Sir Kenneth; the “two dogs of black Saint Hubert’s breed,” that with Fitz-James pursued their quarry into the wild pass of the Trosachs ; the faithful little terrier, which, “on the dark brow of the mighty Hellvellyn, The much-loved remains of her master defended, And chased the hill fox and the raven away ;” and last, not least, Hector McIntyre’s bitch Juno, which stole the butter, and broke the “lachramatory from Clochmaben,” of the glorious old Antiquary. They stand out on the canvas like Landseer’s pictures. We pause tu hear them bark / It has often occurred to me that Scott omitted a fine opportunity, indeed, made a hiatus vale deflendus, in not introducing one or more of the Alpine spaniels—or dogs of Mount St. Bernard—into his Anne of Geierstein, providing it could be done, (on which point I am uninstructed,) without a violent anachronism. When Arthur clung dizzy and stupefied to the trunk of the tree which hung over the beetling verge of the precipice—when the cry of the Swiss maiden announced approach- ing succor, should it not have had for its aceompaniment the baying of one of those great dogs of the Alps—the deep and far-heard reverbera- tions of which so often calls help to the perishing traveler, for miles, through the howling storm? Should not the dog of Donnerhugel, on the night-watch of Graffs-lust, have been of the same breed—huge, shaggy, and daring as himself? The portrait of Barry, a Bernardine dog which saved the lives of forty persons, and finally perished in an avalanche in guid- ing some travelers to St. Pierre, is to be found in every print-shop. It represents him carrying a child on his shoulders—clinging by his shaggy hair,—which he found in the Glacier of Balsore, and rescued from approaching death. Scott is not the only modern poet who has admired and sung the praises of the dog. And I do not recollect the instance of one, who has mentioned him, that is, the we/l-bred dog, who has not praised him, except Byron an these moody lines: “Perchance my dog will whine in vain, Till fed by stranger hands; But long ere I come back again Would tear me where he stands.” In his epitaph on his Newfoundland dog, the noble poet retracted this ungeuerous libel, and pays one of the warmest tributes to the fidelity of the dog, on record. Volumes of anecdotes of canine sagacity might be easily compiled. 280 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. Reasoning powers the dog undoubtedly possesses, quite on a par with ordinary humanity, if we may believe scoies of these writers. But it is probable that the grandsires of some of them “drew good long-bows at Hastings,” and they, like Hubert, may lay claim toa hereditary knowledge of the weapon. It is to be feared that dog-stories will soon be sunk to a par with fish-stories !_ The truth is, the dog knows enough, and there are authenticated cases enough of his wonderful sagacity, without having an air of discredit thrown over the whole of them, by fanciful exaggera- tions. The comparative intelligence, and the comparative value to man, of the different species of the dog, would be very differently estimated by those who have been placed in situations to be particularly benefited by the peculiar instincts of this race or that. Neaiby every species has some traits, some uses, where it is unequaled by the others; and each in its lace is valuable. I do not, however, mean these remarks, or any others which I have made in favor of the dog, to apply to the mongrel tribe of curs. That there have been valuable individuals from this disreputable stock, all must admit; but the miserable, cowardly and thievish character of the mass of them has been proverbial in all time. Far too many of them are kept by our farmers in the place of noble and serviceable animals and multitudes of them, owned by idlers and vagabonds, infest the country and do ten times more mischief to our flocks than diseases and beasts of prey. Tue Saeerp-Doc.—Buffon thus eloquently describes the sheep-dog,* and compares his sagacity and value to man, with other racest : “This animal, faithful to Man, will always preserve a portion of his empire and a degree of superiority over other beings. He reigns at the head of his flock,and makes himself better understood than the voice of the shepherd. Safety, order, and discipline are the fruits of his vigilance and animal. They are a people submitted to his management, whom he con- ducts and protects, and against whom he never applies force but for the preservation of good order. . . . If we consider that this animal, notwithstanding-his ugliness, and his wild and melancholy look, is superior in instinct to all others; that he has a decided character in which education has comparatively little share ; that he is the only animal born perfectl trained for the service of others; that, guided by natural powers alone, he applies himself to the care of our flocks, a duty which he executes with singular assiduity, vigilance, and fidel- ity ; that he conducts them with an admirable intelligence, which-is a part and portion ot himself ; that his sagacity astonishes at the same time that it gives repose to his master, while it requires great time and trouble to instruct other dogs for the purposes to which they are destined; if we reflect on these facts, we shall be confirmed in the opinion that the shepherd's dog is the true dog of Nature, the stock and model of the whole species.” I shall call attention to but a few of the most distinguished varieties of the sheep-dog. Ture Spanisu Sueep-loc.—Of the origin of this celebrated race, I do not recollect to have seen anything. I have observed them several times spoken of, latterly, in newspapers and agricultural publications, as the same variety with the Alpine Spaniel, or Bernardine dog. This, I think, must be an error, though there may be a general resemblance between .the two species. Arrogante, on the next page, though a dog of pro- digious power, decidedly lacks the massive proportions, both in body and limbs, of several Bernardine dogs, which I have seen, of unquestiona- * I stated near the close of Letter V. that there are no shepherd dogs large and powerful enough to en- counter and kill wolves and vagrant dogs. except the great Sheep.dog of Spain, and that he is so ferocioug that he might frequently bring his owner into difficulty, and even endanger human life.—I was mistaken. Crosses between this and other species seems to have mitigated the ferocity of the Spanish dog, and still left it within the power of two to overcome a wolf, as will appear from what follows. + Buffon’s Natura! History, vol. v., pp. 306, 312. SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 28) 5 . . me to be essentially different. Mr. Trimmer, and various other foreign writers, speak in warm terms of the value of the Spanish sheep-dog, for guarding the migratory flocks of that country from the attacks of wolves—staying behind to protect fee- ble and lagging sheep, &c. In the Memoirs of the Pennsylvania Agricul- tural Society, there is a communication from the well-known John Hare Powell, Esq., of Philadelphia, from which the following are extracts :— ble lineage. The temper and disposition of the two species, too, seems to “The first importations of Merino sheep were accompanied by some of the large and powerful dogs of Spain, possessing all the valuable characteristics of the English shepherd’s dog, with sagacity, fidelity and strength peculiar to themselves. . .. . Their ferocity, when aroused by any intruder, their attacliment to their own flock, and devotion to their master, would, in the uncultivated parts of America, make them an acquisition of infinite value, by affording a defence against wolves, which they readily kill, and vagrant cur dogs, by which our flocks are often destroyed. The force of their instinctive attachment to sheep, and their resolution in attacking every dog which passes near to their charge, have been forcibly evinced upon my farm. ’ Fig. 71. ~, HONLAND sc ass x ~S ARROGANTE-——A SPANISH SHEEP-DOG. Arrogante, whose portrait is above given with admirable fidelity, was imported from Spain with a flock of Merinos, a number of years since, by a gentleman residing near Bristol, England. His subsequent owner, Francis Rotch, Esq., of this State, thus describes him in a letter to me, which, though not intended for publication, I will venture to make a few extracts from : « T have, as you desired, made you a sketch of the Spanish sheep-dog Arrogante, and a villainous looking rascal he is. A worse countenance I hardly ever saw ona dog. His small blood-shot eyes, set close together, give him that sinister, wolfish look, which is most unattractive ; but his countenance is indicative of his character. Therg was nothing affec- tionate or joyous about him. He never forgave an injury or an insult: offend him, and it was for life. I have often been struck with his resemblance to his nation. He was proud and reserved in the extreme, but not quarrelsome, Every little cur would fly ont at him, as atsome strange animal; and I have seen them fasten for a moment on his heavy, bushy tail, and yet he would stride on, never breaking his long, ‘ loping,’ shambling trot. Once I saw him 252 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. turn, and the retribution was awful! It was upon a large, powerful mastiff we kept as a night-guard in the Bank. He then put forth his strength, which proved tremendous! His coat hung about him in thick, loose, matted folds, dirty and uncared-for,—so that I presume a dog never got hold of anything about him deeper than his thick, tough skin, which was twice too large to fit him anywhere, and especially around the neck and shoulders. The only other evidence of kis uncommon strength which I had observed, was the perfect ease with which he threw himself over a high wall or paling, which often drew my attention, because he seemed to me wanting in that particular physical development which we are accustomed to consider as necessary to muscular power. He was flat-chested, and flat- aided, with a somewhat long back and narrow loin. (My drawing foreshortens his Jength.) His neck, forearm and thigh certainly indicated strength. If the Spanish wolf and the dog ever cohabit, he most assuredly had in him such a cross; the very effluvia of the animal be- trayed it. In all in which he differed from the beautiful Spanish shepherd-dog, he was wolfish both in form and habits.* But, though no parlor beauty, Arrogante was unquestion- ably a dog of immense value to the mountain-shepherd. Several times, he had met the large wolf of the Appenines, and without aid slain his antagonist. The shepherds who bred him said it was an affair of no doubtful issue, when he encountered a wolf single-handed. His history, after reaching England, you know.” Some portions of that history I cannot resist the temptation of narrating, as illustrative of the character of this interesting breed, and commemora- tive of the virtues of the stern, but honest and dauntless Arrogante. If his courage was tinctured with ferocity, and sometimes instigated by a revenge, going a little beyond the canon which permits bad debts to be paid in kind, he did everything openly / He made no sneakish, cur-like attacks, on the heels of his foe. By him, as by Robin Hood and his merry men—commemorated by Drayton— “ Who struck below the kn: ec [was] not counted then a man ;” and his spring was always at the ¢hroat of his quarry. But he made not that deadly spring until he gave “ warning fair and true,” and never with- out provocation.t Soon after Arrogante’s arrival in England, a ewe under his charge chanced to get cast in a ditch, during the temporary absence of the Span- ish shepherd who had accompanied the flock and dog at their importation. An English shepherd, in a spirit of vaunting, insisted on relieving the fal- len sheep, in preference to having the absent shepherd called, though warned by his companions to desist. The stern stranger dog met him at the gate and also warned him with sullen growls, growing more menacing as he approached the sheep. The shepherd was a powerful and bold man, and felt that it was too late now to retract with credit. On reaching the sheep, he bent carefully forward, with his eyes on the dog, which instantly made a spring at his throat. A quick forward movement of his arm saved his throat, but the arm was so dreadfully lacerated that immediate am- putation became necessary. To save the dog, which had but done his duty, as he had been taught it, from the popular excitement, he was ship- ped in a vessel which sailed that very afternoon, from Bristol for America. He was sent to Francis Rotch, Esq., then a resident of New-Bedford. For a long time Arrogante would not pay the least attention to his new master; the voice of the latter would scarcely arrest him for a moment. After attempting in vain, for several weeks, to obtain some recognition of mastership from him, Mr. Rotch chained him securely to a tree, punished him severely, and then, with not a few misgivings, released him. But he submitted, for he well knew that the punishment came from his master, and afterward gave a cold, haughty obedience to all required of him. * IT never have supposed, from the several conversations which I have had with Mr. Rotch on the sub- ject, that Arrogante was anything less than a thorough-bred Spanish shepherd-dog. Mr. Rotch here meuns that he was an ill-favored individual of the family—and he thinks that this may be owing to a bar-sinister on his escutcheon, left there by some wolfish gallant. His temper was even less ferocious than Mr. Powell describes that of his Spanish dogs. 4 Was there anything wolf-léke in all of this? SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 283 Stupid and apparently sleeping much of the day, nothing, however, escaped his observation, or was subsequently erased from his memory. If led round a building, or enclosure, or even an open space, at night-fall, in a manner to evince particular design, during the entire night like a senti- nel he traversed gome part of the guarded ring, permitting neither man nor beast to pass 7m or out from it. Arrogante was a “ temperance man,” of the straightest sect—an out-and- out teetotaler—and if tolerant of deviations from his creed, he could bear none, from the sobriety of his practice. Never would he confess acquain- tance with a drunken man—though the hand of that man fed him. The bailiff, who usually fed Arrogante, used occasionally to come home late in the evening a little “ fow,”and never could he in this condition get his foot on the premises! The old man has plead guilty to more than one night’s lodgings on the ground, in consequence of Arrogante’s temperance scru- ples. . On one occasion a couple of sailors, to take advantage of the tide, came unexpectedly, and without giving any notice, on the farm, at 3 A. M., to take away some potatoes they had purchased. Arrogante thought it was not so “nominated in the bond ;” he forced them to clamber into an empty cart, and there he kept them until morning. They tried the expe- riment of putting a leg over the side once or twice, but were admonished in too unequivocal a manner to keep quiet, to need any farther hints. They lost the tide, and were in great tribulation, but, like honest fellows, confessed the fault was their own. I might, did limits allow, recount many more anecdotes displaying the iron determination and fixed precision with which this noble dog obeyed his instructions in guardtng sheep or other property committed to his charge. He was a decided “ strict constructionist,” swerving not from the letter of his commission, and woe to him who attempted to countervail the tenor of that commission ! Drunkenness was destined to prove as fatal as it was detestable, to Arro- gante. A gentleman occupied a cottage orné by the sea-side, the lane to which ran along the farm, and near the stable which Arrogante made his head-quarters, when not on particular duty. The gentleman was reg- ularly ¢xtroduced to him, and warned against ever provoking him. Re- turning him home late one Saturday evening on horseback, from a conviv- zal meeting, as he galloped through the lane, he met the dog, and wan- tonly struck him or struck at him with a hunting-whip. He was a large man, and rode a tall, powerful horse, and being under speed, he escaped before the astonished dog recovered from his surprise. But the insulted blood of Castile rushed in boiling currents through the veins of the mad- dened Arrogante. He felt, like his countryman De Lerma, in Epes Sar- gent’s tragedy of Velasco— “ Struck like a menial! buffeted! degraded ! Spare not my life, if mercy thou would show, Thou givest me back only what thou hast made A burden, a disgrace, a misery !” But Arrogante felt both the power and will to avenge himself, and he resolved on a bloody retribution. The next morning the gentleman was on his way to church, mounted as before. The dog heard and knew the tread of his horse, rose from his lair in the stable, walked to the road-side, and stood grimly awaiting his in- sulter. When the latter had approached within a few yards, Arrogante, like a missile projected from a catapult, met him 7 the azr, in a deadly spring at his throat. The sudden jump and swerve of the frightened and 284 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. very active horse, saved the rider’s throat and his life—but so narrowly had he escaped, that he felt the gnashing teeth of the frenzied brute scrape down his dress, where they came in contact with and closed upon his watch, tearing it away with the adjacent clothing. The horseman fled for his life, while the baffled dog vented his rage on,the gold watch which he had captured, by chewing it ento atoms! The cause of this ter rible onset not being disclosed at the time, Mr. R., though convinced from the character of the dog that he had not been the aggressor, felt constrain- ed to give orders to have him shot. Tue Hunearian Sueer-Doe.—The following description of the Hunga- rian Sheep-Dog, occurs in Paget’s “‘ Hungary and Transylvania :’* “Tt would be unjust to quit the subject of the Puszta Shepherd without making due and honorab!e mention of his constant companion and friend, the juh4sz-hutya—the Hungarian shepherd dog. The shepherd dog is commonly white, sometimes inclined to a reddish brown, and about the size of our Newtoundland dog. His sharp nose, short erect ears, shaggy coat, and bushy fail give him much the appearance of a wolf; indeed, so great is the resemblance, that I have known a Hungarian gentleman mistake a wolf for one of his own dogs. Except to their masters, they are so savage that it is unsafe for a stranger to enter the court-yard ofa Hungarian cottage, withoutarms. I speak from experience; foras 1 was walk- ing through the yard of a post-house, where some of these dogs were lying about, apparently asleep, one of them crept after me, and inflicted a severe wound on my leg, of which I still bear the marks. Before I could turn round, the dog was already far off ; for, like the wolf, they bite by snapping, but never hang to the object like the bull-dog or mastiff. Their saga- city in driving and guarding the sheep and cattle, and their courage in protecting them from wolves and robbers, are highly praised; and the shepherd is so well aware of the value of a good one, that it is difficult to induce him to part with it.”’ T have little doubt that the Hungarian dogs above described are the descendants of the Spanish ones, introduced into Hungary with the Meri- no sheep, though possibly they may be somewhat crossed by interbreeding with the dogs of the country. Tue Mexican Sueep-Doe.—The following acccount of these noble dogs appears as a communication from Mr. J. H. Lyman, in the third volume of the American Agriculturist :t * Although Mr. Kendall and some other writers have described this wonderful animal as a cross of the Newfoundland dog, such, I think, cannot be the fact; on the contrary, I have no doubt he is a genuine descendant of the Alpine mastiff, or more properly, Spanish shep- herd dog introduced by them at the time of the Conquest. He is only to be found in the sheep-raising districts of New Mexico. The other Mexican dogs, which number more than a thousand to one of these noble animals, are the results of a cross of everything under the sun having any affinity to the canine race, and even of a still nobler class of animals if Mexi- can stories are to be credited. It is believed in Mexico, that the countless mongrels of that country owe their origin to the assistance of the various kinds of wolves, mountain cats, lynxes, and to almostif not every class of four-footed carnivorous animals. Be this as it may, those who have not seen them can believe as much as they like; but eye-witnesses can assert, that there never was a country blessed with a greater and more abundant variety of misera- rable, snarling, cowardly packs, than the mongrel dogs of Mexico. That country of a surety would be the plague-spot of this beautiful world, were it not for the redeeming character of the truly noble shepherd dog, endowed as it is with almost human intellect. I have often thought, when observing the sagacity of this animal, that if very many of the human race possessed one half of the power of inductive reasoning which seems to be the gift of this: animal, that it would be far better for themselves and for their fellow-creatures. The peculiar education of these dogs is one of the most important and interesting steps pursued by the shepherd. His method is to select from a multitude of pups a few of the healthiest and finest-looking, and to put them toa spcking ewe, first depriving her of her own lamb. By force, as well as from a natural desire she has to be relieved of the con- tents of her udder, she soon learns to look upon the little interlopers with all the affection she would manifest for her own natural offspring. For the first few days the pups are kept ‘n the hut, the ewe suckling them morning and evening only; but gradually, as she be * Hungary and Transylvania, by John Paget, Esq., vol. ii., p. 12, et supra. t Page 241. 1 4 j 4 ; | SHEEP HUSBANDR\ IN THE SOUTH. 285 ~_—_ comes accustomed to their sight, she is allowed to run in a small enclosure with them until she becomes so perfectly familiar with their appearance as to take the entire charge of them. After this they are folded with the whole flock for a fortnight or so, they then run about during the day with the flock, which after a while becomes so accustomed to them, as to be able to distinguish them from other dogs—even from those of the same litter which have not been nursed among them. The shepherds usually allow the slut to keep one of a litter for her own particular benefit ; the balance are generally destroyed. After the pups are weaned, they never leave the particular drove among which they have been reared. Not even the voice of their master can entice them beyond sight of the fiock; neither hunger or thirst can do it. I have been credibly informed of an instance where a single dog having charge of a small flock of sheep, was allowed to wander with them about the mountains, while the shepherd returned to his village for a few days, having perfect confidence in the ability of his dog to Jook after the flock during his absence, but with a strange want of foresight as to the provision of the dog for his food. Upon his return to the flock, he found it several miles from where left, but on the road leading to the village, and the poor faithful animal in the agonies of death, dying of s/arvation, even in the midst of plenty; yetthe flock had not been harmed by him. A reciprocal affection exists between them which may put to blush many of the human family. The poor dog recognized them only as brothers and dearly loved friends; he was ready at all times to lay down his life for them; to attack not only wolves and mountain cats, with the confidence of vic- tory, but even the bear, when there could be no hope. Of late years, when the shepherds of New Mexico have suffered so much from Indian, marauders, instances have frequently occurred where the dog has not hesitated to attack his human foes, and although transfix- ed with arrows, his indomitable courage and faithfulness have been such us to compel his assailants to pin him to the earth with spears, and hold him there until dispatched with stones. In the above instance the starving dog could have helped himself to one of his little bro- ther lambs, or could have deserted the sheep, and very soon have reached the settlements where there was food for him. But faithful even unto death, he would neither leave nor molest them, but followed the promptings of his instinct to lead into the settlement; their unconsciousness of his wants and slow motions in traveling were too much for his exhaust- ing strength. These shepherds are very nomadic in character. They are constantly moving about, their camp equipage consisting merely of a kettle and a bag of meal; their lodges are made in a few minutes, of branches, &c., thrown against cross-sticks. They very seldom go out in the day-time with their flocks, intrusting them entirely with their dogs, which faithfully return them at night, never permitting any stragglers behind or lost. Sometimes different flocks are brought into the same neighborhood owing to scarcity of grass, when the wonder: ful instincts of the shepherds’ dogs are most beautifully displayed ; and to my astonishment, who have been an eye-witness of such scenes, if two flocks approach within a few yards of each other, their respective proprietors will place themselves in the space between them, and as is very naturally the case, if any adventurous sheep should endeavor to cross over to visit her neighbors, her dog protector kindly but firmly leads her back. and it sometimes happens, if many make a rush and succeed in joining the other flock, the dogs under whose charge they are, go over and bring them all ont, but, strange to say, under such circumstances they are never opposed by the other dogs. They approach the strange sheep only to prevent their own from leaving the flock, thou they offer no assistance in expelling the other sheep. But they never permit sheep not under canine protection, nor dogs not in charge of sheep, to approach them. Even the same dogs which are so freely permitted to enter their flocks in search of their own, are driven away with ignominy if they presume to approach them without that laudable object in view. Many anecdotes could be related of the wonderful instinct of these dogs. I very much doubt if there are shepherd dogs in any other part of the world except Spain, equal to those of New-Mexico in value. The famed Scotch and English dogs sink into insignificance by the side of them. Their superiority may be owing to the peculiar mode of rearing them, but they are certainly very noble animals, naturally of large size. and highly deserving to be introduced into the United States. A pair.of them will easily kill a wolf, and flocks under their care need not fear any common enemy to be found in our country. J. H. Lyman.” Mr. Kendall* speaks of meeting, on the Grand Prairie, —a flock numbering seventeen thousand, which immense herd was guarded by a very few men, assisted by a large number of noble dogs, which appeared gifted with the faculty of keeping them together. There was no running about, no barking or biting in their system of tactics; or the contrary, they were continually walking up and down, like faithful senti nels, on the outer side of the flock, and should any sheep chance to stray from its fellows, the dog on duty at that particular post, would walk gently up, take him carefully by the ear * Vol I., p. 268. 286 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. and lead him back to the flock. Not the vast fear did the sheep manifest at the approach of these dogs, and there was no occasion for it. These noble animals seem, according to these and various other corre- sponding accounts I have seen of them, to leave nothing to desire in the way of a sheep-dog, either for guarding or managing flocks. They would be in- valuable in our Southern States, to protect the flocks from the cur-dogs which so often attack them, and from the occasional wolves. I hope efforts will be made to introduce them into our country, and then they should be bred in the utmost purity. ; Sourm American Suerp-Doe.—Similar to the preceding in character and habits, are the sheep-dogs to be found in various parts of South Amer- ica. They, too, are undoubtedly an offshoot from the Spanish stem. The following interesting account of them is from Darwin’s Journal : “While staying at this estancia (in Banda Oriental), I was amused with what I saw and heard of the shepherd dogs of the country. When riding, it is a common thing to meet a large flock of sheep guarded by one or two dogs, at the distance of some miles from any house or man. I often wondered how so firm a friendship had been established. The method of education consists in separating the puppy, when very young, from the bitch, and in accustoming it to its future companions. A ewe is held three or four times a day for the little thing to suck, and a nest of wool is made for it in the sheep-pen.—At no time is it allowed to associate with other dogs, or with the children of the family. The puppy, moreover, is generally castrated ; so that when grown up, it can scarcely have any feelings in common with the rest of its kind. From this education it has no wish to leave the flock, and just as another dog will defend its master, man, so will these the sheep. It is amusing to observe, when approaching a flock, how the dog immediately advances barking—and the sheep all close in his rear as if round the oldest ram. These dogs are also easily taught to bring home the flock at a certain time in the evening. Their most troublesome fault when young is their desire of playing with the sheep, for in their play, they sometimes gallop their poor subjects most unmercifully. The shepherd dog comes to the house every day for some meat, aud immediately it is given to him he skulks away as if ashamed of himself. On these occasions the house dogs are very tyrannical, and the least of them will attack and pursue the stranger. The minute, however, the latter has reached the flock, he turns round and begins to bark, and then all the house dogs take very quickly to their heels. Ina similar manner a whole pack of hungry wild dogs will scarcely ever (and I was told by some, never), venture to attack a flock guarded even by one of these faithful shepherds. The whole account appears to me a curious instance of the pliability of the affections of the dog race ; and yet, whether wild, or however educated, with a mutual feeling of respect and fear for those that are fulfilling their instinct of association. For we can understand on no principle the wild dogs being driven away by the single one with its flock, except that they consider, from some confused notion, that the one thus associated gains power, as if in com- pany with its own kind. F. Cuvier has observed that all animals which enter into domes- tication consider Man as a member of their society, and thus they fulfil their instinct of asso- ciation. In the above case the shepherd dogs rank the sheep as their brethren; and the wild dogs, though knowing that the individual sheep are not dogs, but are good to eat, yet partly consent to this view, when seeing them in a flock, with a shepherd dog at their head.” OTHER LARGE RACES OF SuEeP-Docs.—There are one or two fine species in France, as those of Brie, and Auvergne. In a letter from G. W. Lafayette, to John S. Skinner, Esq., the latter are pronounced equal to the Spanish dogs.* Large powerful races, everywhere possessing the same general characteristics, are to be found in almost every country excepting our own, where the fine-wooled breeds of sheep have been ex- teusively introduced. With a commerce extending to all the maritime nations of the world, singular it is that so little pains have been taken to introduce them. Tus Enaiisu Surer-Doc.—The following are portraits of a Drover’s dog * See Farmers’ Library, Vol. i., p. 465. SHEEP HUSBANDR\ IN THE SOUTH. Q87 and a Scotch Colley slut, imported by B. Gates, of Gap Grove, Lee Co Illinois. They are taken from The Farmers’ Library.* Fig. 72. Ma ANE DROVER’Sgp0G, AND COLLEY SLUT. The Drover’s dog, or English sheep-dog, or Butcher’s dog—for by au of these names is he known—is considerably smaller than the species or families heretofore described, but he is a larger and more powerful dog than the Colley. Mr. Gates, in the communication accompanying the portraits, remarks: “Much has already been written on the intelligence of the Scotch Colley. My opinion is that the English “ Butcher’s dog” is no way lacking on that point. Any reader who has visited Smithfield market in London, on Monday or Friday, will, no doubt, have formed the same opinion. There you have an opportunity of seeing a number of these useful animals at their work. It would, in fact, be almost impossible to conduct this market without their aid. There a vast number of different animals are brought for sale from all parts of the couutry, to supply this great metropolis, and are collected in the smallest possible space. The difficulty of keeping them from mingling with others falls principally on the dog. If one slips away, or a particular one is wished to be caught, it is pointed out to him, and is re- turned back, or held till the owner takes it—the dog always holding them by the side of the head, so as not to bruise the body. By a word or motion of the hand, they will run over the backs of the sheep, to stop them or turn them in 4 different direction. I have often admired, with astonishment, their quick and intelligent actions. They appear to read the thonghts of their master by his countenance, for their eye is continually on his, or the flock, Nothing else can attract his attention when he has work to perform, and at times I have thought he acted with more judgment than the owner. . . . The breed of “ Boxer,” (whose portrait is above given,) is sometimes called the Drover’s or Tailless breed.” Mr. Colman, in one of his Reports, says: “For a week or more before the tryst, the roads leading to Falkink will be found crowded with successive droves of cattle and sheep, proceeding to this central point; and it is ex- tremely curious on the field to see with what skill and care the different parties and herds are kept together by themselves. In this matter the shepherds are generally assisted by * Voli pv. 575. 288 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. their dogs, which appear endowed with a sagacity almost human. and almost to know every individual belonging to their charge. They are sure, with an inflexible pertinacity, to brirg back a deserter to the flock.” a Mr: TC. eae of Buffalo, N. Y.,) on his return from Europe, a few years since, br ght over a Drover and a Colley. His testimony to their extraordinary value will be found in the American Agriculturist, vol. iil., page 76. Fig. 73 THE COLLEY. Tue Scorcn Suerr-Doe or Cot.ey.—The light, active, sagacious Colley admits of no superior—scarcely of an equal—where it is his business merely to manage his flock, and not to defend them from beasts larger than himself. Mr. Hogg says that ‘a single shepherd and his dog will accomplish more in gathering a flock of sheep from a Highland farm than twenty shepherds could do without dogs. Neither hunger, fatigue, nor the worst treatment will drive him from his master’s side, and he will follow him through every hardship without murmur or repining.”’ The same well-known writer, in a letter in Blackwood’s Magazine, gives a most glowing description of the qualities of his Colley, “Sirrah.” One night a flock of lambs, under his care, frightened at something, made what we call in America a regular stampede, scattering over the hills in several different bodies, ‘ Sirrah,” exclaimed Hogg in despair, “ they’re a’ awa!” The dog dashed off through the darkness, After spending with his assistants, the whole night in a fruitless search after the fugitives, Mr. Hoge commenced his return to his master’s house. Coming to a deep ravine, they found Sirrah in charge, as they at first supposed, of one of the scattered divisions, but what was their joyful surprise to find that not a lamb of the whole flock was missing! Of the stanch devotedness of the Colley, under any and all circum SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 289 stances, Mr. Peters gives, in the American Agriculturist, the following characteristic illustration, copied from a Scotch paper: “The master of the bitch purchased at a fair some eighty sheep, and having occasion to tay a day longer, sent them forward and directed his faithful Colley to drive them home, a distance of about 17 miles. The poor bitch, when a few miles on the road, dropped two whelps ; but faithful to her charge, she drove the sheep on a mile or two farther—then allowing them to stop, she returned for her pups, which she carried some two miles in advance of the sheep, and thus she continued to do, alternately carrying her own young ones, and taking charge of the flock, till she reached home. The manner of her acting on this occasion was gathered by the shepherd from various persons who had observed her on the oud.” The Colleys are not now uncommon in the Northern States, and I have often seen proofs of their singular sagacity in collecting, driving, and gua.ding sheep, and in catching out one from the flock when directed by their masters. I have often seen one drive a flock of fifty or sixty sheep _throuzh a crowed street, encountering teams, pedestrians, and other dogs at every step—without the slightest assistance. AccyusToMING THE SueEP To THE DoG.—It is a mistake to suppose that a trained sheep-dog will manage any strange flock, however wild and unac- customed to such-company. The sheep must be gradually made acquainted with, and accustomed to the dog. They must know—and they will readily learn it—that he is their friend, their guardian and protector, instead of that hereditary enemy which their instinct teaches them to fly from. A want of knowledge of this fact has frequently led to disappoint- ment and disgust, to a giving up of the valuable dog which it has cost pains and money to procure. Mr. Skinner relates a ludicrous incident of Mr. Jefferson, arising from his not being apprized of this fact. A thoroughly broken sheep-dog had been sent him from abroad, and the great Sage of Monticello, after having held forth ore votundo to some visitors, on the value of these dogs, and their immense conyenience—nay, their indispens- ability in managing flocks, led forth his guests to give a practical exempli- fication of the qualities of his dog. At the word, the latter made for the sheep. The terrified animals fled in all directions, some of them dashing themselves over precipices and breaking their necks. The dog either shared the same fate, or, mortified at his failure, felt his pride too deeply wounded to return. Mr. Jefferson never recovered him ! WOOL DEPOTS. Commission merchants who confine their operations exclusively to the sale of Wool, have opened large stores or ‘‘ Dépéts,” at three or four points in the Northern States. Of the origin of this system, Mr. H. Blanchard, of Kinderhook, N. Y., thus spoke at the Agricultural meeting at the Assembly Chamber, Albany, Feb. 3, 1848 : “From facts that were ascertained by Hon. J. P. Beekman, (then President of the N. Y. State Agricultural Society,) at tlie State Fair held in Poughkeepsie, in 1844, he became con- vinced that the growers of Dutchess county, by reason of the superior facilities afforded them for the sale of their fine wools, were procuring from six to eight cents per pound more than many wool-growers in other sections of the State who prodnced the same quality of wool. The large quantity of fine wool grown in that county, offered great inducements for mannfacturers ana purchasers of fine wool to make that a place of resort to obtain their sup- plies, and thusa fair competition was awakened, which resulted in a just appreciation of the relative value of their wools, and remunerating prices to the fine wool grower. Soon after Dr. B.’s return, the evils consequent upon the system of selling wools in our county, as well as elsewhere, became a matter of discussion between him and other wool-growers in our vicinity and myself, the result of which wasa request from them that I would open what we now term a “ Wool Dépét.” The principles involved in the dépét system are not new, it being conducted upon those of a commission business; but it is only the details and appli 20 290 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. cation of these principles to wool when received direct from the grower, that had never be fore in this country been applied in the same discriminating manner, and with as little expense as by this system.” The objects and advantages of the system, and the method of conduct- ing these establishments are clearly set forth in the following letter from my friend Mr. Peters, to whom, as a keeper of one of these Dépéts, and a gentleman of conceded ability—as well as skill, energy and su:zcess in this and in his other business operations—I thought it appropriate to apply for this information. H. S. RanpAatt, Esq. BuFrrato, N. Y., Dec. 16, 1847. My Dear Sir: Your kind favor of the 12th inst., making inquiries relative to the Wool Dépot system, is before me. : It will give me pleasure to answer your queries, not that by so doing I can add anything to the exceeding great value of your Letters to the whole country, and especially to the South and West—yet from my own experience as a wool-grower, and in the management of a Wool Depét which I established at this place last spring, I may give some information that will be useful to your readers, and may they be millions. In so doing, I will give you Ist, An account of the object; 2d, The method of doing business; and 3d, The advantages of the Wool Depot system. Tue Ossect.—Upon no sheep is the wool exactly alike over the whole body; nor is the wool exactly alike upon any single flock. In most flocks there is a great diversity—greater than there should be for the farmer’s profit. There is, then, a variety of grades of wool in every flock, and in every section of the country where wool is grown. Manufacturers first grade the wool; that is, sort the fleeces, making from five to eight or nine different grades. Each fleece is then opened, and stapled, or sorted into the various grades of the factory. Some manufactories use only the finest, others only the coarsest, and others again use only one kind of the intermediate sorts, so that from a single flock, I sold this year wool to five different manufacturers, no one wanting or working the kind that the other wanted. The object of the Wool Depét is to sort and arrange the wool, that the manufacturer can readily obtain the particular kind adapted to his machinery, and to obtain for each sort its fair market value. MetHop oF poING Business.—The system originated with Mr. H. Blanchard, at Kinder- hook, some three years ago. Last year, we sent our wool to Mr. Blanchard, and during the winter I visited his establishment, and was so well satisfied with the operation of it, and of the vital importance of the system to the wool-growers everywhere, that I at once made arrangements to open one at this point. I accordingly commenced operations in the spring, and have been successful beyond my most sanguine expectations. I have a competent and experienced sorter, and when wool is sent in, it is at once sorted in the fleece, each sort weighed, and entered in a book under the name of the person send- ing it. ‘T have adopted Mr. Blanchard’s method of sorting, as experience has shown that to be the best, under all circumstances. I make, then, five sorts, taking full-blooded Merino for No. 1, and grading down to coarse common wool, which is No. 5. Saxony I grade into Extra, Prime 1, and Prime 2. Then there isa kind of wool which is admirable tor combing, and another kind that is wanted for De Laines;—these form five more sorts, making thus ten sorts. Butas there is sucha difference in the condition of wool when brought into the Depot, I usually make two sorts of each number. Thus I have No. 2, and No.2a. No.2 is usually good, but No. 2 is of the same grade, but is in better condition, every way a choice article, but still not fine enough to go into a higher grade. The wool is actually worth two or three cents per lb. more than the other number to which it belongs, and but for making this distinction, would not bring its full value. When the wool is properly sorted, it is piled up in a manner that will enable the purchaser to see it at a good advantage ;=in- sured, and held until the market requires it. I make all my sales here, and for cash When the sales are closed, an account is made out and sent to those who have sent me their wool; usually, an account is rendered as fast as any part of a man’s wool issold. I have often been asked, how I could tell whether any man’s wool was sold, unless the whole of a sort was sold ata time. Itis very easy. Suppose A. has 100 lbs. of No. 1, and I have sold 20,000 lbs. out of 40,000 lbs.—that being the whole amount inthe Depot. I have sold one- half of egch man’s No. 1, and I turn to A.’s account and give him credit for 50 lbs. sold, and so go through and credit each man with his proportion of that number sold. The charges are, for receiving, sorting, and selling, one cent per lb., and the insurance— which is usually about 30 cts. on $100, for three months. Cartage from the dock is usually three cents per bale. The sacks are returned or sold at the option of the owner. They are SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 29] usually worth about fifty cents, more or less, according to their condition. Each man’s wool is carefully examined ; if put up in bad order, it is so noted, and a deduction made by the sorter, to make it as it should be. So that it is no object for a man to send to the Dépét wool in a bad condition. Tur ApvantTaces.—The foregoing facts would seem to be so plain that it cannot be necessary to refer to the advantages. No man, however, is more at the mercy of the specu- ‘ator, than the wool-grower. The very fact that he has so many kinds of wool in his clip prevents him from ascertaining the market value of the whole, for being in comparatively small quantities, he has not enough, if ever so well sorted, to make it an object for the differ- ent manufacturers to visit him. He is therefore compelled to sell his whole clip at the price of his present quality, and at prices from five to fifteen cents per lb. under the real market value of his wool. Allow me to illustrate by an example. A farmer has his wheat, corn, oats, and barley, all mixed, and carries it to market in this condition. Will anybody give him the value of each kind of grain? On the contrary, they would not be willing to pay even the value of the cheapest kind. And yet each kind by itself has a market value. Precisely in the same situation is the wool-grower, except that he has no means of knowing the value of the various sorts of wool, except from the speculator. The advantage of the Dép6t system, then, is, that there his wool is properly sorted. The wheat is separated from the corn, the corn from the oats, and the oats from the barley, and each is made to bring its fair market value. By having an extensive correspondence among the manufacturers throughout the country, I am kept constantly advised of the market; and knowing the price of cloth in the cities, 1am enabled to know toa certainty what the price of the various grades of wool should be. When the manufacturer can get the kind of wool he wants, and in large quantities, he is willing to pay, and does pay a better price than when he has to buy that which he does not want, to get the right sort. It also equalizes the market, and brings the producer and the manufacturer together, without being compelled to pay agents or speculators, and prevents that fluctuation of the market which is always produced by speculation. But there is another very great advantage growing out of the system. It enables the wool- growers in the various sections of the country to compare wool, and to know who has really the best and most profitable kinds of sheep. It has been strikingly manifest with me this season. For I have been enabled to point out to people in different States West, where they could find the most profitable sheep, by the wool which had been sent me. And in one instance men had been over five hundred miles after sheep, and paid high prices, when there were sheep in their own town worth double the money. There is no difficulty in sending wool here from any part of the country bordering upon the Ohio, or its tributaries. The expense of transportation will range from one to one and a half cents per lb.—depending much upon the bargain made with the clipper. I have re- ceived wool this year from all the Western States, in some instances as far West as the Mis- sissippi River, and the average cost for freight has been about one cent per lb. It was urged by many last spring that this city was not a good point, inasmuch as it was not sufficiently central in its location. For nothing is more certain, than that a wool Depét, to be successful, must be so located as to command a large amount of wool. The larger amount you can concentrate at a point, the more rapid and sure will be your sales. To this city the products of the West naturally tend, and to this point the producer can calculate with great certainty when, and at what expense it willarrive. But after its trans-shipment here, expenses accumulate, without any corresponding benefit. And it is peculiarly so, in regard to wool, coming as it often does in bad order, sacks torn, broken, and wet. But I have made my letter already longer than I intended, and in speaking of my own Depét have perhaps gone more into detail than is necessary. This muéh I must be permitted to say to every wool-grower, that the Wool Depot system, properly conducted and patronized, is indispensable to ultimate and profitable success. I remain, my dear sir, Very sincerely yours, T. C. Peters. Messrs. Perkins and Brown have a Dépét at Springfield, Mass. ; and I believe the establishment of two or three others is in contemplation, by companies or individuals. Conducted with skill and fidelity, there can be but little doubt that these establishments are alike beneficial to the wool-grower and manufacturer. That Mr. Blanchard’s and Mr. Peters’s have thus far been so conducted, there Is not the least doubt. Of the other I know nothing, though report speaks well of it. The design was not regarded with much favor, in the out set, by many of our most extensive wool-growers. They preferred to “ do 292 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. their own business, ” and not “pay the wages of an intermediate agent.” But the advantages derived from selling the wool in sorted lots, have been found to far more than overbalance the one cent per pound paid to the “agent” or Dépét keeper, and the system is rapidly gaining favor. Many of our most experienced wool growers in this State—men the most com- petent to favorably dispose of their wool—have sent their wool to Messrs. Blanchard and Peters, and I have yet to see or hear of the first person who has been disappointed in the result. E If wool Dépéts are beneficial in the North, where the agents of different manufacturers, and “ speculators,” visit every man’s barn to bid on his wool—and among a class of growers, too, who, from long experience, are familiar with the qualities and comparative values of the staple—how much more beneficial would they be to regions in which the gragwers are so scattered that they are rarely visited by traveling agents—or if so, not in numbers sufficient to produce that competition which would compel them to offer the fair market value of the article: and where, perhaps, in many cases, the growers themselves have not sufficient experience to determine the exact grade of their own clips, even supposing them correctly notified from time to time from abroad, of the market value of the several grades. The Dépébt system, in my judgment, removes the great and only serious obsta- cle to successful wool-growing in the South. It is not necessary that Dépéts be established zm the Southern States, te have those States reap the full benefitof the system. For the present, and for some time to come, at least, the North will furnish the dest home mar- ket for fine wools. The wool therefore must, until some changes take place, come to the North before it is sold; and the transportation must be equally subtracted from the avails, whether the sale is effected at home or at a Northern wool Dépét. Indeed, it would be detter to store it in a Dé- pot at Kinderhook or Buffalo, than at Charleston or Nashville. And this is for the reason that the two former are much nearer to, and can be more speedily visited by the principal woolen manufacturers of the Uni- ted States, than the latter. The New-York or New-England manufac- turer would be little likely to send an agent to Charleston or Nashville, if he could supply his wants equally cheaply (with the addition of cost of transportation), from Buffalo, Kinderhook, or Springfield. And if supplied any more cheaply at the former places (price of transportation excepted), be it remembered, it would be so much unnecessarily taken out of the pocket of the grower. Should the South at any future day find it move for her interest to ship her wools to Europe, the above considerations will cease to be valid. She would then want Dépéts as much as now, for far more gain, proportiona- bly, is made by sorteng wool for the foreign, than the American markets. But in that event, the Dépéts would assume a different character, and they would be most appropriately located at the port whence the wools were shipped. A CORRECTION.—MR. RUFFIN. In the beginning of Letter VI., 1 made the following remark in relation to Hon. Edmund Ruffin—“ He seems to think lime, of itself, adequate tc the full and permanent amelioration of the tertiary soils.”—This remark was made on a somewhat too hasty inspection of some of Mr. Ruffin’s po- sitions in the Agricultural Survey of South Carolina. Since writing it, I nave had the pleasure of reading for the first time Mr. R.’s highly valua- ble work on Calcareous Manures, and find that I was in error in the state- ment above made. tines SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 293 NOTE IN RELATION TO AUSTRALIA. Since the preceding Letters were completed, the exceedingly interesting article from the (English) Farmers’ Magazine, which is published below, has met my eye. It will be seen from it that the conclusions arrived at by me (see page 123,) in relation to the vast increase in the trans-Atlantic demand for wool and woolens, are in a rapid course of verification. I wrote from statistics extending down to 1840. In that year the English import of wool was forty-six millions of pounds. In 1845, according to the subjoined authority, it was seventy-six millions of pounds. And this rapid increase took place, notwithstanding the vast extension in the woolen manufactures in other nations, particularly in Germany, France, Spain and Belgium. The extract given from Waterton’s “Cyclopedia of Com- merce,” asserting the improbability of a much greater extension of the English woolen manufactures, “unless new markets shall be opened,” may be true. But new markets are yet to spring up in Central and Northern Asia, and even in Northern Europe, which will, in the aggregate, require an increase of woolen manufactures which the boldest calculator now scarcely dreams of. For the reasons for this opinion, see page 123.— Whether England is to supply a greater or less portion of this increasing demand remains to be seen. If she continues as well prepared as she now is to compete with other manufacturing nations, doubtless she will contribute her fuJl share to that supply. It will also be seen, from the annexed paper, that what I predicted (see page 121) in relation to the prospective competition (from the year 1840) in wool-growing, between the densely populated countries of Western Europe and those in newer settled regions, where land is cheap and popu- lation comparatively sparse, has already come to pass. Spain, and even Germany, which in 1840 supplied England with nearly twenty-two million pounds of wool—nearly half of the whole import of the latter—have now been driven almost entirely out of the English market! But, says the Sydney Herald, Germany, Spain, etc., have renewed the contest in another form: they have extended their manufacturing operations, and now manu- facture their own wool. Admit this: but if German wools cannot com- pete with others in the English market, which are brought from fifty times the distance, they cannot compete with them even in the German market, unless the latter are kept out by duties. The German manufacturer, then, in working up home wools, pays more for his raw material than the Eng- lish manufacturer, and he cannot, therefore, compete with him in foreign markets, nor even in the home one, without a protective Tariff which would raise the price of the English to that of the German article— Tariffs materially enhancing the cost of the necessaries of life will not long be tolerated by the consuming millions, in regions where civilization has penetrated. It seems that Australia and Van Diemen’s Land are the successful com- etitors which have driven Germany and Spain from the English wool market. The views set forth by me in Letter IX. in relation to the ad- vantages of the former for wo, ]-growing compared with those of Hungary, Southern Russia, North and South America, remain the same; indeed, a careful review of my positions has served to farther convince me of their correctness. The character of the population, and the better commercial regulations of Australia, have given her a present advantage over new ri- vals in the Old World; and America has not yet entered the field of com- petition. When the Anglo-Saxon of North America enters the lists with the Anglo-Saxon of Australia, natural advantages will not, as now, be 294 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. overbalanced by superior energy and enterprise. The Anglo-Australian will, to say the least of it, meet his full equal in these particulars. And, on the other hand, there is not a rational doubt that the natural and other present advantages of all kinds are on the side of the Anglo-American. The portion of North America included in the proper wool-growing zone is immensely greater than in Australia; our climate, all things considered— considering the occasional terrible drouths of Australia—is the best; our lands are cheaper, and will certainly average as good, including our whole Atlantic coast, and including only our territory between the Apalachians and the Rocky Mountains, our land will average by far the best ; labor is not dearer among us; we are not a quarter as distant from the English markets ; the wool from all parts of our immense interior, instead of be- ing dragged long and expensive journeys in “bullock drays,” is already whirled along by steam, or boated on canals or rivers to the seaboard, at a comparatively trifling expense. It would be difficult to name a particu- lar, excepting in the two-cent duty, in which large portions of the United States have not the advantage over Australia for supplying the English wool market, and in other Huropean markets we have perhaps every ad- vantage over that Colony. Tur Austrattan Woo. Trape*—[By Wm. Westgarth, Esq.]|—The importance at present assumed by the Australian wool trade in the lists of British Commerce, demands some degree of attention in the history of an Australian settlement. I shall, therefore, de- vote the present chapter to a short account of this branch of Commerce, in its capacity both of an export from the Australian Colonies and an import into the British market. ; In the year 1836, the quantity of wool exported from Sydney amounted to 3,700,000 Ibs. weight. The proportion for the Port Philip district, included in this amount, could not, at so early a period of her existence, have exceeded 60,000 lbs. weight. Five years afterward the annual produce had attained to 1,578,000 lbs.; and the lapse of a similar period, bring- ing us down to the year 1846, exhibits the astonishing quantity of 7,400,000 Ibs.t During this interval of ten years the quantity of wool exported from Sydney, exclusive of any from Australia Felix, had increased from three and a half millions to nearly twelve millions of pounds weight. The importation of wool into the British market appears, indeed—like the rise of the Aus- tralian Colonies—to be but a business of yesterday, and one, among numerous other in- stances, of the wonderful extension of Modern Commerce. In 1820, the quantity imported was under ten millions of pounds weight; in 1845, it had risen to seventy-six millions. The proportion from the Australian Colonies in the former year was the one-hundredth part; it now forms nearly one-half of the whole importation}; and at the steady and rapid ratio of the present increase of Australian wool, the lapse of a few years will exhibit a quantity far greater than the united total of the wool at present imported into Britain from every quar- ter of the world. The following Table exhibits the respective averages, in round numbers, for each period of five years from 1826 to 1845; the numbers representing millions of pounds weight : i Average of years. Foreign Wool. Colonial Wool. Total VE2G—dOeteisternielotsiaie wletpleiel=\~\cjaleinine 25 2 27 RBS cho ane ie te ietstate wielalpisie cinleteia= 34 4 38 {sh Pe WE See As a Sao eeeererio 44 10 54 ibey Sle WS ASA ss G54 556b0g0005 36 22 58 Ube) ees se asee a esossqseeseo 34 30 64 This Table illustrates the extraordinary progress of the colonial production, three-fourths of which are derived from Australia and Van Diemen’s Land. The pericdical public sales of colonial wool, which now occupy so important a position among the commercial occurrences of the British Capital, date their origin only so lately as the year 1817. The prices at that time, and for some subsequent period, were only from Qd. to 3d. per lb.; and it was not until twelve or fourteen years afterward that any important advance took place in the value of this commodity. The fine quality of the Australian wool * From a new work in the press, on Port Philip. } The wools occasionally sent from Port Pkilip by way of Sydney, and appearing in the Customs’ returns as Sydney exports, are here allowed for. The season or year is*taken as ending on the 10th October, as the usual date of 31st December falls in the midst of the wool shipments, and cannot fairly represent the quantities and ratio of progress of each year. } In 1846, the relative quantities imported into Britain were, in round numbers, thirty-four milJions oz pounds of foreign wool and thirty millions of colonial. For the present year the colonial may be safely assumed at somewhat more than half the importation. SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 295 began soon after to attract notice, and in 1835 and 1836 to excite the attention even of foreign manufacturers. From very small beginnings the extent of the periodical auction sales dually increased. An unprecedented number of 750 bales was announced for one series of sales in 1825; and for some years afterward 400 bales were considered to form a very ex- tensive sale. But in July, 1835, 8,746 bales were brought forward, realizing for the better qualities the considerable rates of from 2s. 6d. to 3s. 8d. per pound ; and at the sales of the same month in 1844, there were exposed no less than 31,358 bales.* The celebrated wools of Australia are derived from two principal breeds of sheep, the Merino and the Saxon. The former is the finest in quality, but it may be doubted if an adequate price has been hitherto derived to compensate for the lighter weight of the fleece. In the Sydney district, attention was chiefly bestowed on the Merino; in Van Diemen’s Land, on the Saxon; and the Port Philip district received a share of both, as the colonists from either locality transported their flocks to her pastures. This mixture of breeds was still farther increased by dccasional crosses with the Leicester and South-Down. In fact, from the numbers of inexperienced persons who entered on the occupation of sheep farming in this new settlement, and, without any fixed principles, carried on a mere random system of breeding, the greater portion of the wool consists of every shade of quality that natural accidents could produce. The abundant pasturage of Port Philip appears also to affect the pure Merino wool of the Sydney district, which in the former locality acquires a more open appearance, loses somewhat of its fineness, and increases about a quarter or half a pound in the weight of the fleece. The average weight of the good qualities of Port Philip fleeces, after washing, is from 24 to 2% lbs.; of the Sydney fleeces about 24 lbs. There has been for several years a desire to introduce a greater uniformity of quality in the fleeces of each particular grower, and on the whole an inclination to adhere to the production of the finer qualities of wool. { Here follow details of the Australian method of washing and other preparations for shearing, which are omitted, as they conform in every important particular to the directions laid down in these Letters for those processes.) The wool is now ready to be packed and dispatched to the port of shipment. Each fleece is cleared of the locks and clippings or other unseemly portions, and is usually tied with a piece of string, and tightly squeezed into bags containing about one hundred each, or from two hundred and fifty to three hundred pounds weight. The ponderous bullock dray is now yoked to its team of eight or a dozen oxen, and charged with an ample load of the golden fleece, is dispatched from the station on its annual and protracted mission to the port of shipment. The wool on its arrival in town is now generally classed and re-packed at an establishment for that purpose, unless this process has already been competently performed at the station. — The classification distinguishes only the entire fleece; it is not attempted to proceed to a minuter distinction of qualities by breaking the fleeces. When intended for sale, the wool, on its arrival in town, is conveniently exhibited in the various bins of the sorting establish ment, and its quality and condition are fairly ascertained. A+ the establishment of the Messrs. Bakewell, in Melbourne, the wool is assorted first into the two leading divisions of clothing and combing, and each of these descriptions is run out into five qualities, the fifth or lowest being the coarse Leicester breeds. Extra fine lots are classed by themselves; super-greasy, or kempy, or other defective fleeces, are also classed apart. The charge for sorting is 4d. per pound. The usual charge for hand-washing is 1d. per pound on the weight returned, and for scouring Id. to 14d. per pound. The system of re-packing is also of use in exposing any wet or damp that the wool may have acquired on the way from the interior, in which condition it is in danger of heating and even of originating fire in the hold of a vessel during a lengthened voyage. The shipping season for the Australian staple commences toward the end of October 3 but only a few solitary drays have succeeded in reaching town during that month. Considera- ble quantities have arrived by the end of November; and during the two succeeding months there is a continuous succession of vehicles pouring with their voluminous loads into the various ports of the district.t These arrivals begin to fall offin February; but during that and the two succeeding months considerable quantities continue to be shipped, including the later shorp fleeces of the young lambs. The shipment of other exports, which are comparatively of un- important amount, terminates with that of the wool. A solitary vessel may linger till July or August, when the transactions of the season are finally closed. The following from a late number of the Sydney Herald may be well appended to the above: * This included a small quantity of foreign wool. The proportion from Australia and Van Diemen’s Land on this occasion was 26,134 bales. The early sales were held at Garraway’s, and continued there from 1817 to 1843, when the locality was transferred to the Hall of Commerce, where they still continue The first bale at the first sale, from the novelty of the circumstance, realized 10s. 6d. per pound. [Mark- Line Exy ress, 7th, ] 4th, and 21st Oct. 1844. { There are five shipping ports in Australia Fe’ix; namely, S elbourme, or its p rt of V illiamstown, Gea fong Port.and, Belfast, sad Port A.bert vt Alberton, .n payee’ Land. The quantity for the present year (1847) may be estimated at about 28,000 bales, of which five-sixths are shipped at Williamstown and Geeloug. 296 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. «Our two time-honored competitors in the production of fine wool, Spain and Germany, have been fairly beaten out of the field. Te climate and pasturage of these colonies, and of the congenial settlement at the Cape of Good Hope, backed by the energies of their Anglo-Saxon race of flock-masters, have more than compensated for our greater distance from British mar kets. We have been enabled to supply a good articke—in vast and ever-increasing quanti ties—and at prices which, notwithstanding the cost of carriage, have, through our facilities of production, left us a remunerating profit, but which our ancient rivals have found to be in: sufficient to replace prime cost. “ But although Spain and Germany have ceased to vie with us as sellers of the raw mate rial in England, they have done so only to renew the contest in another form. They have enlarged their manufacturing operations. Since they can no longer sell their fleece ata profit, they have resolved on working it up in their own looms. To that extent, therefore, they will cease to import wrought woolen fabrics; and in so far as their imports were from Great Britain. there will be a corresponding decrease in the British consumption of our wools. The woolen cloths imported into those two countries from Great Britain, in the year 1841, amounted, in declared value, to £ 1,026,481 sterling: and if we add the quantities imported in the same year into Holland and Belgium, the amount would have been about a million and a half. We must therefore be cautious, as prudent men, not to allow our spirits to be too much exhilarated by the apparent victory we have gained over ‘ our hereditary enemies,’ seeing that, though seemingly vanquished, they have but shifted their position and varied their tactics. ‘A judicious writer says, in 1844: ‘ Of late years cottons have, from their cheapness, in a great degree superseded the lower qualities of cloths—a circumstance which, joined to the increasing rivalry of France, Germany and Belgium, renders it improbable, unless new mar- kets shall be opened in China or elsewhere, that much extension will in future be given to our manufacture of woolen cloths.”™ “While, however, the Spanish and the German wool-growers have thus ceased (or are expected very shortly to cease) to compete with us as exporters to England, another com petitor has sprung up in a new and quite unexpected quarter. In addition to corn, bread. stuffs, rice, tobacco, cotton, sugar, and an endless catalogue of ‘notions,’ in which Brother Jonathan has hitherto prided himself as a mighty producer, he has now taken it into his head that he can breed sheep and export wool on a large scale. And it would seem that in England his whim has by no means been thought whimsical. For, say certain Liverpool - brokers to him, under date of 3d September, 1846: ‘The arrivals of wool from the United States last year, for the first time to any extent, made quite a sensation in this country, as it was generally considered that you required to import these qualities, and there was no knowledge that your growth of wool was of such importance. We have seen it estimated at sixty-five million pounds ;t and from your vast (and to us almost incredible) means of production, we believe it will cause a kind of revolution in the wool trade.’ “ Jonathan’s own opinion of the matter is thus expressed through the medium of the New- Orleans Commercial Times: ‘ Wool can be grown as cheaply, and to as great advantage, in the cotton-growing States as in any part of the world. There is nothing in the climate to prevent it. If it may be found desirable to grow that of the finest grades, it can be done without fear of the animals becoming covered with hair in a few years.’ He has evidently some misgivings, however, as to the policy of his attempting the finest grades, for he imme- diately subjoims, ‘ However, we are inclined to think that woul of a coarser quality will be found most profitable, mutton being also an object with us.’ “Tf the United States already produce four times the quantity of wool that we do, and if there is a reasonable chance of their producing it of a quality equal to ours, and at no greater cost, then have we indeed much to fear from their formidable rivalry. The vast extent of their territory, the almost illimitable resources of their soil and climaie, the indomitable spirit of their citizens, combined with their proximity to the British market, will render their com petition, if successful at all, successful in no ordinary degree. “<« Wool,’ says another Liverpool correspondent, addressing an American, ‘requires in its production great attention in crossing the breed, otherwise the quality degenerates very quickly.’ The maintenance of its fineness depends also very much on the nature of the pa turage on which the sheep graze. And we may remark that your own samples are of a par ticularly good kind.’” Here is a word of encouragement for the Americans, with a word of caution for the Aus tralians. Of the two requisites for the production and preservation of a superior staple, one, suitable pasturage, is bountifully supplied to the Australian grower by Nature, while the ether depends upon his own industry and skill. In this, it is to be feared, he has scarcely been just to himself. He has possibly presumed too much upon the natural advantages of the fine sheep-sustaining country in which his capital is staked. It will be well if this note of warning from the land of Stars and Stripes shail rouse him to a more vigilant attention. [Simmonds’s Colonial Magazine. * Watenton’s Cyclopedia of Commerce, p. 672. { The quantity of wool exported from New South Wales, including the district of Port Philip, in the year 3843, was 17,564,734 lbs. APPENDIX. ON SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN SOUTH CAROLINA. Report on the Value cf Sheep Husband:y. Read to the Agricultural Society, Pendleton, South Carolina. In obedience to your resolution, requiring your committee to “ report on Sheep Husbandry in the South,” they beg leave to say that the resolution would seem to require a more extended examination than could be embraced in a report of an ordinary length. They will therefore confine themselves to that part of the subject which, in their estimation, will best show the applicability and value of sheep hus- bandry to our neighborhood and section. Although but little attention is given by any of us, to raising sheep, and by none to preparing wool for a foreign market, yet it will be admitted, that our native stock are healthy, growing to a fair sizeand produce a fair fleece, from two to five pounds, even under the great neglect with which they are treated. There is, however, one question necessary to examine, and that is, whether the quality and quantity of the fleece deteriorate in our climate. The question has been very fully examined by Mr. H. S. Randall, a very intel- ligent and experienced wool grower in Cortland, New York. From his excellent letters, published in the Farmers’ Library, (the perusal of which I take pleasure in recommending to the members of this society,) I draw the following statement : “Tt is known that from Spain (north latitude 36 to 44 degrees) all the fine wooled flocks have sprung. And that in Saxony (north latitude 50 to 51 degrees 30 minutes) the Spanish Merino wool has been improved in fineness of fibre but lessened in quantity. In New York (north latitude 42 to 44 degrees) the fineness of the Spanish Merino is preserved and quantity increased. In Vermont (north latitude 43 to 45 degrees) the fineness and quantity of the Saxony wool are preserved.”’ South of us, in Madison county, Mississippi, (north latitude 32 degrees, 41 minutes,) the wool of the Saxony sheep has been found to maintain its original fineness, and increased in quantity. Recent experiments in Aus- tralia (scuth latitude 33 degrees 55 minutes) show that fine wooled sheep (the Merino) preserve the quantity and improve in quality of fleece. ' The exports of wool from there in 1810 was only - - - - = 167 lbs ts c in 1833 as - - - - 3,516,869 “ rc % ¥ in 1843" 9 = 8 Teeeeats 16,225 400)" © In 1834, London price for best Spanish Merino, was - - - - 67.cts & Australian Merino, - = 2 3 S 2 u és 100 * “ English wool, - - - - - - = E : =, 4g 6 2F 207 298 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN SOUTH CAROLINA. In England, (north latitude 50 to 56 degrees,) from some cause not yet settled, fine wool cannot be grown. Near the Cape of Good Hope, (south latitude 34 minutes,) Merino Sheep do well, maintaining both quality and quantity of fleece with Spain. The latitude of Pendleton is 84 degrees 40 minutes, but counting a de- gree for every 200 feet altitude, would throw us some twelve degrees farther north, and between the latitudes of Spain and Saxony. So far then as latitude is concerned, experiments have been made both north and south of us, which show, that here, Spanish Merino wool neither degenerates in quality nor quantity of fleece. It is also known that rich succulent green food generally adds length to fibre, but does not always make fine wool coarser, at least between latitude 28 and 50 degrees north, nor does it make coarse wool finer. Humidity and dryness of atmosphere seem to have, as well as climate, some influence on the fibre. But as yet, the laws which govern the fleece have not been satisfactorily ascertained. It is sufficient for the present inquiry that experi- ments verify the operation, that in this latitude Merino wool wili not become coarser, nor the coarse long wool become finer, if each stock be kept pure. And as the climate is well adapted to both, the choice of stocks may very well be left to the fancy of those who try either. We come now to test the value of sheep husbandry to this section of country. There are many methods by which this can be done. I shall, however, take the simple one of comparing the profits of this with the other pursuits of the country. It is acknowledged in the Northern States that growing wool is a good business there, and I will first give a table from Mr. Randall’s letter, show- ing the profits of growing wool in New York: A. buys 100 ewes at $2, - - - - - - - - - $200 00 a 33% acres of land at $20, - - - - - - - 666 66 Cutting and curing 11 acres of the above for hay, - - - - 13 65 Pay fcr shearing, - - - - . - - - - - 4 00 For sa't, tar, and summer care, - - - - - - - - 4 00 For labor of winter feeding, - - - - - - - - 5 00 Loss by death 2 per cent. above pulled wool from those that die, - 4 00 ’ $837 31 RECEIPTS. 300 Ibs. wool at 394, - - - - - - - - $118 71 80 lambs at $1, - - - - - - - - - 80 00 Summer manure equal to winter care, - - - - 5 00 $203 71 This is equal to 24 per cent. on the amount invested, and makes the cost of the wool to the farmer 27 cents per pound. A calculation founded on the same data for Pendleton makes the result more favorable : A. buys 100 ewes at $1, - - sa Siah ti ele - $100 00 Pays for shearing, - - - 2 = - - - - = 4 00 For salt, tar, = - 2 - 3 2 = = = x < 2 00 Loss 2 per cent. above skins and wool of those that die, - - - 2 00 I make no charge for summer pasture, because it costs nothing, nor should rye or barley pastures for winter be charged; the crop is reaped after- wards. But charge it at 20 cents per head, - - - - - 20 00 One hand’s attention an hour in the morning to turn to pasture, and an hour in the evening to pen; this is one-sixth part of his time. Say his whole time is worth $72: one-sixth is - - - - - - - - 12 00 Total outlay and expense for feeding one year, - - $140 00 —.- SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN SOUTH CAROLINA. 299 RECEIPTS. 2 lbs. wool per head is 200 lbs., at 20 cents, - - - $40 00 80 lambs at $1 when one year old, - - - - - - 8000 $120 00 This is 85 per cent. In this instance the wool costs the farmer nothing, Deduct $90, the value of the original stock of ewes at the commencement of the next year, from $140, the total outlay, and you have $50, which the value of the lambs more than equal. Compare it with farming or planting: A. buys anegro for - - - - - - - - - $700 00 Furnishes him with fifteen acres of afd at $5, - - - - . 75 00 Half the expenses of a horse and plough, - - - - - - 50 00 For his board and clothing, - - - - - - - - - 20 00 $845 00 RECEIPTS. His labor, 160 barrels corn at 40 cents, = - - - $64 00 5 bags cotton at $30 a bag, - - . - = «| 1 =, 150) 00 $214 00 This is equal to 25 per cent., certainly as much as any man in this neighborhood makes. 1 have purposely made this large estimate that no one can say it is under the truth. B. buys 500 ewes and 20 bucks, common stock, at $1, - - + $520 00 Employs a shepherd, - - - - - - - - - - 175 00 Pays 20 cents for winter feed per head, - - - - - - 104 00 Pays for tar and salt, = - - = ~ : = = - = - 20 OO B. has $76 less than A. in the outlay, - = - - - - - $819 00 RECEIPTS. 3 lbs. wool per head is 1560 lbs. at 20 cents, - $312 00 80 lambs to the 100 ewes is 400 lambs at $1, - - 400 00 712 OC Deduct for loss over skins and wool of those that die, 2 per cent. 18 40 ——— $693 60 The outlay of A. ($890) brings him $210, equal to 25 per cent. The outlay of B. ($819) brings him $693 60, equal to 85 per cent. This calculation will do for the neighborhood of Pendleton or lower down, where sheep have to be fed during ‘the winter. But for all that part of Pickens and Greenville district, extending south for twenty-six or thirty miles from the foot of the mountains, the profits would be larger. For in that belt of country, lam informed by many residents—General Garvin among them—that the range affords sufficient food for sheep the entire year. Even when snow is on the ground, they paw the snow away and get sus- tenance from the winter grass. For that section I would alter the calculation thus : B. buys 500 ewes and 20 bucks, - = = = - - - $520 00 Pays for a shepherd, - - - - - - - - - - 175 00 Pays for salt and tar, - - - - - - - - - 20 00 $715 00 RECEIPTS. 1560 lbs. wool at 20 cents, - - - - $312 00 90 lambs to the 100 ewes is 450 at it $1, - - - 4650 00 ‘ ———__ 762 00 Deduct for loss 2 per cent. over skins and wool of those that diz, JY 00 Making $28 more than 100 per cent. $743 00 300 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN SOUTH CAROLINA. But try it ona scale that every one can compare with his own expe. rience. B. buys 3 ewes and 1 buck for - - - - : 2 . $4 OC He shears 12 lbs. of wool at 20 cents, - - - . - 2 40 2 lambs at $1, - - - - - * “ - - - 2 00 4 40 Over 100 per cent. These are suppositions. Take what has actually occurred in Pickens district. Mr. Stribling, as I am informed by himself, bought one ewe for $1: In 18465 she had 3 lambs, - . = < 5 z $3 00 Sheared 2 lbs. wool at 20 cents, - = - 2 2 3 40 $3 40 In 1847, same ewe had 2 lambs, - - - - - = 2 00 Sheared again 2 lbs. wool at 20 cents, - ” - - - AO Each one of the last year’s lambs had a lamb apiece, - - 3 00 And sheared from the 3, 6 lbs. wool at 20 cents, - - - 1-20 6 60 This is an increase of eight in two years from one ewe, and Mr. Stribling says at this time the whole are alive. I admit this is an extraordinary case, and it is only mentioned to show there are cases of actual increase far above any of those calculations made above. If, then, the climate be not only adapted to fine wool, but also to the coarse—if the range, which is abundant and sufficient to feed a flock the entire year; and if the above calculations are founded on data anywhere near correct, what more can be desired to show the applicability and value of sheep husbandry to this section. From three very respectable woo] growers, one from each of the states of Pennsylvania, New York, and Ohio, I was told the way to make a calcu- lation on the profits of sheep husbandry in a reasonably safe way, was to put down every year one-ninth less of lambs than you have ewes, and then deduct one-tenth from the whole for deaths in that year. Thus, say you have - - - - - . - - - 100 ewes. From 100 deduct one-ninth, and you have - - - - - - 89 lambs. 189 Then deduct one-tenth for deaths, - - - - - - - 18 And you have - - - - - - - - - - - 171 To start with the next year. On this basis I have taken one hundred ewes and run the calculation on for eight years. The result was: Wool sheared in eight years, - - - - - - - ° 17,190 Ibs. The gentlemen above alluded to, say that half the wool wil pay all ex- penses, even when the winters require five months’ feed : Deduct, then, one-half, 8,595, at 20 cents, - - - - - $1719 00 The increase amounted to 2067 sheep, at $1, ett | ey ake 2067 00 Total, - - - - - $3786 00 This result, if attained, would exceed fifty per cent. compounded. They say, too, it is a safe estimate to say that the lambs of each year will pay the expenses of the whole flock for that year in Pennsylvania. 'They more than SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN SOUTH CAROLINA. 301 doit here. Allow eighty lambs to one hundred ewes, and you have from five hundred ewes, four hundred lambs; deduct one-tenth for deaths, and You have 360 at $1, - = = = = 5 - - - - $360 00 Charge 20 cents per head for 900 sheep, makes’ - - - 180 00 Charge for shepherd, - - - - - - - - 150 00 — 330 00 Lambs over-pay expenses by - - - - - - - - $30 00 All these calculations are made on the supposition that sheep get a par‘ of that regular attention which all farmers give to their other domestic ani mals. And to make sheep husbandry successful, it is not only necessary that this attention should be given, but every one who attempts it shoul. know something of their diseases and the cures, and also the summer and winter management. This can be acquired only by their own, or the ex- ‘perience of others. Easy access can be had to the experience of northern wool growers, who are proverbial for being close observers. They say the disease called the “ scours’’ is the principal one to which sheep are liable, produced by excess of rich green food, and cured easily by a change to dry, but if allowed to continue, is fatal. From the introduction into the United States, in 1508, of Merino sheep from Spain, owners of this stock have considered it of the first importance to preserve the quality and quantity of their fleece, and if possible, to im prove both. They ascertained that lambs from young and healthy sires improved, while those from old ewes fell back both in quality and quantity of fleece. Among them it is now a settled practice not to breed from ewes over seven or eight, nor from bucks over six years old. It is very important to resort to the evidence of age the teeth afford. Their books have been par ticular in describing these evidences, which I will copy: “During the first _year, lambs have eight small teeth in front, in the upper jaw, cailed nippers ; at a year old, the centre two shed, and two larger teeth take their place. At two years old, the next two are lost, and supplied by two larger ones. Thus losing and being supplied by two larger ones annually, till five—then they have a full set. At eight or nine they begin to lose their nippers—two every year—and by thirteen or fourteen years old, they have lost their entire set.” It is evident that during the time ewes are losing their teeth, they become less and less able to supply themselves with food, consequently afford less and less milk for their young. Thus the degeneracy is accounted for. In Vermont, where wool is as much their staple as cotton in South Carolina, so important do they consider it not to breed from ewes after they begin to lose teeth, that although mutton is not used by the inhabitants for the table, they sell their old stock to be fed to hogs. In most of the other northern states, their ewes at that age are kept from the bucks, and fattened for market. From their known skill in managing well what they undertake, we may safely take their usage as a guide, when it is applicable to our situation. With them grass is the entire food of their flocks—green meadows for summer pasture and hay for winter. Their win- ters require five months’ constant feeding, during which they estimate each sheep to consume fifty cents worth of hay. All stock is then kept enclosed, and the attention to turning sheep to pasture in summer, and feeding sheep in winter, requires but little labor in addition to their other stock. Flocks require close attention but at three times in the year—the tupping, the lambing, and shearing seasons. Ewes go with lamb one hundred and twenty-five days, or five months, and they so manage as to have the lambs 302 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN SOUTH CAROLINA. brought in April and May; (here February is esteemed by many a better month.) 'To do this, the bucks must be kept impounded, except at the time desired. From the great superiority of early lambs, this part of sheep husbandry is esteemed very important. During lambing season, close attention is required to guard both ewe and lamb from storms and cold winds—to see that the ewe acknowledges her_ lamb, and to keep up the marking and altering as the lambs get between five and ten days old. Ten days previous to shearing time they prepare for it by washing the © wool on the sheep’s back, that the natural oil of the wool, which is destroyed — by the washing, may have time to be renewed, without which the wool feels and works harsh. ‘The washing is done at spouts or pools, prepared for the purpose, and the other flocks are kept on clean pastures till sheared. As the proper preparation of an article for market is justly considered of the next importance to a good article, I will describe this process minutely, as practised for the northern market. The shearing is done on a clean floor, and each fleece is kept unbroken. When sheared, it is rolled outside in, until it is reduced to a lump about ten inches each way, and then tied with strings in two places. For packing the wool, a bag is used nearly as large as our cotton bags, which, after sewing to a hoop at top, they hang through a hole in an upper floor, a little less in diameter than the hoop; here the fleeces are packed down by the foot, the weight of an ordinary sized man being a sufficient pressure. Thus finished, the wool is ready for a northern or European market. Manufacturers will not give full price for wool unless the fleeces are unbroken; because, before manufacturing, they consider it necessary to have each fleece divided into five qualities, which they cannot do if the wool of different fleeces is emptied together. Different modes of summer management are followed in different coun- tries. ‘The one followed in Australia, as described by Mr. Randall, is not only less troublesome, but would be better suited to our mountain region. There they roam over the plains, under charge of a shepherd, in flocks of three hundred to one thousand. Every night, some two or more of these flocks are penned together, during the entire year. Breeding promiscuously from the bucks that run with the flocks, allowing three or four to the hun- dred ewes. At the Cape of Good Hope, he says the same practice pre- vails ; and from both of these places the wool exported is equal, and in some instances superior in quality to the Merino. The statements here given, Mr. President, we have carefully considered, and believe to be truae—and we submit them under the belief that if the im- portance of sheep husbandry was duly considered, especially by the districts lying north and contiguous to the mountains, much additional comfort and wealth might be added to that already delightful region. All which is respectfully submitted. R. F. SIMPSON. Note.—Since this report was read, I have been informed by Mr. Thomas M. Sloan, that his wool does not cost him more than five cents a pound— and by Mr. Morris, at Pickens C. H., that for care, shearing, &c., of a small flock of eight ewes, worth eight dollaes: kept on Ocone nicumianel he paid one-half of “the spring clipping, equal to three-quarters of a pound per head, and that from them he had, alter paying all expenses, $3 60, and eight lambs worth eight dollars—$11 60. And by Mr. Shepherd, a tenant on ANCRUM ON WOOL MATTRESSES. 303 Mr. J. O. Lewis’s Tamosa estate, that in 1846 he took with him from Green- ville a few sheep, Among which were 4 ewes, worth - - - - =e E - $4 00 They had 4 lambs, worth - - - - - - -/ 400 Thinks he sheared 3 Ibs, per head, but say 2, which is 8 lbs. at 20 cts. 1 60 — 5 60 In 1848, from 8 sheared 14 lbs. wool at 20 cents, - - - 2 80 And had 8 lambs, worth - - - - - - - 700 — 9 80 $15 40 Salt and shearing was the only expense. He had only offered to feed them once in the two years, and then they refused to taste corn shelled to them. H. ANCRUM ON WOOL MATTRESSES. ASHLEY, Pike county, Mo. A sound man in one night of seven hours’ sleep, generally perspires fifty ounces avoirdupois or four pounds troy weight; we cannot wonder at that, since there are above three hundred thousand millicns of pores in the body of a middle-sized man, and that in the last hours of sleep one perspires most ; hence the impropriety and the weakness of lying too long in a soft bed, and the necessity of lying on a comparatively hard elastic bed, such asa wool mattress. In France, wool mattresses are generally adopted, conse- quently you never meet with a bad bed there. I have travelled all over France, and never met with a bad bed, and a very recent intelligent Ameri- can traveller of great observation, mentions, on his removal from England to France, that he found the French beds delicious, because the beds are wool mattresses. Mode of Making a Wool Mattress.—The first thing to constitute a good healthy bed is, that it must be absolutely flat, therefore all bedsteads should have wooden laths instead of sacking, which always gives and forms a hol- low ; the wool is carded by hand, and all knots and extraneous matter taken out; the great point is to make it thick enough. The best bed I slept in, in my life, had sixty pounds of wool in it, but the bed was a very large extra size; half that quantity will make a small bed, but if you wish to ‘lie luxuriously, yet hard, do not stint the wool, that makes all this difference ; it lasts for ever—the covering is washed once a year; the wool is carded, and a few pounds of wool added, and the bed is sweet and new. However luxuriously he may be, Jet any gentleman have a good wool mattress made, and let him ride forty or fifty miles and thoroughly fatigue himself, he will then know the value of such a bed. My object is also to increase the home consumption of our wool. There are twenty odd millions in the United States; say five to each family, four millions; say three beds to each family, taking the whole population, twelve millions; say thirty pounds of wool to each bed, three hundred and sixty millions of pounds of wool; say thirty-four millions of sheep in the United States, say eighty million pounds of wool; this will consume more than four years’ clip of our wool. This ought to be promulgated to increase the consumption of our wool, and such wool as cannot be sold abroad. Independent of the benefit to all in then health, who adopt wool mattresses on account of their cleanliness and dura- bility, in the end, they are cheaper than any other bedding. Every thing that increases the home consumption of our wool is of na- tional importance, as is every thing that will promote the general health of 304 ANCRUM ON WOOL MATTRESSES. our people. In this changeable and rigorous climate in winter, if all were to wear flannel, particularly narrow-chested and delicate females, it would be of the greatest benefit to their health, and save them many a fit of sick- ness. When we consider how cheap the English sell their Welsh flan- nel, it ought to stimulate our manufacturers; I must, however, observe, that I never purchased any flannel in the United States equal to the real Welsh flannel, or that did not shrink, or that wore near so long as the English flannel. The English flannel has a nap on both sides, which renders it warm and soft, and it washes soft to the last. The United States flannel that | have used washes harsh, and the wear is not near so agreeable as real Welsh flannel, but surely all these difficulties can be overcome by our people, and they can make.as good flannel as the best Welsh flannel. It is well known that woollen clothes, such as flannels, worn next the skin, promote insensible perspiration. May not this arise principally from the strong attraction which subsists between wool and the watery vapor which is continually issuing from the human body? Thatit does not depend entirely on the warmth of that covering is clear, because one degree of warmth produced by wearing more clothing of a different kind does not produce the same effect. The perspiration of the human body being absorbed by a covering of flannel, it is immediately distributed through the whole thickness of that substance, and by this means exposed by a very large surface to be carried off by the atmosphere, and the loss of the watery vapor which the flannel sustains on the one side by evaporation, being immediately restored from the other in consequence of the strong attraction between the flannel and this vapor, the pores of the skin are disencumbered, and they are continually surrounled with a dry and salubrious atmosphere. It is astonishing that the custorn of wearing flannel next the skin should not have prevailed more universally ; it is certain it would prevent a number of diseases, and there certainly is na greater luxury than the comfortable sensation which arises from wearing it, after one is accustomed toit. It isa mistaken notion that it is too warm clothing for summer; it may be worn in the hottest climates, at all seasons of the year, without the least inconvenience arising from wearing it.* It is the warm-bath of a perspiration confined by a linen shirt, wet with sweat, which renders the summer heats of southern climates so insupportable; but flannel promotes perspiration and favors its evaporation, and evaporation, as it is well known, produces positive cold. I can vouch for the truth of every word of this. I wear the same kind of flannel all summer as I do in winter with sleeves; when I take extra exercise and perspire freely, my body and flesh is always cool and comfortable, and in part I owe it to wear- ing flannel that I have never had either fever or ague in this western coun- try, which is full of it. All this may appear trivial, and sanitary rules are disregarded, but it is all of the utmost importance and to all. Say fifteen inillions of our people wear flanne] next their skin, and three flannel waist- coats to each, that is forty-five millions of waistcoats, at two yards each, (not enough with sleeves as they ought to be made,) ninety millions of yards of flannels in waistcoats only. Old people, delicate women and children, and above all, consumptive people, ought all to wear flannel drawers as well as a flannel waistcoat ; if this was adopted, the great sickness that prevails in the United States would be much diminished. Men drink spirituous liquors to increase the animal heat, and feel that glow that is called com- fortable. Let them wear flannel next their skin instead, and keep the body warm and the head cool. *The firemen in steamboats could not exist if they wore linen instead of flannel shirts. The pleasant est of all mattresses is one made of a mixture of wool and hair. [Eps. PLougu, Loom, AnD ANVIL. ee D5 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN TEXAS. 305 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN TEXAS. BY H, 8. RANDALL, LL.D., Author of ‘‘ Life of Thomas Jefferson;’’ Editor of Randall’s “‘ Youatt on the Horse,” etc., etc. Epirors oF Texas Atmanac: In pursuance of your request, I proceed to give you some of the results of my experience and investigations in re- gard to wool-growing, and my views of the adaptation of this husbandry to the climate, soil, and other existing conditions of Texas. Crmatre.—The best climate for the cheap production of wool, other things being equal, obviously is that which furnishes the most abundant and suitable pasturage during the greatest portion of the year. This, speaking generally, is to be found in the Northern hemisphere, between latitudes 30° and 40° on the eastern margin of each continent, and be- tween about 38° and 48° on the western. The south half of this wool- growing zone, where the other conditions besides climate are favorable, excels the northern. North of the wool-growing zone, the growth of vegetation is suspend- ed, and the nutritiveness of grasses destroyed by cold, during considera- ble portions of the year; and then sheep require more expensive dry feed, suitable winter shelter, etc. South of the wool-growing zone, veg- etation, where it flourishes, is too rank and tropical for the smaller rumin- ating animals, and the heat too intense for those carrying so dense a pelage as the fine-woo'led sheep. Local exceptions exist to the above classification, owing to a variety of causes; most prominent of which are altitude, the shelter of mountains from northern and southern winds, the contiguity of large bodies of water, etc. I have said, “ other things being equal,” the question will be immedi- ately asked whether wool of the same variety of sheep grown in latitude 30° is as fine as that grown in latitude 40° or 45° I doubt whether it is, Sheep transported from a climate of long winters to one of perennial, or nearly perennial, pasturage, increase visibly i in size, and their descend: ants permanently become a larger variety. The constant supply of succulent food produces more copious and uniform animal secretions than an inter- rupted supply, or than an alternating supply of green and dry food. In theory, we should expect the same causes to affect the fleece as well as the carcass. They do visibly increase the length of the staple. The in- crease of its diameter (admitting that it does increase) during over twenty years of breeding—about as far as my personal observations have extend- on that point—is not, I think, perceptible to the naked eye. But be it greater or smaller, it is more than compensated for by the increased soft- ness and evenness of wools grown in warm and more uniform climates,. and on more uniformly succulent nutriment. I must be content to state this as a well-established practical fact. Ihave not room to array author- ities on every point. Sort.—It would present a very tangible, and by no means a bad test of the proper soils for wool-growing, to say that they are those which produce, or which can be made to produce, the most continuous supply of fine sweet grasses. A marshy soil, a soil containing so great an excess of clay as to poach into mud, and remain long wet. after rains, a low, rankly, rich river bottom alluvion, and especially “such an alluvion, if anu. ally replenished by slimy deposits of decaying vegetable matter, all inju- 306 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN TEXAS. riously affect the health of sheep. None of these soils produce the grasses I have mentioned. The best lands for sheep are those which are dry and “sound ;” which admit of the rapid percolation or drainage of water; and an admixture of sand or gravel in them, is a favorable, though by no means an indispensable condition. Enormous flocks of sheep flourish, in perfect health, on the plains of Illinois, which are “sticky ” after every shower. But water does not stand on them as on a stiff clay, nor does it constantly saturate them as it does boggy lands. It is sometimes claimed—particularly by that class of tyros who are ready to jump at conclusions on a very limited experience—that sheep on their farms, or in their localities, defy all the preceding conditions. They flourish, if we may believe these gentlemen, in stagnant fens, in ‘ hog- wallows,”? and on river bottoms, where the malaria is almost visible, as it steams up from the decomposing mass. It is true that fifty sheep, like a small family of human beings, will occasionally, and for a limited period, appear unaffected by such unpropitious circumstances. But, by and by comes the destroyer—the pestilence that walketh by noon-day—and the increase of years is suddenly swept away. Cholera, yellow fever, or bil- ious fever depopulates the human settlement—rot, or some other epidemic, passes, like a tornado, over the sheep-ranch. The causes of disease do not bear fruit every year, but the laws of nature are never abrogated. Sheep tolerate almost all chemical varieties of soil. With the proper conditions in other respects, they are seemingly equally healthy on the sterile, pulverized granite of New England, and the rich, calcareous wheat lands of Ohio, or the Valley of Virginia—on the tertiary sands of our Atlantic border, and among the rocky cliffs of the Alleghanies. No ani- mal is so necessary to man, and therefore none has been adapted to the circumstances of so large a portion of the earth’s surface. ELevation.—Elevation is, I rather think, a pleasing condition to an animal, which, like the goat, the ibex, etc., zodlogists consider the natural denizen of mountain regions; and mountains and hills often present the other condition which are specially adapted to sheep—firm dry soils, short sweet grasses, pure air, and clear water. But elevation is of no conse- quence per se; and if the same favorable conditions are found on plains, they are as healthy localities for sheep as mountains. GrassEs.—Sheep will thrive on almost all varieties of grass, when they are first springing up tender and succulent from the earth. No grass is suitable for them, when its stems have become dry and woody. ‘Tough, aquatic grasses are always unfavorable. We are to give the preference, then, to those varieties which do not send up coarse seed stems—those which are constantly supplying a fine verdure from the root. No variety is preferable to the small, spontaneous, white clover of the north, or the finest spontaneous musquite grasses of Texas. Red clover, Timothy, June, or Blue grass ;* indeed, all the grasses cultivated in the north, will do very well if kept fed down, and this might be the case with many of the coarser varieties in Texas. Some small flock-masters have fancied that sheep would thrive on the dry stems of tall, coarse grasses—because they thrive among them. But afew sheep will find tender, nutritious plants, which are screened from casual observation among these taller ones. When the former are gone, sheep will promptly and visibly fall off in condition. The fact that the natural grass is too coarse for sheep, by no means * T am not sure that the pure grass of New York and the Blue grass of Kentucky are the same, vever having specially investigated the subject ; but the late Mr. Clay wrote me that they were the same. SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN TEXAS. 307 proves that proper “ artificial” varieties would not flourish on the same soil, particularly if the first flush of its virgin fertility was a little reduced by cropping. W ater.—W ater is not indispensable for sheep, when at pasture. The juices of the grass and the dew and rains supply their wants. Thousands and thousands of good sheep-pastures in the north are wholly without other sources of supply. But, of choice, I would prefer water in sheep- pastures—clear springs, or rapidly running brooks. Sheep will visit these as regularly as cows or horses. Apapration or Texas.—As I remarked in my answers to your inter- rogatories on this same subject, last fall, (published by you in the Galves- ton News,) I have never set my foot in your State. But, after the expe- rience of many years in sheep-breeding, and after a close and diligent investigation, extending to all available sources of information—many of these the minute and careful statements of your own most intelligent and candid citizens—I do not entertain a particle of doubt, first, that you have vast regions in Texas admirably adapted to sheep husbandry; and secondly, that wool can now be raised more cheaply in those regions than in any other portion of the globe, where sufficiently good government prevails to make life tolerable and secure, and such property as sheep safe from frequent and extensive depredations. In no such portion of the earth, are lands, furnishing perennial pasturage, (or the use of such lands,) so cheap. In none are the general circumstances more favorable, the ac- cidental and occasional disadvantages fewer. In nearly every particular, Texas possesses decided advantages over our other Southern States, and enormous ones over the Northern and Eastern States. As between it and the latter, a brief statement disposes of all contro- versy. The sheep-lands of the Northern and Eastern States cost, on an average, thirty dollars an acre; and sheep are frequently kept on those worth from forty to sixty dollars an acre. On these high-priced lands, sheep must be fed on dry feed—hay and grain—about five months of each year. Expensive shelters must be erected, or the sheep-farmer will lose the cost of them in the loss of life and condition in his flocks. In Texas, prime and desirable pasture-lands can be bought at two dol- lars an acre—frequently for considerably less. He who owns a home- stead of a few avres, can pasture thousands of acres of unoccupied land. The pasturage of much of Texas is perennial. Large and small flock- masters have proved this to be a practical fact. Mr. Kendall has wintered a large and constantly increasing number of sheep, for three years, with- out, he writes me, giving “an ounce” of dry feed, or providing any arti- ficial shelter, though he agrees with me that a little of both would be desirable for emergencies. He has encountered wet winters and dry winters with equal success. His sheep are perfectly healthy. His testi- mony is fully confirmed by that of some twenty other candid and intelli- gent gentlemen, scattered over various parts of the State, who have favored me with minute accounts of their experience in sheep-raising. Theory would anticipate these facts when the natural conditions of Texas are known; but it is always satisfactory to have the suggestions of theory established and made certain by actual experiment. Your country cannot always enjoy this entire priority in the conditions for cheap wool production. The success of this husbandry of itself will aid in reducing its profits. Your sheep-lands skirt noble and navigable rivers. Unlike our rough sheep-ranges of the North, they are topograph- ically adapted to the construction of those railroads which the business 308 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN TEXAS. of your State will soon demand. An enterprising population is pouring in upon you from the other States of the Union, and from Europe. The boy is now born who will see, not only the good soils in all the counties at present organized in Texas, but in its regions where now roves the wild Camanche, worth twenty or thirty dollars an acre. Then the sunny but unarable slopes of the Alleghanies, in Virginia, the Carolinas, etc., may successfully compete with you in wool-growing, owing to their greater cheapness. PROFITS OF WOOL-GROWING.—Northern flock-masters usually estimate the consumption of eight American Merino sheep equivalent to that of a cow. All prime American Merino flocks should average as high as about five pounds of washed wool per head, or seven and a-half pounds of un- washed wool. Choice breeding flocks should do better still. To show you that I speak from actual knowledge instead of conjecture, let me say that I have two flocks of pure Spanish (American Merino) yearling ewes, which averaged, this year, five pounds and six ounces of well-washed wool per head—equivalent to eight pounds and one ounce unwashed ; and the yearling never produces as much wool as the adult sheep. tors <6 1858 . : F : A Z . S37 t0'412 1859 2 : : : : : 44:40 46 1% Assuming five pounds to be the weight of fleece, and eight ewe sheep to be the equivalent of a cow in consumption, it follows that the feed of acow would have returned this year eighteen dollars in wool, and as many lambs as eight ewes would raise, which would be at least seven. What these seven lambs would additionally be worth to the Texas grower, T leave you to estimate. Even among common sheep, the lamb is always considered to be worth as much as its dam’s fleece. If rams and wethers raise no lambs, they produce greatly more wool than ewes. Now say what are the profits of a cow in Texas, and deduct the difference in the trouble of looking after her and the eight sheep, and you have a compar- ative view of the profits between the animals, which will prove instruc- . tive! Do you obtain five dollars per head of net annual profits on cows, on the average? And yet you raise cattle on a scale which conveys the idea that you find it as profitable as any other of your branches of hus- bandry on the pasture-lands of Texas. In my former letters to you k SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN TEXAS. 309 placed the entire cost of keeping sheep, including interest on land, at fifty cents a head per annum. In this estimate, I included the cost of shelters, of a month’s winter feed, and some other contingencies, all of which I am assured by intelligent Texians are unnecessary. I also proceed- ed on the supposition that no lands were to be pastured but those which had been bought and paid for by the flock-master. If these items be struck out, the cost of keeping large flocks ought not to exceed one half of my former estimate. I confess, however, that this sounds almost too favora- ble to be true. Mr. Jefferson deeply lamented the dismemberment of that Texas from the United States which he had bought with Louisiana —considering it the very garden of our Southern country. But the “Sage of Monticello ” hardly expected to find El Dorado in your sheep- pastures, or Aladdin’s lamp on the bank of the Colorado! I repeat it, the story must be too good to be all true. The first cost of embar king in breeding full-blood sheep is considerable. But the sale of surplus ones vat extra prices to newer breeders will soon offset this; and, at all events, it is so soon repaid by the enormous profits of the husbandry, that it is not to be kept in view as an annual part of the account. Interest ceases to run after the principal is paid! Another important fact in favor of sheep is always to be taken into view. If the steer or colt dies before it is sold or used—if the cow dies before she has produced young—the loss is nearly a total one. At best, the colt keeps you waiting on him, say three years, and the steer and heifer at least two, before_they commence making returns. The sheep is a prompter paymaster. He pays you annually, And he never dies in your debt. If he dies before he is six months old, he has cost you noth- ing that is appreciable. If he dies afterwards, before his first sheari ing, his wool will more than pay for what he has consumed ; ; and this is true of him at whatever age his death occurs, taking the aggregate of his life together. Best Breep or Sarerp.—When wool is the main object, and mutton is only an incidental one—as always must be the case in a large and thinly inhabited country like Texas, not yet containing populous cities— there is but one breed of sheep worth consideration, so far as comparative intrinsic value is concerned. I can declare on a pretty extensive experi- ence—but it really needs no experience to arrive at that conclusion—that no other breed makes a remote approach to the value of the Merino for the production of wool; and its mutton is good and palatable. Half and three-quarter breed Merino mutton is especially so, and five Americans out of six would prefer it, on the table, to the tallowy meat of the large long-woolled English mutton varieties. Well-bred Merinos yield about as much wool per head as the largest English long-woolled breeds—yield farmore than English middle-woolled breeds—yield about twice as much value of wool for the amount of feed consumed as any English breed—and are hardier, and herd (that is, thrive when kept together in large numbers) better than any of the more valuable English varieties. Their length of life is much greater. A Merino is not, to use a common expression, “ older at eight” than a Bake- well or Southdown sheep is at five. And, what may not be quite as well understood by those who have not experimented with both races, (as I have,) the Merino is decidedly hardier than the high-bred English sheep. It is less addicted to colds or snufiles, bears extremes of weather better, is capable of travelling farther for its food, and will endure a scarcity of food with far greater impunity. The English sheep has the advantage of 310 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN TEXAS. arriving earlier at maturity—a matter of much importance in a mutton breed, but of comparatively little in a wool-growing one. Of the unimproved English and Scotch varieties, it is unnecessary to speak. Several of them are much superior to the improved varieties of those countries in hardiness and herding properties; but they all produce coarse, and, compared with the Merino, light fleeces. None of them are, in my opinion, really essentially superior for wool-growing to what is termed the “ native stock” in New-York and New-England. Spaniso Merrnos.—I shall not here consume space with the past his- tory of any breed. The ancient Spanish sheep, as imported into this country by Humphreys, Jarvis, and other breeders, whose character gave full warrant of supposed purity of blood, produced of washed wool less than four pounds in the ewes, and seven in the rams. The flocks of Spain, taken as a whole, are declared by that most intelligent observer and investigator, Chancellor Livingston, to have averaged of washed wool, only two pounds and a half in the ewe, and four and a quarter in the ram. (See Livingston’s Essay on Sheep, p. 39.) They resembled the present American Merino in form, but were smaller. Saxon Mertnos.—The Saxon was the first great offshoot from the parent Merino stem. Partly from the principle of selection first adopted, and partly from the system of management, and the special objects pur- sued in breeding, this variety materially dwindled from the size, consti- tution, and weight of fleece of the Spanish sheep, but improved in the quality of the wool. The first considerable importation into the United States took place in 1824, and the mania for these feeble little things raged to such an extent, for the three succeeding years, that the most miserable mongrels and grade sheep were introduced and sold under their name. (See the authoritative and undenied statements of the dis- tinguished German importer and shepherd, Henry D. Grove, on this sub- ject, made to me as the chairman of a Committee appointed by the N. Y. State Agricultural Society, in 1837, to report on ‘The condition and Comparative Value of the several Breeds of Sheep in the United States.” Society’s Transactions, 1841, p. 313.) The American Saxon of the present day is a much larger and stronger sheep than its imported ancestor, with, I think, about the same quality and a greater quantity of wool. Some pure flocks now produce an average of nearly three and a half pounds of washed wool, and others dashed with a strain of fine American Merino blood, not materially changing the quality of the fleece, average very near four pounds. It continues, however, to require considerably more care than the American Merino, and does not rear so large a per centage of lambs. Smrstan Mrrrtnos.—These appear to be something between the Saxon and American Merino—heavier fleece than the former, finer fleece than the latter—and between the two in size. Some specimens I have seen had fine plump forms, and their wool the oil and external black gum of the gummiest family of Merinos. They might, I should say, prove a desirable variety under certain circumstances, and I think a cross with them would improve the Saxon type of sheep. They are the only Merino family which I have not bred. French Merrinos.—The selection and management of the Spanish Merinos in France, first carried into that country a little more than seventy years ago, produced precisely the contrary effects in several im- portant particulars from those produced by the German system. The carcass was made larger, the fleece heavier and coarser. But a portion SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN TEXAS. 311 of those introduced from France into the United States, within a few years, have not been characteristic specimens of the variety in either of these particulars. They have been exaggerated specimens or caricatures of the breed. They were those exceptional animals to be found in all flocks, larger and heavier-fleeced than the great body of those flocks. | apprehend also that some of them were exceptional in certain other particulars, as for example, in that enormous “ throatiness” which renders them such a marvel to the multitude. Sine There is no doubt, however, that as a variety, the French Merinos are larger and heavier-fleeced than any other Merino family. But in respect to fleece, the best of them do not excel the best American Merino as much as in weight of carcass; in other words, they do not produce as much wool in proportion to size, and, accordingly, to consumption. There are two causes for this. The first is, their wool has, for reasons which I can not explain, been bred proportionably short. As some very remarkable misconceptions appear to prevail on this particular point, let me state a positive and tangible fact for which I am willing to be held responsible. I recently (to test the accuracy of previous impressions and experiences) carefully measured, lying unstretched on a table, fifteen specimens of French Merino wool, taken indiscriminately (with the aid of the owner) from the sheared fleeces of one year’s growth of a pure blood flock, descended from prime sheep of Mr. Taintor’s importation, and considered by French breeders prime sheep of the variety. The fifteen specimens averaged a little less than two inches in length. I have owned French sheep from the best imported flocks, have seen hundreds, if not thousands, of others, and they have been almost uniformly rather short-woolled sheep—shorter woolled than the longest stapled American Merino flocks. The second reason for the comparative lightness of French fleeces, is their dryness—their freedom from oil and gum. Though there are ex- ceptions, there is a constant tendency in this direction among them, and unless care be taken in breeding to prevent it, the wool becomes almost as dry as cotton, aud then the fleece has no proportionate weight for its bulk. The difference in appearance and handling between such and good American wool is very analogous to that between American and choice Italian sewing-silk. The first, in both cases, even when the actual fine- ness (diameter) is the same, is comparatively light, unelastic, unglossy, and “ cheap looking.” I have sometimes fancied that the pile or fibre of the American Merino wool is actually denser and heavier of its size than the French, independently of all extraneous substances. This, however, may be but a fancy. French wool washes much cleaner than the oily and gummy American Merino wools ; and I think more slowly recovers its maximum of oiliness,’ after being washed on the back. The overgrown animals of a variety, are rarely of good form, Hence not a few of the imported French sheep, and their immediate descen- dants, when denuded of their fleeces, were most unsightly, scraggy, “Jathy’ animals, excessively bony, crooked in the back, bad in the cross, (that is, hollow behind the shoulders,) and so thin in the chest, that both forelegs seemed, in horseman’s phrase, to “ come out at the same hole,” The last defect is perhaps rather characteristic of the variety; but I have seen not only individuals, but flocks of French sheep, of moderate size, as well formed in every other particular, and perhaps even in that, as any other family of Merinos. 312 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN TEXAS. Another difficulty followed the selection of these huge sheep. Over- grown parents do not always: produce overgrown offspring; but the marvel must be kept up, and to do this, a concealed, or at least an un- avowed course of pampering was resorted to in some cases. The lambs were dropped two months before the usual time of having lambs dropped in the North—the ewes were stuffed with unusual and succulent food during the winter, regardless of cost; they were kept in close, warm stables at yeaning timc; the lamb was often given the aid of a “ sucking- bottle,” or a foster-dam, in addition to its natural parent; it was taught as soon as possible to eat roots and grain; it was kept housed from every storm, and even from the dews of the night, during the entire year. This added greatly to the beauty and weight of the wool—to its weight, (when sheared unwashed,) because none of its natural oil was washed out by rains. When at length it was exhibited, without any explanations of the preceding facts, at some State fair, in autumn, it presented about twice the size of carcass, and twice the length of wool, that it would have done if dropped at the common time, and treated in the common way. If not sold at a year old, it was not sheared, and the entire fleece was left growing to increase the marvellous product at two years old; or if it was feared that this fraud would be too apparent, (beyond the gulli bility of the particular market in view,) the yearling was “ stubble- sheared,” that is, shared a half-inch or inch from the skin, leaving three or four months’ growth of wool thereon, to go into the next fleece. I do not say, that the breeder is not authorized to conduct his business to suit himself—men clearly have the right to pamper, and to manufacture “marvels.” But he who does so, is bound to give warning, “fair and true,” to the buyer, whether questioned or unquestioned. Helas! what was so soon the matter with those gigantic French rams, which first scattered like wild-Gre over the North? There came a chilly rain-storm, and they sneezed and coughed. Soon they began to mope, and fall off from their feed. They grew thin, and then weak. Their heads drooped ; yellow waxy matter collected about their dim, half-closed eyes; a sticky discharge clung about their nostrils; at length the faint but rapid heaving of the flanks began to indicate a low fever. Then an- other heavy cold shower, and the farmer’s boys presently ran into the house, crying: “Father, father, the great ram is dead!” The farmer had not known that he had set a hothouse plant out of doors! Thus “departed this life,” a majority—ay, a majority—of the first inundation of great French rams—many of them without getting a lamb. When they lived, it often proved a greater disaster to their owners. They spoiled the carcass and constitution of his flock, lowered the quality of his wool, and not unfrequently actually diminished its quantity. These circumstances created a violent reaction against French sheep, and I should say, between eighty and ninety per cent. of our best North- ern and Eastern wool-growers now thoroughly detest them. I believe they have jumped off the bridge ‘“‘on the other side!” Circumstances ledyme into an extensive course of fresh investigations on this subject last winter. I found French, like other sheep-raisers, divided in about the usual proportion, between quacks and legitimate breeders. I found French Merino flocks, and especially very high-bred grade French flocks, based on an American Merino foundation on the maternal side, which exhibited fine forms, sufficiently rugged constitutions, a good quality and large quantity of wool. If the wool lacked a little of the gloss and style of the choice American Merinos, it nevertheless was a desirable article, SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN TEXAS. 3h3 and especially so for the manufacturer, on account of its cleanness. Per- haps, after my preceding remarks, justice requires me to add that I found breeders raising the very largest French sheep with undeniably legitimate objects. They considered that great size desirable, and were therefore (erroneously and unavailingly, in my opinion ) attempting to perpetuate it without perpetuating its usual accompanying defects. The careful and certainly disinterested examination of many flocks, which had been judiciously bred for a number of years, and down to the present epoch, somewhat modified, I confess, my own previous views. I believe indeed, I found hardier and every way better sheep than the French stock first brought into our country. I made up my mind, that the prejudice against them was violent and excessive, and that by and by another reaction will set in their favor, and that they will be extensivelv used for an object which I shall treat under another head. Tue American Mertno.—About the same amount of fraud and de- ception attended the introduction of the Spanish Merino into the United States, (after Livingston, Humphreys, Jarvis, and a few other elevated men had done their part,) that heralded the advent of the Saxon and French varieties. Like the French, the former sunk into contempt, before it received the general approbation of the country, And it en- countered a far more dangerous foe than contempt, in an almost universal admixture with the puny Saxons. But a remnant was fortunately kept pure, and many flock-masters, after a Saxon cross, bred back to their pre- vious Merino standard. The American Merino of the present day is a considerably heavier and stronger animal than his Spanish progenitor, He has been kept in smaller flocks than in Spain, better fed, (or more uniformly fed,) and subjected to a more careful and intelligent system of breeding. As long ago as 1841, the celebrated early importer and subsequent breeder, Hon. William Jarvis, of Vermont, wrote me that ‘“ twenty-five years’ experi- ence satisfied him that the wool of the Spanish Merino had rather im- proved” in this country ; that his own wool was better than the samples received from Spain, when he purchased his imported flock. (The whole of this admirable letter will be found in the N. Y. Agricultural Society’s Transactions, 1841, pages 320-328.) The same kind of improvement has continued down to the present time, in many flocks, The different Spanish varieties were, as a general thing, soon inter- mingled with each other in this country, as they had been in France, so that the names of Paular, Negretti, Gaudeloupe, etc., now have no mean- ing, unless in a very few instances, when applied to American sheep. But in point of fact, the same varieties, or somewhat analogous ones, have been reproduced in our country by the systems of breeding pursued by particular persons. Some men, for example, have carefully shunned “oil” and “‘ gum,” and made fineness of wool the primary consideration. These have substantially reproduced the Spanish Escurial, a sheep closely resembling the Saxon, except in its larger size. Others have made weight of fleece the primary consideration, at some sacrifice of fineness ; and to this end they have bred as much oil into, and external gum upon the fleece, as practicable. The extreme of these sheep become coated over a few months after shearing, with a natural covering of gum of the color of tar, extending about an eighth of an inch into “the wool, which in warm weather sticks to the hand, and in cold becomes a hard rigid crust. The interior of the fleece looks as if oil had been poured into it, as it exists there not merely as a coating of each filament of wool, but 814 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN TEXAS. rather wears the appearance of a mass of oil, with filaments of wool growing out through it. Some breeders take a middle course, cultivating the oil, but avoiding the gum. Some cultivate a medium share of both; and so on. The well-bred American Merino is probably now the densest and heaviest-fleeced sheep of its size in the world, without the help of any extraneous circumstances; but when you read of the enormous fleeces you sometimes do, (whether they belong to H.8. R. or A. B. C.,) it is time that you, and all other intelligent men, understand that this enor- mous extra weight is made up of o7/ and gum. In the first place, wool of this character can not, at best, be well washed on the back of the sheep. In the second, many breeders do not desire to so wash it; they choose to leave these heavy animal excretions in the wool, and they let their flocks run long enough between washing and shearing, to restore all that has been washed away. In fact, washing with them, is little better than a name, a pretence, to prevent the buyer from deducting the usual one-third from the gross weight, as on unwashed wool. Then, further to mislead the purchaser, they do up each fleece in two parts—claiming that if that personage sees fit to judge the wool solely by weight of fleece, instead of quality and condition, (as he often does,) it is but a fair retalia- tion, a warrantable “ spoiling of the Philistines,” to take a course which will compel him to judge the article by legitimate tests, or to suffer the con- sequences. (That is to say, they assume that if the buyer is a blockhead, or screw, it is right to cheat him, if it can be done by silence.)* These excessively oily and gummy sheep are rather “the rage” at present inthe North. There are two reasons for it. The wool-buyer has obstinately refused to make any proportionate difference in the price paid for their wool and that paid for cleaner wools. He will usually pay within three or four cents per pound, as much for the first as for the last, when the “ greasy” wool weighs two pounds most to the fleece, when it costs no more to raise it, and when it will lose twenty-five per cent. more in cleansing. The manufacturers could have corrected this evil, if they had chosen to do so; and a class of sham-hating men have continued to breed clean wools, expecting them ultimately to do justice in the matter. But indifference, or the temptation to force these breeders to sell (or sacrifice) their beautiful clips at two or three pennies above the price of “ greasy ” wool, has generally triumphed over all more manly considerations, though in regions where clean wools are extensively grown, and where the breed- ers can and will stand by each other, they have fared better. The other reason for the popularity of excessively oily and gummy _ sheep, exists in the fact that they generally sell better to those beginners who are willing to pay breeders’ prices. The first thing in a variety or breed, which attracts the eye of a novice, is its salient peculiarities— whether they involve valuable characteristics or the contrary; and they are very apt to become his standards of purity of blood and individual excellence, until experience has taught him better. The Merino, com- pared with others, is an oily and gummy sheep, and “ argal,” the more oil and gum he possesses, the “ more Merino” is he to the novice. The same remarks apply to “ throatiness ”—large corrugations or folds of pen- dulous skin about the neck or throat, and similar folds on other parts of the body. Breeders defer more or less to the tastes of buyers, and thus more “‘orease and wrinkles” are produced than would otherwise be.