50 



SHEEP HUSBANDRY. 



fur than the same species have in more Southern latitudes." Hun- 

 ter, au English writer on sheep, says : " Sheep carried from a 

 cold to a warm climate soon undergo a remarkable change in the 

 appearance of their fleece. From being very firm and thick it 

 becomes thin and coarse, until at length it degenerates into hair." 



John II. Erving of Pennsylvania, an experienced sheep breeder 

 says emphatically : " I am of the opinion from my present expe- 

 rience, that very fine wool cannot be raised in the South. In all 

 cases that I hkve known it tried, the wool has deteriorated and the 

 health of the sheep failed." 



Mr. L. A. Morrell, whose excellent treatise, called the American 

 Shepherd, I have consulted largely in preparing these remarks, 

 while he insists upon the flexibility of the constitution of the sheep 

 and its capacity to produce fine wool in any climate where prop- 

 erly cared for, fully admits the great law, through which, by the 

 removal of sheep northward they acquire closer, finer, though 

 shorter fleece. It is a conclusive proof of the congeniality of the 

 cold climate of the United States to the finest sheep, that the care- 

 fully bred and pure Spanish Merino, brought hither from Spain, 

 has increased its fleece 50 per cent, without any deterioration of 

 quality. 



The Abstract of the 8th Census throws some light on the subject 

 in the tables giving the number of sheep, and the quantity of wool 

 produced in each State, in 1860, as follows : 



States. ]Vo. of Sheep. lbs. of wool. lb$. wool per head. 



Alabama, 369,091 681,404 1.8 



Georgia, 512,618 946,429 1.8 



Mississippi, 337,754 637,729 1.9 



Louisiana, 180,855 296,187 1.6 



Texas, 783,618 1,497,748 1.9 



Average weight per head in five Southern States, 1.8 



Indiana, 2,157,375 2,466,264 1.1 



Illinois, 775,230, 2,477,573 3.2 



Missouri, 937,445 2,064,778 2.2 



Michigan, 1,465,477 4,062,868 2.8 



Ohio, 3,063,887 10,648,161 3.4 



Average weight per head in five Western States, 2.5 



NewYotk, 2,617,865, 9,454,473 -3.6 



Vermont, 721,993 2,975,554 3.5 



New Hampshire, 310,534 1,160,212 3.7 



Maine, 452,472 1,495,063 3.3 



Average weight per head in four Northern States, 3.5 



