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COMMUNICATION FROM MR. M. R. HULL. 



Alquina, Fayette Co., Ind., October 25, 1851. 



To the State Board of Agriculture : 



lu compliance with your request, I proceed to answer a few of the interro- 

 gatories in your circularof June 4 : 



1. I will answer your 7th question, namely : "Are large or small sheep 

 more profitable, either for mutton or for their fleece ? Cost per pound of grow- 

 ing coarse or fine wool ? Is wool growing profitable ?" 



I am unprepared to say, positively, that small sheep are more profitable for 

 mutton than large ones, but incline to the opinion, that the Spanish Merinos 

 are not less profitable than the South-down, or Leicester, for mutton. The 

 diflTerence in their size, is not as great as most persons suppose. The Merino is 

 to the large framed sheep, what the China is to the family of hogs ; they eat 

 but little and grow fat. 



The cost per pound of growing coarse, is equal to the cost of growing fine 

 wool, since coarse sheep require more pasture and more feeding. Coarse wooled 

 sheep of our common kinds will yield about fve pounds to the head, which in 

 this market will bring thirty cents per pound, ($1 50.) A well selected flock of 

 Spanish Merino sheep will yield an average of four pounds per head, which will 

 bring sixty cents at a wool depot in the east, ($2 40.) Hence, I conclude that 

 the difference in the price of the fleece per head, more than equals the difference 

 of price in the mutton market. The Merinos live to a more advanced age and 

 are the hardiest sheep now living. 



Is wool growing profitable ? To this I reply, that my observation teaches 

 more than my experience. I have known persons both in Pennsylvania and 

 Ohio, who have got wealthy by renting land and growing wool. One acre of 

 land will sustain four head of sheep per annum, which may be rented for three 

 dollars ; the four head will yield eight dollars worth of wool, and you have five 

 dollars to pay interest on the investment and to pay for a shepherd's care. Andj 

 since we consume 75,000,000 of pounds annually more than we produce, I con- 

 clude that wool growing is, and of course, must continue for years to come, the 

 most profitable business the husbandman can turn his attention to. 



I have stocked my farm with Spanish Merino sheep, and hesitate not to 

 recommend all farmers who occupy the undulated lands of Indiana, to do like- 

 wise. It is profitable. 



2. Your 8th interrogation relates to hogs, and reads, " What are considered 

 the best breeds, and the best method of putting up pork, and curing bacon and 

 hams ? Prices of pork and bacon during the present summer ?" 



«' What are considered the best breeds ?" To this, I reply without doubt, that 

 the Poland, crossed upon the Byefield and Russian, exceed all others for beauty, 

 size and profit. They are a good grass hog, and are sufficiently lively and 



