525 



ill winter ranges llio fields fioni wbieli crops bavfe been gatlierefl, and 

 tbe eanebiakes. jS"o diseases infect the Hocks to any marked extent 

 in Georgia. 



The conimi.ssioner insists tliat increase of lambs is increase of wool, 

 and that lambing should take place as early in January as possible, as 

 *' a January lamb is worth two March lambs." The bucks should be 

 allowed to rtni with the ewes about the 1st of August. During the 

 lambing season the bearing ewes should be kept in a separate flock and. 

 daily attended to. It pasture be short they should be fed moderately 

 on cotton-seed, which, with oats and rye pastures sown early in the fall, 

 will give an abundant supply of milk and keep the ewes iu healthy coii- 

 ditiou. Tlic co;nmissiouer presents a variety of judicious suggestions 

 suited to the wants of sheep-raisers iu Geoigia. Of the slieep-raisiug 

 capacity of the State he remarks that there are 10,000,000 acres of laud 

 suited to this industry, which are practically unoccupied. The sponta- 

 neous Bermuda grass forms an impenetrable sod, and is fully equal to the 

 Kentucky blue-grass. Where partly i)iotected by pine-trees it remains 

 green all winter. On lands unprofitable for cultivation, this grass will 

 support five sheep per acre during nine months of the year. Other nat- 

 ural grasses may be profitably utilized in sheep-husbandry. Artificial 

 pasture may be easily and cheaply secured. Pea-fields from which coru 

 has been gathered will fatten sheep or prepare them for v.inter-quarters 

 in the cotton-field, which, having been sown with rye or oats in August 

 and September, will give nutritious winter-pasture. Turnips sown at 

 the same period may also be used to give green food until the return of 

 early spring vegetation. Movable fences will render it practicable to 

 herd the flock for successive periods upon separate areas of turnips 

 suflicient for their support. In consuming the crop the sheep will fer- 

 tilize the laud. 



The legal protection of this industry is urged on considerations grow- 

 ing out of the labor question. It Mill relieve the pressure of the de- 

 mand, and enable the farmers to deal more independently with it. 



WooL-PEODUCTioN OF SouTH A3IEEICA. — The wool-export of South 

 America, by a rapid increase, reached 23i,910 bales in 1868, most 

 of which Avas from Buenos Ayres. Since then this upward move- 

 ment has been stationary, the export of 1874 being 237,458, or less 

 than 3,000 bales increase in six years. In 1862 the port of Buenos 

 Ayres shipped abroad over 58,000,,000 ]>oonds of wool ; in 1866 this 

 aggregate was doubled ; and in 1873 the figures of 1866 were increased 

 50 per cent. The official statistics of 1868 show that the Argentine 

 Eepublic then had 67,700,000 sheep. At present the number is about 

 70,000,000, of which 60,000,000 are in the })rovince of Buenos Ayres. 



Sheep-husbandry, which to-day constitutes the principal industry of 

 the Argeutin.e Republic and of Urugaay, has made great progress in 

 those countries within the last few years, and finds a i)rospect of still 

 further ex])ausion in view of the increasing European demand. But 

 the conditions of production have been gradually changing. Sheep 

 have been multiplied, not by the processes of intelligent breeding, but 

 by a headlong impulse to enlarge the flocks, with but little regard to the 

 means of subsistence, or the more exacting requirements of the foreign 

 market. Buenos Ayres, especially, shows signs of having been over- 

 stocked with sheep. Its pastures are running low, as is indicated by 

 the spread of epidemic and parasitic diseases. The leading parasites 

 infecting South American sheep are the fluke iu the liver and worms 

 iu the head, showing either a deterioration in the organic constitution of 

 the animals, or in the quantity and quality of the pastures. Perhaps 



