SOLON ROBINSON, 1845 549 



need be. And it is this that produces death among the 

 new flocks, more than every other cause. To prevent 

 this the first year, commence feeding grain in small 

 quantities by the middle of October, and continue it until 

 snow comes; at which time the sheep will readily take 

 hold of the hay, which they will not do while they can 

 pick up a scant supply of frost-bitten herbage. Oats in 

 the sheaf, I look upon as very good feed for sheep, par- 

 ticularly where you have no other convenience than the 

 bare ground. 



Mark R. Cockrill, 1 of Tennessee, whom I look upon as 

 one of the best shepherds in the country, says he pre- 

 fers corn for his sheep, and he always feeds it upon the 

 ground. He selects some clean dry spot of sward, and 

 sows the corn broadcast, and then lets in the flock to 

 pick it up. In feeding hay, he follows the same course; 

 never laying down the hay while the sheep are in the 

 same lot. By this means the sheep never run over each 

 other to get at the feeder, or get crushed under the 

 sled or wagon if the hay is hauled out, as it always 

 should be. (a) 2 Mr. Cockrill never confines his sheep, 

 to make them "stand up to the rack, fodder or no fod- 

 der," but gives them a broad range summer and winter. 

 He has one of the best flocks that I know of, which con- 

 sisted when I was there last spring, of 1,400 head of 

 fine wool, and 600 head of long wool. He also has a 

 cross between the Cotswold and Saxon, which are most 



1 Robinson gives a detailed description of Cockrill's establish- 

 ment and methods of handling sheep in "Scraps From My Note 

 Book. — No. 3," which will appear in volume 2 under date of April 

 9, 1846. This livestock breeder won a prize at the London World's 

 Fair, in 1851, for the finest specimen of Saxony sheep. Gray, 

 Lewis Cecil, History of Agriculture in the Southern United States 

 to 1860, 2:854 (Washington, 1933). Cockrill wrote occasionally 

 for the Nashville Agriculturist. 



2 The editor qualified this recommendation : " (a) Our readers 

 will recollect Mr. Cockrill is located in a mild climate, where little 

 snow falls. The corn of that climate is not as hearty and as oily 

 as it is here. Oats, peas, and beans, are undoubtedly the best 

 grain for northern store sheep." 



