SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 49 



butchers of Chattanooga, that averaged 166f pounds gross; having 

 clipped an average of ten and three-quarter pounds of nice combing 

 wool, which sold at thirty-seven and one-half cents per pound. The 

 price for them was six cents per pound gross, netting me $14 per head ; 

 while the market for ordinary mutton was four cents. They grossed 

 less than one-third, and were sold for fifteen cents per pound net." 



Mr. John W. Bo wen, of Smith County, Tennessee, a blue- 

 grass district, in a report to the Patrons of Husbandry, pub- 

 lished in the " Rural Sun," gives the experience of farmers of 

 the county in raising long-woolled sheep. One farmer says: 

 " My experience is that one acre of average pasture will feed 

 three sheep. My sheep net me always fifty per cent. I like 

 the Leicester and Cotswold crossed ; I should prefer the 

 Leicester." Another says : " Two dollars on the sheep, after 

 deducting all expenses of every kind, is the least any one 

 ought to expect as the annual profit. As to breeds, I like 

 the Leicester best, the Cotswold next, and the South Down 

 next." 



Even in countries so favorably situated as Tennessee and 

 Kentucky, the culture of the long-woolled sheep can be profit- 

 ably carried on, only as an adjunct to other husbandry. The 

 Agricultural Commissioner of Tennessee gives this sensible 

 advice : 



" Farmers, as a rule, should not go into sheep husbandry to the 

 neglect of other things. Let sheep be one of the products of the farm, 

 not the only product. A few sheep, well cared for, will prove profita- 

 ble to every farmer ; while a large flock would become, in nine cases 

 out of ten, a source of annoyance and expense. The object of this 

 paper is to show the profitableness of sheep-raising on a small scale. 

 I do not advise the keeping of large flocks by the generality of far- 

 mers. If every farmer should carry a small flock, breeding up the 

 natives to high grades, the profits would be very much increased." 



We agree so heartily with this opinion that we hesitate to 

 recommend, at present, the introduction on a large scale, even 

 in districts favorably situated, of another race producing comb- 

 ing wool and mutton, the Cheviot, which has received scarcely 

 any attention in this country. The exceeding hardiness of 



