SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 67 



recently be'en published of the loading of ten double-decked 

 cars, carrying 160 animals each, with sheep, at San Antonio, 

 destined for the Chicago market, at a distance of 1,500 miles. 

 One flock of three-year-old wethers was sold by Mr. Shaeffer 

 for $3 a head, to a party who pastured them for two years, in 

 Texas, receiving their wool for this period; and who sent 

 them to market in New Orleans, at five years old, where their 

 fatness and the excellence of their meat was the subject of 

 general comment. Mr. Webster used often to say, at his din- 

 ner-table, that he never knew the secret of making good mut- 

 ton until he visited England, where he found that it was age, 

 the best mutton being five years old. While the sheep in- 

 crease but little in weight after the third year, the meat con- 

 stantly improves in quality. It may be readily seen how easy 

 it is to obtain good mutton where the food costs absolutely 

 nothing, and almost the only cost of keeping the sheep till 

 full maturity is the interest of the capital, while the sheep 

 are all the time producing their semi-annual returns of wool. 



The flocks in this country are kept up by the constant pur- 

 chase of regenerators. These are the rams raised in New 

 York, Vermont, and Ohio, by skilled breeders, who find this 

 much more profitable than growing large numbers of sheep 

 for wool or mutton. A very large number of Northern rams 

 are sold in Texas. Mr. Shaeffer has himself purchased over 

 800 at the North, many of them from Dr. Randall. There 

 are at present five hundred rams in Corpus Christi ; all which 

 will be sold at prices ranging from $30 to $50, and Very choice 

 animals for $100. The Texas sheep husbandry is thus the 

 means of keeping up the most profitable branch of sheep cul- 

 ture at the North, a branch which may be carried on upon 

 the highest-priced lands. The high-priced rams are kept in 

 Texas two or three years, and sold at a less price to persons 

 commencing the sheep business with but little capital. 



It had been the custom for the Texan flock-masters to sell 

 the high-bred rams produced from their own flocks, only at 

 the high prices demanded by the Northern breeders. Mr. 

 Shaeffer early saw that he could benefit his country better, and 

 do as well for himself, by changing this system. He found 



