SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 85 



in the Southern States, there are four hundred thousand fam- 

 ilies, and each family should have six sheep, there would be 

 2,400,000 animals producing wool and mutton, more than 

 at present in all New England. This great accession to the 

 wealth of the country would be nothing compared with the 

 civilizing and humanizing influence of the pastoral occupa- 

 tion upon the population, and the habits of thrift which it 

 would engender. How many thousand country boys at the 

 North have got their first notions of economy and accumula- 

 tion from having, for their own, the products and increase of 

 a single sheep ! The colored race, from their natural gentle- 

 ness, take most kindly to the care of animals. Negroes, it 

 is well known, make excellent shepherds, as they make capi- 

 tal hostlers. There are but few colored families which could 

 not afford to purchase two or three ewes. The profits in 

 that favored country, though small at first, would be sure. 

 The increase would be limited only by the perseverance of 

 the shepherd, and his command of land for pasturage, 

 probably the chief obstacle. Let sheep culture, upon ever 

 so modest a scale, generally prevail among the colored people 

 of the South, and dogs and thieves, white or black, would 

 quickly disappear under the vigilance of a self-constituted 

 police, more effective than any the law could provide ; though 

 laws would follow, and would be enforced. 



Question of Over-production of Wool. The question will 

 naturally arise : If the South grows wool according to her 

 capacity, will she have a market for her production ? To the 

 question proposed in this form, no other than a negative an- 

 swer could be given. But the practical inquiry is this : Is 

 there any reason in a probable glut of the market from an 

 enlargement of the area of production which should deter a 

 Southern farmer from embarking in wool-growing ? And to 

 this question we unhesitatingly answer, No. The fears of 

 over-production, which give the disciples of Malthus and Ri- 

 cardo so much apprehension, are rarely realized. They are 

 never realized, except temporarily, in the great staples of 

 manufacture. Production usually limits itself by its own 

 operation. Thus, California, it is said, has reached its limit 



