SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 99 



interfered with in any way, can supply any call that can be made 

 upon it ; and, from my knowledge of the South and its resources, I 

 believe no part of our country can furnish so many facilities in this 

 direction, and no one section more than my native State of South 

 Carolina. 



J. WASH WATTS. 



EXECUTIVE CHAMBER, COLUMBIA, S. C., Dec. 24, 1877. 



I fully concur with the views expressed by Colonel Watts in the 

 within paper. He is a gentleman of great experience, intelligence, 

 and integrity. I doubt if he has his superior as a shepherd in the 

 South. 



I heartily commend his sentiments, as hereby expressed, to all who 

 are interested in wool-growing and its manufactures ; which industries 

 I believe to be most vitally connected with the future development 

 and prosperity of the South. 



WADE HAMPTON. 



ATLANTA, GA., Jan. 1, 1878. 

 JOHN L. HAYES, Esq., Secretary of the 



National Association of Wool Manufacturers, Boston, Mass. 



SIR, Hon. Alex. H. Stephens of this State has expressed a 

 wish that I furnish you with facts as to the facilities the State of 

 Georgia can offer in sheep husbandry, growing out of my thirty years' 

 experience in that industry here. 



If you will bear in mind that we can grow oranges in the gardens in 

 the southern part of the State while snow lies on the highlands, and 

 the mercury may be at zero on the northern borders, you can see 

 that the diversity of soil and climate associated with such extremes 

 would give great variety to the products of the State. 



Nature has given us three marked divisions : middle, lower, and 

 upper Georgia ; the altitude rising with the latitude. Each of these 

 sections has its own special advantage for wool-growing, and it can be 

 profitably pursued in either section. 



I will begin with the lower part of the State, across the entire width 

 of which there is a belt of country of an extent northward from the 

 coast and the Florida line, say, from 100 to 150 miles. It is the 

 land of the long-leaf pine and the* wire grass. Flocks of native sheep, 



