SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 105 



EXTRACT FROM FORTHCOMING REPORT 



OF THE 



COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE OF TENNESSEE. 



EAST TENNESSEE FOR SHEEP. 



THE climate embraced within the limits of Tennessee is peculiar, in 

 the fact that it is greatly modified by reason of mountain elevations, 

 and is not what latitude alone would determine. Take the tops of the 

 Unaka Mountains on the east, and, throughout the hottest summer 

 months, the average temperature on Roane mountain does not exceed 

 fifty-four degrees. In the valley of East Tennessee, we find the cli- 

 mate not so much modified by elevation as by the direction of the 

 winds which rush up the valleys from the south-west, laden with a 

 fructifying moisture, and producing a highly genial, productive, and 

 healthy climate. The mean temperature here in summer is not far 

 from seventy-four degrees. 



Take these two divisions of the State, lying side by side, and the 

 sheep will present great constitutional differences. The Cotswold, 

 Leicester, Southdown, nor any heavy breeds, would not do well upon 

 the admirable grazing grounds found upon the bald places on the 

 mountain tops ; but the Merino, the Cheviot, and the native mountain 

 breeds would find a home entirely congenial to their constitution and 

 habits. The natives found on these mountain heights are . as fleet as 

 the deer, and as healthy. The wool is white, soft, firm, lustrous, and 

 true ; and the sheep show a beautiful adaptation to the locality which 

 they occupy. It is said, by those experienced in sheep-raising on these 

 mountains, that the higher the grazing grounds the better the wool. 

 On the other hand, carcasses increase in size as the grazing grounds 

 approach the valley, until the largest size of carcass is met with in the 

 many long, straight, and beautiful valleys that characterize the great 

 valley of East Tennessee. 



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