SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 107 



though they are not profitable, the wool being coarse and short, and 

 the carcass light and lean. This arises, however, more from neglect 

 than local cause. It should never be forgotten that thrifty flocks may 

 be raised wherever industrious men and good breeders live ; and that 

 the best flocks will degenerate where inattention and neglect are prac- 

 tised. 



The advantages offered by this mountain region fbr the economical 

 rearing of sheep are : 



1. The cheapness of the lands. Lands may be bought at almost a 

 nominal price on the Cumberland Mountains. Though high and healthy, 

 the soil in comparison with that of the valleys is poor and unproduc- 

 tive. The price for wild, highway-pasture land varies from 50 cents 

 to $3 per acre ; depending mainly upon nearness to railroads and 

 markets. Care should be taken, though, to investigate the titles thor- 

 oughly ; for one of the most unwise acts of our past legislation was the 

 opening of a land-office, and allowing every one to make his own sur- 

 veys, and receive a grant for lands based upon such surveys. Often- 

 times it happened that the same land had been entered, in whole or in 

 part, by others. The possession of a land grant does not carry with 

 it in this State a title ; but the title rests with the oldest grant, assuming 

 it to have been regularly entered at first. Let strangers beware of 

 purchasing mountain lands, without a rigid investigation of title. I 

 am led to make these remarks because complaints have reached this 

 office that persons have been swindled in purchasing laud grants. 

 There is no difficulty about securing good titles to valley lands ; but 

 there is danger that a person may buy land upon the mountain with a 

 grant from the State, bearing the great seal of authority, and have no 

 title. 



2. The second advantage these mountain lands offer for sheep- 

 raising is in the wide range of pasturage. The open woods permit the 

 luxuriant growth of nutritious herbs and grasses throughout the sum- 

 mer, and will subsist millions of sheep for eight months in the year, 

 without any other care than salting. 



3. A third advantage may be found in the dryness of the sandstone 

 soil, which insures exemption from many of the diseases fatal to sheep. 

 No foot-ail, no braxy, no impaired organs of digestion, no blind stag- 

 gers, and indeed no other disease than old age, or starvation through 

 want of care, has ever attacked them. Nor do flies annoy or vex 

 flocks as they do in the lower plains. 



There are also some disadvantages attending the raising of sheep 

 upon this mountain. The pasturage is so extensive that they often 



