206 WHAT I KNOW OF FARMING. 



ket value will doubtless be greater in the future than 

 it has been in the past. I would gladly incite the 

 farmers of our country to comprehend this fact, and 

 act so as to profit by it. 



But the new region opened to Sheep-growing by 

 the pioneers of Colorado, and other Territories, is 

 destined to play a great part in the satisfaction of our 

 need of Wool. The elevated Plains and Yalleys 

 which enfold and embrace the Rocky Mountains are 

 exceedingly favorable to the cheap production of 

 Wool. Their pure, dry, bracing atmosphere ; the 

 rarity of their drenching storms ; the fact that their 

 soil is seldom or never sodden with water ; and the 

 excellence of their short, thin grasses, even in Winter, 

 render them admirably adapted to the wants of the 

 shepherd and his flocks. I do not believe in the wis- 

 dom or humanity, while I admit the possibility, of 

 keeping Sheep without cured fodder on the Plains or 

 elsewhere ; on the contrary, I would have ample and 

 effective shelter against cold and wet provided for 

 every flock, with Hay, or Grain, or Roots, or some- 

 what of each of them, for at least two months of each 

 year ; but, even thus, I judge that fine Wool can be 

 grown in Colorado or Wyoming far cheaper than in 

 New England or even Minnesota, and of better quality 

 than in Texas or South America. And I am griev- 

 ously mistaken if Sheep husbandry is not about to be 

 developed on the Plains with a rapidity and success 

 which have no American precedent. 



