FARMERS' REGISTER— SHEEP HUSBANDRY. 



657 



soil, that it more than coin])ensatcs for what 

 tliejr take li'oni it. 



IV tlieii our chmate is as well aflapted to the 

 raising of fine wool — and if our soil is, or can be 

 madc'^vvith no greater expense, equally productive 

 in grass, it appears very clear to my mind, that 

 tlie profits of sheep iiusbandry would be fully equal, 

 if not greater than to the nortli: lc)r we possess 

 some advantages over the north, a few of which 

 I will name. It is no small item in tlie calcula- 

 tion, thatour winters aresevcral weeks shorterthan 

 they are inNew England, and jierhaps the difl'cr- 

 ence in the intensity of cold, (if we are permitted 

 to reduce it to time,) may be fairly put down as 

 equal to several weeks more; lor every farmer 

 k'nows that stock require ii\ore food in cold, than 

 in warm weather. In this way we may state the 

 diti'erence to be about two months in favor of Vir- 

 ginia — all which time tiie northern farm.er has to 

 provide for his stock, from which the southern 

 farmer would be exempt. The few sheep which 

 I keep for tlie use of my farm, I have never fed in 

 Avinter, except when occasionally the ground is 

 covered by snow, and so hard that they could not 

 nuzzle through it to the clover; and I believe they 

 are as tlirilly as any flock I have known. 



The cheapness of land in the south, compared 

 with what it is to the north, will also give us some 

 advantage here in this matter. The price of la- 

 bor being lower here than to the north should also 

 be taken into the estimate. 



Those who are better acquainted with the sub- 

 ject of sheep husbandry, will be able perhaps, to 

 point out many other particulars in which we pos- 

 sess advantages superior to our northern friends in 

 an undertaking of this sort. 



Perhaps it may be said, (and with some de- 

 gree of probability too) that such inquiries are 

 very useless, inasmuch as all our products are 

 commanding good prices, and our farmers are in 

 a thriving state. To which I would reply, that 

 such may not ahvays be their condition, and it 

 becomes farmers to look to all the probable sources 

 of profit, which come within their avocation, and 

 to use them as circumstances may present theni- 

 sel ves. 



In that portion of Virginia which is, properl}^ 

 speaking, the tobacco-growing; section, if the pre- 

 sent price of the article should keep u]) a few years, 

 there must necessarily be some change in agricul- 

 tural pursuits. It requires but little observation to 

 see that our wood land must soon be exhausted. 

 The enormous quantity of wood necessarily con- 

 sumed in curing that crop — the unnecessary felling 

 and destruction of timber to obtain fresh land to 

 make tobacco of certain descriptions — and the 

 great and useless waste which the present iniqui- 

 tous law of enclosures, riveted by ignorance and 

 prejudice, imposes upon us, must soon compel 

 some of us to seek some other mode of profitable 

 farming. It has hitherto been an apology Cov to- 

 bacco culture, that there was so great a saving in 

 transporting that crop to market, over any other. 

 Living at the distance from market which most of 

 its cultivators do, that it w^ould be a serious inroad 

 upon the profits, if they had to transport wheat, 

 instead: and the culture of cotton is found un- 

 profitable, beyond contradiction. Should this sec- 

 lion of country ever abandon the cultivation of 

 tobacco, it is probable it may be found to their in- 

 terest to substitute the raising of sheep. And ma- 

 VoL. n.— 48 



ny considerations would be weighed in making' 

 the exchange. To carry to market a crop of wool 

 which would bring a given suni of money, would 

 probably cost less (I speak without data on which 

 to form a correct calculation,) by nine-tenths than 

 a crop of tobacco which would return the same 

 sum. In the article of labor too, (though of this 

 1 am also uninformed) there nmst he an immense 

 saving, perhaps not less than two-thirds. Now, 

 sir, if I can by probability, with one-third my 

 present number of laborers, (which would enable 

 me to sell, or otherwise profitably dispose of the 

 balance,) and with a saving of nine-tenths of the 

 expense of transportation, deliver to market what 

 will yield me as much as I at present make, is it 

 not a subject which at least deserves flirthcr in- 

 vestigation? 



You will perceive, Mr. Editor, that I have gone 

 upon probabilities and conjectures, and that my 

 object is solely to elicit inquiry — to draw out facts 

 upon which to found calculations. Should any of 

 our northern friends perchance see these remarks, 

 I hope Uiey will fiivor us with more infbrmfition 

 than w^e have hitherto possessed on this sidjject. 

 Let us know how many sheep are supported on a 

 larm of a given nund)crof acres, of medium fertil- 

 ity? 1-Iow^ nuich clean v/ool they will average 

 through a flock? What proportion of the farm is 

 put into cultivation, and what in pasture? Is their 

 pasture-ground frequently changed for purposes of 

 health? How many laborers are necessary to a 

 flock of a given nurnber? IIov/ much and what 

 kind of food is given them per diem? Are they 

 put into folds every night?— for their habits would 

 seem to indicate that they should be pernaitted to 

 graze at night and protect themselves from heat 

 durino; the day. Indeed, sir, we know so little 

 about'that stock tliat you would favor some of your 

 subscribers by publishing in your paper whatever 

 you can find interesting on the subject of sheep 

 husbandry. We want" to understand their man- 

 agement throughout the year. 



February I2ih, 1835. 



AV. J. DUPUY. 



REMARKS ON THE COMPARATIVK ADVAN- 

 TAGES OF TIIE THREE-SHIFT AND FOUR- 

 SHIFT ROTATIONS. 



To llie Editor of tliu Fanners' Register. 



Shirley, January lOlh, 1835, 



I have been almost ready to yield that the 

 four-field system (with a standing pasture even) 

 woidd not answer as a general system, after seemg 

 its condemnation by such enlightened and jiracti- 

 cal ai>-riculturists as Mr. John Wickham and W. 

 B. hT; but upon a little reflection, I have come to 

 the conclusion that there cannot be any thing very 

 bad in a system v^^hich those intelligent gentlenien, 

 and most successful farmers, have adopted them- 

 selves. For I understand that Mr VVickhain has, 

 within a few years past, adopted the four-field 

 system on his low grounds on James River; and 

 thcinte11i<Tent senileman tmder the signature ol 

 W. B. H; tells us in your No. 8 Vol. II, that he is 

 now trying it on a farm that has been under the 

 five-field system for ten years, and has become 

 !bul from that cause, and that it is his intention to 

 continue it at least for a single round of crops. 



AlthoLiffh the fact of such excellent and sue- 



