182 DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 



sheep have over the Merino. Either because their hoofs do not grow 

 Jono; and turn under from the sides, as do those of tlie Merino, and thus 

 hold dirt and filth in constant contact with the foot, the coarse races 

 are less subject to the visitations of the hoof-ail, and, when contracted, 

 it spreads with less violence and malignity among them. Taking all 

 the circumstances connected with the peculiar management of each 

 race, and all the incidents, exigencies, and risks of the husbandry of 

 each fairly into account, I am fully convinced that the expenses, other 

 than those of feed, are not smaller per capita^ or even in the number 

 required to stock an acre, in either of the English breeds above referred 

 to, than in the Merino. Nor should I be disposed to concede even 

 equality, in these respects, to either of those English breeds, excepting 

 the South-Down. 



"You write me, sir, that many of the South Carolina planters are 

 under the impression that coarse wools will be most pi-ofitably grown 

 by i\\Qm^ first, because there is a greater deficit in the supply, and tln-y 

 are better protected from foreign competition ; and, secondly, because 

 they furnish the raw material for so great a portion of the woolens con- 

 sumed in the South. Each of these premises is true — but are the 

 conclusions legitimate ? Notvvithstanding the greater deficit and the 

 better protection, do the coarse wools bear as high a price as the fine 

 ones? If not, they are not as profitable, for I have already shown that 

 it costs no more to raise a pound of coarse than a pound of fine vjool. 

 Nay, a pound of medium Merino wool can be raised more cheaply than 

 a pound of the South-Down, Leicester, or Cotswold 1 This I consider 

 clearly established. 



" Grant that the South requires a much greater proportion of coarse than 

 of fine wool, for her own consui7)ption. If a man needing iron for his own 

 consumption wrought a mine to obtain it, in which he should happen to 

 find gold equally accessible and plentiful, would it be economical in him 

 to neglect the more precious metal because he wanted to use the iron ? 

 or should he dig the gold, obtain the iron by exchange, and pocket the 

 difiorence in value ? Would it be economical to grow a sui-plus wool, 

 wool for market, worth from twenty-five to thirty cents per pound, when 

 it costs no more per pound to grow that wortli from forty to forty-five 

 cents ? And even for the home want, for the uses of the plantation — 

 for slave-cloths, etc. — fine wool is worth more per p)ound than coarse for 

 actual wear or use ! Is this proposition new and incredible to you ? 

 I challenge the fullest investigation of its truth, through the testimony 

 of those familiar with the subject, or through the direct ordeal of ex- 

 periment. It is true that a piece of fine broadcloth is not so strong, 

 nor will it wear like a Chelmsford plain of treble thickness. The threads 

 of the former are spun to extreme fineness to economize the jostly raw 

 material. To give it that finish which is demanded by fashion — to give 

 it its beautiful nap — these threads are still further reduced by "gigging" 

 and "shearing." But s})in fine wool into yarn as coarse as that used in 

 Chehnsfords, and manufacture it in the same way, and it would make a 

 far stronger and more durable cloth. The reasons are obvious. Merino 

 wool is decidedly stronger than the English coarse long and middle 

 wools — or any other coarse wools — in proportion to its diameter or 



