72 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 



profitably carry large stock. And, finally, there seems to be a settled con- 

 viction among the English farmers that sheep give a better return for the 

 food consumed, and therefore better repay the extraordinary expenditure 

 necessary to bring poor lands in a fit state for the plow, than any other 

 animal. In an able essay in the London " Plough" (June, 1846), the fol- 

 io wing remarks occur, which may be probably regarded as an expression 

 of the prevailing opinion in England : 



It is justly admitted that, of all the domestic animals reared and fed for profit in Great 

 Britain, sheep are of the greatest consequence, both individually and in a national point ot 

 view, and afford a better return than can be obtained either from the rearing or feeding of 

 cattle ; the very fleece shorn annually from their backs is worthy of consideration. 

 Sheep husbandry deserves to be esteemed in all its different branches, and claims the prior- 

 ity of coLnideration among agriculturists."* 



The manner in which the " very fleece" is here spoken of, shows that 

 wool occupies but a mere subsidiary place in making up the profits of 

 English sheep husbandry. I know many intelligent and experienced farm- 

 ers in this country who think sheep feeding more profitable, or equally 

 profitable, with cattle feeding, leaving the wool out of the account.! 



The experience of the English farmers accords with that of those of our 

 Own Northern and Eastern States, in relation to the superior advantage? 

 of sheep husbandry on poor and light soils. Observation has shown both 

 that such soils do not profitably carry bullocks or other large animals, and 

 that such animals are poorer manurers than sheep. But their methods of 

 availing themselves of the advantages of this husbandry are entirely dis- 

 similar. The English farmer finds mutton and grain the marketable pro 

 ducts which pay best. The first returns a profit on the crop (turnips) 

 which produces it, and at the same time fits the land for the latter. The 

 high price and ready sale of mutton allows the English farmer to force the 

 growth of turnips on poor soils, by the application of highly condensed 

 manures.! In the fall the sheep are turned upon small patches of them, 

 surrounded by an inclpsure of hurdles. The turnips are drawn, sliced, and 

 laid in troughs for the sheep. "When one patch is consumed, the hurdles 

 are removed, and thus the field is gradually passed over the sheep con- 

 verting the whole crop into animal products and manure. The land is 

 theti plowed for grain, and a succession of crops are taken from it. By 

 this means the land is soon reduced to its former level, and the same sys- 

 tem is again entered upon. 



* After reading this and the preceding testimony, one cannot look back without a smile on the unac- 

 countable monomania of that excellent man and public benefactor, Col. John Taylor, in relation to sheep, 

 lu one of the essays of "Arator," he says: 



41 My conclusions are that they require and consume far more food, in proportion to their size, than any 

 other stock ; that they are more liable to disease and death ; and that they cannot be made a profitable ob- 

 ject throughout the whole extent of the warm, dry climate and sandy soil of the United States, but by ban- 

 tahing tillage from vast tracts of country." . . . It is probable that the hot constitution of sheep pro- 

 daces a rapid digestion, and that insatiable appetite, by which the fact is accounted for of their flourishing 

 otily, to any extent, in line meadows or extensive wildernesses. If this voraciousness is not gratiiied, the 

 animal perishes or dwindles ; if it is. he depopulates the country he inhabits. The sheep of Spain have 

 kept out of existence, or sent out of it, more people than the wild beasts of the earth have destroyed from 

 the creation ; and those of England may have caused a greater depopulation than all her extravagant wars. 

 It may be owing to this animal, the independence of one country is almost overthrown, and of the other 

 tottering." (! ! !) He farther expresses the opinion that England, " by the help of her moisture and verdure, 

 ean raise wool cheaper than the United States." (!) 



It would appear that Col. Taylor formed all his conclusions on a smal] flock kept by himself They ml/ 

 have been a bad and unthrifty flock. But it is strongly probable that he was influenced by deep-rooted 

 prejudices, imbibed before his judgment was ripened, or his experience formed ; and that these, unknown 

 lo himself, warped all his views. I can account in no other way for the evident and palpable hallucination 

 under which he made nearly every statement in his Chapter on Sheep. 



. f A gentleman who has been one of the most successful feeders of cattle and sheep in this State (P. N. 

 Rust, Esq. of Syracuse) recently remarked to me in conversation that he had invariably found that sheep 

 paid better for feedinc; than cattle. 



J Bone-dust, and frequently guano or some other manure with it, is drilled in with the turnip seed, so 

 that much cost is obviated by making a little go a <jrat ways ; and there is a remarkable congeniality ia 

 the clr'mate and atmosphere of England to the growth c " this root. 



