78 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 



LETTER VII. 



PROFITS OP SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTHERN STATES. 3. BY GIV 

 ING TO SOUTHERN AGRICULTURE A MIXED AND CONVERTIBLE CHAR- 

 ACTER. 4. BY FURNISHING THE RAW MATERIAL FOR THE MANUFAC- 

 TURE OF DOMESTIC WOOLENS. 



Expediency of Rotation in Crops. ..Consequences of omitting it on Wheat Lands of New-York ... Mr. Gay- 

 lord's views. ..Consequences in the Southern States... Mr. Roper's Report in the Legislature of South 

 Carolina [Cotton Statistics of that State Comparison with other States General Agricultural Resources 

 necessity of new staples]. ..Judge Seabrook's Report to the State Agricultural Society of South Caro- 

 Una [Agricultural Statistics- Remedies proposed for present " distress"] . . .Singular omission of Wool as 

 one of the proposed new Staples. ..Southern prejudice on this subject Causes. ..Impropriety of the one- 

 crop system Diminishes crops Deteriorates land Multiplies insects. ..Fertility sustained by Rotation 

 Causes. .." Resting" Its inexpediency. ..Some of the Crops of every Rotation irtust be converted mainly 

 into Manure Superior economy of converting them into Animal Manure Sheep the most profitable ani- 

 mals for this purpose. ..Leading principles of a profitable Southern Rotation Six-shift Course proposed 

 Five-shift Course Six-shift Course for poor soils- ..Col. Taylor's Four-shift Course Objections. ..Com- 

 parative profit of growing Wool, Cotton and Rice, incidentally alluded to. . .Economy of producing the raw 

 material for the Manufacture of Domestic Woolens... Cost of Slave Cloths per head per year... Prices now 

 paid for these Cloths Cost of manufacturing them Data for estimating such cost... Great profits of Man- 

 ufacturers in the Northern States Their Dividends Their method of exchanging Cloth for Wool Work- 

 ins; Wool at the halves. ..Cost of Cloths obtained by these methods. ..The South may obtain the same ad- 

 vantages Natural Facilities Cost of Machinery On what terms worked Operations... Cloths spun and 

 wove by hand cheaper than the imported ones Cost of the several processes of manufacturing them 

 Estimate of Cost per yard at the North... Cost of establishing Carding and Cloth-Dressing Machinery... 

 Home-made Fabrics diminishing at the North Causes... Same Causes will not operate to so great an ex 

 tent at the South Reasons... Probable Cost of Home-made Cloths, South. 



Dear Sir : The third great benefit claimed by me among the profits of 

 sheep husbandry in the Southern States was, " its. comparative efficacy in 

 giving to Southern Agriculture a mixed and convertible character, and 

 thereby sustaining (or improving) all the present good tillage lands, in tho 

 place of continuing the " new and old field" system (tilling land until it is 

 worn out, then abandoning it and opening new lands), once so general, 

 and even now by far too prevalent." 



The first object of mixed husbandry has been already stated -the home 

 supply of the various necessaries of life. Its second, and still more impor- 

 tant one, is the preservation of existing fertility in all soils fit for tillage. 

 It certainly requires no proof or argument to demonstrate the superior ex- 

 pediency of maintaining the fertility of soils, if it can be done, by a rota- 

 tion of crops, even though each of these crops is not, separately considered, 

 the one which would yield the greatest immediate profit. In the language 

 of the hackneyed aphorism, it is never expedient to " kill the goose which 

 lays golden eggs." . 



This constant cropping with one plant was once extensively practiced 

 on the wheat lands of New- York, as many of their present owners can 

 bitterly attest. Even now there can be no doubt that, on nearly all of 

 them, wheat returns too often in the rotation. These lands were once 

 rapidly, and are still, I fear, slowly declining in value ; while the grazing 

 lands of Southern New-York, where men have been compelled to be more 

 discreet, have been constantly improving and approximating to the former 

 in market value.* 



* This calls to mind a letter which I received from an old and valued correspondent, the late Willis Gay. 

 lord, but a short time prior to his death. I had spoken of the advantages of his own, the wheat region, 

 ver tho grazing region in which I reside. Mr. G. combated this idea. He thought capital invested her 



