HUSBANDRY. 



CHAPTER I. 



HISTORY AND GENERAL VIEW OF THE SUBJECT. 



The question as to the capability of Tennessee as a sheep 

 growing section has long been settled, and, therefore, it is 

 unnecessary to bring forward any arguments on the subject. 

 Not only is this State well calculated to make sheep hus- 

 bandry profitable, but it has claims in an especial degree 

 that are not possessed by any other States of our Union. 

 This industry has of late years received an impetus not 

 hitherto known, from the introduction of a system of rail- 

 roads all over the United States. Before their general con- 

 struction lambs could be bought at any time for one dollar 

 apiece, in fact, the farmer considered himself amply re- 

 remunerated if he secured that price. Now, the great 

 markets of New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and, in fact, 

 all the northern and eastern cities, from Louisville and 

 Cincinnati to St. Paul and Portland, in Maine, draw their 

 early lambs from the more genial climes of the South, and 

 so great is the competition that the farmer who has large 

 fat lambs to sell in May or the first of June can get from 

 three to four dollars apiece. Nor does the market cease 

 with the early ones, but extends through the entire summer 

 for all grades of lambs, and later for fat ewes and wethers. 



