[37] 



entire absence of all low and marshy lands, and the con- 

 stant flow of gentle breezes, keep the atmosphere pure and 

 exhilarating to a delightful degree. 



The rich, undulating surface of this great valley, its ad- 

 mirable drainage, its suitableness for a mixed husbandry, 

 and its great healthfulness, have made it a very populous 

 region, while the grandeur and picturesqueness of the land- 

 scape have entitled it to be called the Switzerland of 

 America. Within recent years it has won an enviable 

 character for the excellence of its stock, and especially for 

 sheep. Two of the most splendid fleeces exhibited at the 

 recent Paris Exhibition were sent from East Tennessee, one 

 grown by Col. Tom Crutchfield, near Chattanooga, and the 

 other by Mr. H. H. Matlock, of McMinn county. For 

 length and lustre, and uniformity of fibre, these fleeces bore 

 off a prize medal, and this, two, without having any one 

 to exhibit them, or any particular attention directed to 

 them. 



Nearly every farmer in this valley has a few sheep, some 

 of them splendid flocks, and no complaint has ever reached 

 me of unhealthiness where the flock was built upon the 

 native ewes. (See Mr. Crutchfield's letter in Appendix.) 



The Cumberland Table -land is two thousand feet above 

 tide- water, with a dry sandstone soil, and an exceedingly 

 cool and pleasant climate in summer, the mean temperature 

 being about 71. The air is dry and bracing. During the 

 summer months the surface of the earth is covered with 

 tussocks of fine, nutritious mountain grasses, and furnish 

 ample sustenance for sheep eight months in the year. In 

 addition to the wild grasses, herdVgrass, clover, and orchard 

 grass, with slight attention to manuring, will grow well. 

 Wild peas also furnish a nutritious herbage. The soil can 

 easily be made to yield sufficient supplies for winter feeding 

 by sowing it in stock peas, a food not only healthful for 

 sheep, but highly relished by cattle. 



To be successful in sheep raising on this Table-land, the 



