[44] 



sheep. It is a fact well known, that, owing to the milder 

 climate of West Tennessee, the lambs of January are as 

 healthful and hardy as the February lambs in the Central 

 Basin. This is a great advantage, giving the benefit of 

 bare markets to the West Tennessee breeder. If more at- 

 tention were given to sheep raising in that division and 

 less to cotton growing, great improvement would soon be 

 visible, not only in the general management and productive- 

 ness of the farms, but in the financial status of the farmers 

 themselves. There is nothing for which there is so con- 

 stant a demand as fat lambs and good mutton. Wool, 

 which can be produced at about the same cost as cotton, is 

 always of ready sale. A diversified agriculture is greatly 

 needed in West Tennessee, and there is no branch of farm- 

 ing more interesting and more remunerative than the breed- 

 ing of sheep. "With the lands in West Tennesese carrying 

 a fair number of sheep, there would be in the aggregate an 

 immense addition to the income of the farmers, and thrift, 

 plenty and contentment would take the place of doubt, fear, 

 and disappointment. Decatur, Hardin, Benton, McNairy, 

 and Hardeman, by reason of their rolling surfaces, seem es- 

 pecially suited for sheep raising, while many other counties 

 richer in soils, and, therefore, better suited for general crop- 

 ping, are really inferior for this branch of the farmer's call- 

 ing. 



Having passed rapidly over the State, and noted the pe- 

 culiar ities^of each division, it will readily appear that its 

 diversified surface offers unsurpassed advantages for grow- 

 ing all the different varieties of sheep that are profitable in 

 this latitude. In order to secure the greatest profits the 

 breeder should first consider the variety best adapted to his 

 locality, and the proximity of a market for his mutton. In 

 the broken, hilly region of East Tennessee, an active, hardy 

 sheep, a good feeder, with a medium coat of wool, will be 

 found most profitable. To build up a breed of this kind, 

 presuming we start from the native mountain scrub, the 



