[69] 



face and swiftly-running streams make it the shepherd's 

 home. In the Central Basin of the State, and on the Rim 

 surrounding it, more sheep are grown per acre of open 

 lands than in any other portion of the State. A very large 

 proportion of West Tennessee also has proved to be healthy 

 for sheep, especially away from the marshy bottoms of the 

 creeks and rivers. 



Taking the State throughout, it may well be doubted 

 whether an equal area can be found anywhere on the conti- 

 nent that presents so many charms for the flockmaster, and 

 this, not only because of the ever- changing surface, but be- 

 cause of the abundance, variety and nutritiousness of the 

 native forage plants. 



Limestone and sandstone soils have in every country 

 proved advantageous for sheep- raising. These, for obvious 

 reasons, should be dry and porous. Soils of this character, 

 too, will produce the finer and more nutritious grasses. All 

 the famous breeds of the world are bred on such soils. The 

 Leicester and Shropshires come from the red sandstone hills 

 of those shires in England; the Lincolns are raised upon 

 alluvial soils based upon limestone, while the Cotswold for 

 centuries had its home on the Cotswold limestone hills; the 

 Southdown and Oxforddown are native to the chalky downs 

 of the south of England ; while the only finely bred sheep 

 of America, the American Merino, thrives best on the lime- 

 stone hills of Vermont among the marble quarries. 



Our alluvial soils will make splendid sheep farms, pro- 

 vided they are properly drained. In fact, the "bottoms" 

 are not of necessity marshy or boggy, many of them having 

 such a large proportion of sand that they keep 'dry. A 

 good plan to determine this question, is to dig a hole in the 

 ground about a foot deep, and if water stands in it an hour 

 after a hard rain has ceased, it is a good indication that the 

 land needs draining, and any land that requires draining is 

 wot good for a sheep farm. 



One other matter should be looked to if it is intended to 



