EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. 677 



fat mutton, the business is utterly neglected and despised. Owing to 

 the milder climate January lambs are as healthful and hardy as the 

 February lambs in the central part of the State, which is a great advan- 

 tage, as it gives the benefit of bare markets to the west Tennessee 

 breeder. 



If more attention were given to raising sheep in that division and less to cotton- 

 growing, great improvement would soon be visible, not only in tbe general manage- 

 ment and productiveness of the farms, but in the financial status of the farmers 

 tlu-mselves. There is nothing for which there is so constant 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 Ten- 

 nessee, and there is no branch of farming more interesting and more remunerative 

 than the breeding of sheep. With the lands in west Tennessee carrying a fair num- 

 ber 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.* 



The writer just quoted recommends the discarding of long wooled 

 sheep in the western section of the State, to give place for a variety 

 suited to the climate and the grazing facilities of the country, and 

 suggests the Merino blood-as a foundation, crossed up with Southdown. 

 This would make a most profitable breed for the farmer, giving him a 

 hardy, quick-maturing mutton sheep, with a sufficient fleece to pay him 

 handsomely on his investment. To sum up the whole and get the best 

 breeds for the different sections of the State, three only are considered, 

 and those having the most desirable qualities sought after by the 

 breeder hardiness, fleece, and mutton. For the first the Merino 

 should be chosen, for the second the Cotswold, the best known and 

 most generally used of all the long- wooled breeds in the State, and for 

 mutton the Southdown. For the eastern division of the State the 

 Cotswold and Merino cross, for the middle division the Cotswold and 

 Southdown, and for west Tennessee the Merino and Southdown. The 

 keeping of large flocks by farmers is not advised, for in nine cases out 

 of ten it would entail annoyance and expense, while a few sheep well 

 cared for would be profitable to every farmer, and if such small flocks 

 were bred up to high grades, supposing at first they were natives, the 

 profits would be much increased. Sheep should not be the only prod- 

 uct of the farm, but they should be one of them, a factor in diversified 

 agriculture. 



With all the natural advantages of climate and pasturage Tennessee 

 has shown little or no progress in sheep industry. The few improved 

 breeds that have been introduced into the State were in such small 

 numbers and have been so lightly appreciated that the impression 

 made by them on the native scrubs is insignificant. In 1840 the num- 

 ber of sheep in the State was 741,593, yielding 1,060,332 pounds of 

 wool, or 1.43 pounds per head; in 1850 the number was 811,591 sheep, 

 producing 1,364,378 pounds, or 1.68 pounds per head. In this period 



*Sheep Husbandry of Tennessee. J. B. Killebrew, 1880. 



