SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 313 



SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 



[The series of letters of which the following are the beginning, from Henry S. Randall, 

 Esq., of Cortland Village, N. Y., to R. F. W. Allston, Esq., of Waccamaw Beach, (near 

 Georgetown, South Carolina,) will be continued; and will be found, when completed, to 

 embrace a full Manual of Sheep Hu.sbandiy and Wool Growing for the Southern States, with 

 a very fair and thorough investigation of all the facta which go to throw light on the feasibil- 

 ity and profitableness of those branches of industry in the region alluded to. 



It was certainly not from any want of sheep books, nor of essays on Sheep Hu.sbandry, 

 within our reach, founded either on general inquiries into the subject, or on local and partiid 

 experience, that we urged on the writer the pre[)aration of these letters. The good will 

 of authors and pubhshcrs, and the liberality of the Publishers of The Farmers' Library 

 keep us supplied with all works of any authority on this and other branches of agricultural 

 industry. But in the midst of these abundant materials for general information, we have long 

 desired to present something which, without interference with the rights and labors of 

 others, might be confidently exhibited as th(; special fruit of careful investigation and actiial 

 experience on the part of sotne enlightened and practical sheep fanner. Here, accordingly, 

 we ofter the views of one, acquu-ed under circumstances and with a power of discrimination 

 that enable him to adapt his observations to the climate, wants and means of that very large 

 portion of our country in which this important resource appeal's to have been too long over- 

 looked and neglected. 



It would be altogether supei-fluous to enlarge on the importance of adding to the staple 

 products of any region one so considerable as is Wool, where Nature has proN-ided the 

 means of producing it.] 



LETTER I. 



EFFECT OF CLIMATE ON THE HEALTH AND WOOL-PRODUCING 

 aUALITIES OF SHEEP. 



Introductory Remarks... \Vool-Growin£» and Manufacnuins Ptatistici! of the Southern States compared 

 with those of New- York. ..Effect of Warm CUmHtes on ilie lliiilth of .Sheep. ..?heep in the gouthern 

 States below latitude 3'J'^. ..Eflect of Climate on Wool-Producing Qualities of Sheep — on the Quantity of 

 the Wool.. -Weight of Fleeces in the Southern States indicated by U. S. Census of 1840 — Important Omis- 

 (rions in that Census — Other important Errors in it. . .Table of Weights of Fleeces in Four Counties where 

 they average highest in each of the Southern Slates and in New-York — Latitude, Topography and Climate 

 of those Counties. . .Warmth of Climate conducive to the Production of Wool — Reasons. 



R. F. W. A1.LSTON, Esq— 



Dear Sir : That spirit which prom{)ts communities and States to at- 

 tempt to I'cncler themselves independent, so far as the supply of physical 

 wants is concerned, of other communities and States, is an eminently 

 proper one, up to certain limits. Beyond these, it degenerates into mere 

 sectional selfishness, as deserving of reprobation in the community as in 

 the individual — nay, more so, for it militates more widely against the in- 

 terests and happiness of mankind. Agricidture supplies the mo,>^t of our 

 physical wants which are not administered to spontaneously by Nature. 

 In this great department of human labor,it is not difficult to decide how far 

 the inhabitants of each particular region are called upon to rear from the 

 earth what their wants require. Nature herself has, in the distribution of 

 soils and climates, both indicated and limited the production of many of 

 the agricultural staples, bv geographical boundaries, sometimes topically 



(649) .- c= o 1 



