358 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 



LETTER III. 



ADAPTATION OF THE SOILS, HERBAGE, &;c. OF THE SOUTHERN STATES TO 

 SHEEP HUSBANDRY. 1. OF THE LOW OR TIDE-WATER REGION. 



Natural Features of the Southem State-3 — Divided into three Zones. . .The Natural Feafures, Soils, &c. of 

 each. ..The Tide-water Zone— Its destitution of Aniticial Pastures and Meadows. ..Causes— Small amount 

 of Domestic Stock kept — Unsuccessful Experiments in raising Clover and Grasses. ..Reasons why those 

 Experiments were unsuccessful— Land too much E.xhausted by ,'^evere Tillage — System of Tillage com 

 pared with that of the Grazing Regions of New-York— Experiments unsuccessful, also, because itnproper 

 varictiss of Clover and Grass were tried... Much of the Land adapted to Grass- Shown by ita Natural Pas- 

 tures — Statements of Col. Allston — Opinions of Mr. Ruffin— of a Committee of the S. C. Agricultural Soci- 

 ety. ..Land compared with that of Flanders— also with some parts of New- York. ..Climate peihaps unfa- 

 vorable to certain Northern Grasses and to Red Clover — Oiiinion of Mr. Rutiiu— Statements of Milton (S. 

 C.) Agricultural Society. ..Clover not indispensable. ..Experiments suggested. ..Valuable indigenous and 

 acclimated Grasses— Crab Grass — Millet— Bermuda Grass— its great value— Statements of Mr. Affleck... 

 Peas — Their great value in the Southern States as a Green Crop Manure— Sprengel's Analysis of them— 

 The Value of their Straw as a Manure compared with various substances — Table of the Value of Manures 

 bj Payea and Boussiiigault. ..Oats, Rye and Barley — Corn Blades — Sweet Potatoes. ..Conclusions from 

 foregoing. * 



Dear Sir : Having discussed, in my previous letters, the effects of w^arm 

 climates and some of their incidents, on the health of sheep, and on the 

 quantity and quality of their wool, we come now to the second branch of 

 my original inquiry — Is there anything in the natural features, soils, herb- 

 age, &c. of the Southern States, which unfits them for a natural and easy 

 adaptation to sheep husbandry 1 



The vast region south of the Ohio and Potomac, and west of the Missis- 

 sippi — comprising an area considerably exceeding that of France, Spain 

 and Portugal* — is distinguished, by its natural features, into three distinct 

 zones, parallel to each other and to the Atlantic coast. 



The lower or tide-water zone, which skirts the Atlantic, is a low, flat, 

 •iandy, and oftentimes marshy plain, from 50 to 100 miles wide, compara- 

 tively recent (tertiary) in its formation, and covered with pine forests ovej 

 the greatest portion of its extent. Tlie soils on the dry lands are generally 

 light, and sometimes too sterile to admit of profitable cultivation ; that in 

 the swamps and river bottoms, where the sand is replaced by a rich allu- 

 vion, is exceedingly fertile. The middle or hilly zone rises from the le%-el 

 of the preceding, first into gentle hills, and finally into high and oftentimes 

 broken ground, as it approaches the mountains. The width of this does 

 not greatly vary from that of the preceding. The formation is almost ex- 

 clusively primary ;t and the soil varies, sometimes being poor, but more 

 generally ranging, in its natural state, from medium to highly fertile. The 

 forests consist of oak and other deciduous trees. The third or mountain 

 region is formed by the different chains and groups of the great Apalach- 

 ian range of mountains, and occupies not far from 70,000 square miles of 

 the central portion of the territory under consideration.^ It comprise:; the 

 middle of Virginia, the west of North Carolina and South Carolina, the 

 north of Georgia and Alabama, and the east of Tennessee and Kentucky. 

 Its formation on the eastern declivities of the Blue Ridge (the most east- 

 ern chain) is primary, and thence to the Alleganies the rocks belong to 



* Spain contains 170,000 square miles, Portugal 40,000, France 200,000— in all 4 10,000. Allowing 10,000 

 «quare miles of Louisiana to be cast of the Mississippi, the area of the region referred to is 4.')(J,000 aquaro 

 miles. 



t There are one or two interrupted belts of new red sandntmie—v'uXv McCliire. 



J Estimated not far, 1 thiak, from correctly, by myself. 1 can tind no authority on this point. 

 {74ii) 



