420 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH, 



mode of sheep husbandry. Very lar^e flocks might be driven to the mountain region, some 

 thirty to sixty milos f.om the rich lands, immediately after shearing time, grazed till late in 

 the fall, and then brought back to be snstained during the winter on the luxuriant blue 

 grass pastures of the rich lands of the interior. 



" A very intelligent friend, i-esiding in the eoutheni part of the above district of countr}-, 

 speaks of it in the following terms : ' One of the strongest proofs of this region of country 

 being favorable to the growing of sheep stock is that we are situated in the same degree of 

 north latitude with the sheep-raising parts ol Spain — Leon, Estremadura, Old Castile, &c. — 

 only that our mountains are mure richly and abundantly clad with luxuriant wild grasses 

 and fern, pea vine, and shrubbery, than the mountain regions of Spain, wliere they raise 

 such abundant stocks of sheep. Wayne County, with a few adjoining counties, affords more 

 fine water-power than any country of the same extent that I have ever known ; and for 

 health, and fine, pure drinking water, no country excels it on the face of the globe. Now is 

 the time to commence the business of sheep husbandry, while land can be got almost for 

 nothing. It is worthy of remark that our sheep, which are suffered to roam and graze in. 

 the mountiiins altogether, produce about one-fourth viore wool at a shearing than the sheep 

 that are raised and grazed altogether on our farms, and of much better quality.^ In an- 

 other part of his letter he says : ' The tops of the mountains of Spain are sterile, without 

 verdure, producing no food for sheep, or other animals, to graze on. Our mountains are 

 quite different. They are thickly clad from bottom to top, and all over the top, with fine 

 rich wild grasses and shrubbery of every variety, for stock to graze on. In the midst of 

 our mountains ;ire to be found a great abundance of .salt water and stone coal of the fuiest 

 quality, together with a great variety of mineral waters and pure sprmgs.' 



" Another friezid, residing in Knox County, writes to me : ' My sheep upon my fann, ad- 

 joining Barboursville, do not thrive, even with pasture and winter food, like the sheep in 

 the extremities of the county, which have neither pastures nor winter food, except what 

 they get in the woods. Without cultivated grasses of any description, sheep will live and 

 do well all the winter, subsisting on the spontaneous growth of the countiy.' 



" Another friend, residing in the northern poition of the above-described mountain region, 

 writes that ' the counties of Carter and Lawrence, and the eastern portion of the State, are 

 admirably adapted to sheep husbandly. There are several flocks of sheep in this neighbor- 

 hood that thrive and uicrease wonderfully, rvnning at large, at little cost or trouble to their 

 owners. Many flocks have no other reliance, during the winter, but what they get in the 

 woods. The great advantages of this country ibr sheep husbandry are, the cheapness of the 

 land, it adaptation to grasses, grain, and roots — its healthfulne.ss. Sheep delight in moim- 

 tain or hilly land ; the natural evergreens and shrubbery upon which sheep can feed and 

 subsist on in winter ; though it is not safe to rely altogether upon these. ' " 



Mr. C. F. Kramer of Woolverly Farm, Marion Co. Temiessee, ix a com- 

 munication in the Nashville Agriculturist,* says : 



" After having spent part of the years '43 and '44 on different parts of the Cumberland 

 Moimtaius — the part of Tennessee more particularly recommended by all \\Titers in your 

 ,iournal, and others, for sheep-walks — I have, since last fall, settled on a portion of tiiem 

 near Jasper, Marion Co. and will, as briefly as possible, give you the result of my experi- 

 ence, which will, I believe, fully remove any eironeous impressions hitherto made. 



" First, as to climate : The extreme salubrity of the mountains makes them the general 

 refuge of the sick. Sheep here are remarkably healthy, and exempt from disejise. The 

 temperature is veiy even, varying during summer seldom more than from 75^ to 80'-' of 

 Fahrenheit, nor in winter more than from 45^ to 30°. Snow during the two winters, little 

 as there was of it, never remained forty-eight hours on the ground. 



" The forest, so far from being dense, seldom contains more tinil)er, after cutting out the 

 smaller growth, as dogwood, &c. than is desirable for woodland pasture. 



" Tlie rocks, as far as my rambles have extended, are ' few and far between.' The bet 

 ter spots of soil (and there are enough to provide every farm witii sufficient remunerating 

 arable land, under a provident and enlightened system of tillage) are covered with nutri- 

 tious weeds, as pea-vine, &c. &c. which are nearly all greedily devoured by sheep and cat- 

 tle, ami on which they fare well. The poorer soil is covered with sedge-grass, which my 

 feheep have invariably eaten with avidity. 



" When our herds and blue grass lauds, which we are laying down, will be fit for pa.'<tur- 

 ing, the cost of wintering will be greatly reduced, as the former yields good gi-azing in Feb- 

 ruary — the latter during the whole winter. Our young cattle kept in good condition on the 

 winter-range and two ears of com per head per day. 



" Although the wolves of our mountains are larger than those of the prairies, and may be 

 more diflieult to exterminate entirely, yel, thanks to our good hunters, tlieir ranks have been 

 already ho thinned that ihey mostly prowl about idone, or at most in pairs, conmiittuig their 

 depredations by night, on the sheep and hogs that are left to shift for themselves. lu the 



• June, 1846. 

 (852) 



