516 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 



profital)ly carry large stock. And, finally, there seems to be a settled con- 

 viction among the English farmers that sheep give a better retui-n for the 

 food consumed, and therefore better repay the extraordinary expenditure 

 necessary to bring poor lands in a fit state for the plow, than any other 

 animal. In an able essay in the London " Plough" (June, 1846), the fol- 

 lowing remarks occur, which may be probably regarded as an expression 

 of the prevailing opinion in England : 



'' It is justly admitted that, of all the domestic animals reared and fed for profit in Great 

 Britain, sheep are of the greatest consctpience, both individually and in a national point of 

 view, and afford a better return than can be obtained either iVoni the rearing or feeding of 

 cattle ; the very fleece shorn annually from their backs is worthy of consideration. . . . 

 Sheep husbandr)' deserves to be esteemed in all its different branches, and claims the prior- 

 ity- of consideration among agriculturists."* 



The manner in which the " very fleece" is here spoken of, shows that 

 wool occupies but a mere subsidiary place in making up the profits of 

 English sheep husbandry. I know many intelligent and experienced farm- 

 ers in f7iis country who think sheep feeding more profitable, or equally 

 profitable, with cattle feeding, leaving the wool out of the account.t 



The experience of the English farmers accords with that of those of our 

 own Northern and Eastern States, in relation to the superior advantages 

 of sheep husbandry on poor and light soils. Observation has shown both 

 that such soils do not profitably carry bullocks or other large animals, and 

 that such animals are poorer manurers than sheep. But their methods of 

 availing themselves of the advantages of this husbandry are entirely dis- 

 similar. The English farmer finds mutton and grain the marketable pro- 

 ducts which J) ay best. The first returns a profit on the crop (turnips) 

 which produces it, and at the same time fits the land for the latter. The 

 high price and ready sale of mutton allows the English farmer to force the 

 grovvth of turnips on poor soils, by the application of highly condensed 

 maiuires.| In the fall the sheep are turned upon small patches of them, 

 surrounded by an inclosure of hurdles. The turnips are drawn, sliced, and 

 laid in troughs for the sheep. When one patch is consumed, the hurdles 

 are removed, and thus the field is gradually passed over — the sheep con- 

 verting the whole crop into animal products and manure. The land is 

 then plowed for grain, and a succession of crops are taken from it. By 

 this means the land is soon reduced to its former level, and the same sys- 

 tem is again entered upon. 



"* After residinj; this and the preceding testimony, one cannot look back without a smile on the unac- 

 countable monomania of that excellent man and public benefactor, Col. John Taylor, in relation to sheep. 

 In one of the essays of " Arator," he says : 



" My conclusion.^ are that they require and consume far more food, in proportion to their size, than any 

 other stock ; that lliey are more liable to disease and death ; and that they cannot be made a profitable ob- 

 ject throughout the whole extent of the warm, dry climate and sandy soii of the I.'nited States, but by ban- 

 ishing tillage from vast tracts of country." . . . '• It is probable that the hot con.^titution of sheep pro- 

 duces a rapid <U!;estion, and that insatiable appetite, by which the fact is accounted for of their flourishing 

 only, to any e.xtent, in fine meadows or extensive wildernesses. If this voraciou.*ness is not gratified, the 

 animal perishes or dwindles ; if it is. he depopulates the country he inhabit.?. The sheep of f'pain have 

 kept out of existence, or sent out of it, more people than the wild beasts of the earth have destroyed from 

 the creation ; and those of England may have caused a greater depojiulation than all her extravagant wars. 

 It may be owing to this animal, the independence of one country is almost overthrown, and of the other 

 tottering." (! ! !) He farther expresses \\\v opinion that Kngland, "by the help of her moisture and verdure, 

 can raise wool cheaper than the United States." (!) , 



It would appear that Col. Taylor formed all his conclusions on a small flock kept by himself Thpy may 

 have been a bad and unthrifty flock. But it is strongly probable that he was influenced by deep-rooted 

 prejudices, imbibed before his judgment was ripened, or his experience formed ; and that these, unknown 

 to himself, warped all his views. I can account in no other way for the evident and palpable hallucination 

 under which he made nearly every statement in his Chajjlcr on Sheep. 



t A gentleman who has been one of the most successful feeders of enttle and sheep in t'ns State (P. N. 

 Rust, ksq. of Syracuse) recently leiuHrkod lu me in conversation that he had invariably foiuid that sheep 

 paid better for feeding than cattle. 



% Bone-dust, and frequently guano or some other manure with it, is driltcd in with the turnip seed, so 

 ihat much cost is obviated by making a litile go a great ways ; and there is a remarkable coDijcniulity in 

 the climate and atmosphere of Knglund to the grovvth of this root, 

 (103b^ 



