246 



Wool and Sheep Husbandry. 



Vol. VIII. 



That of tliis she sent to the United States 

 £1,521,980, or over $7,000,000 worth, 

 being over one quarter in amount of the 

 whole British exports of woollens. The 

 amount she sent to the United States in 

 1842, as appears by the late report of the 

 Secretary of treasury, is ;B5,457,721. There 

 is no doubt it has been much less in 1843, 

 during the operation of the tarifT. Who can 

 doubt it will every year diminish — that the 

 same thing will take place in reference to 

 this branch of manufacture as has in refer- 

 ence to the cotton, hardware, &.C., and that 

 we shall supply ourselves. 



The aggregate amount imported from all 

 countries, of woollen manufacture in 1842, 

 was $7,437,543. It is the largest item of 

 our imports at this time, except silks, which 

 exceed $9,000,000. It leaves our woollen 

 manufacturers a fine margin, and they will 

 diminish the amount of these imports at a 

 rapid rate. Those engaged in the importing 

 of foreign cloths, see that this must be the 

 result. A member of a large Philadelphia 

 firm, exclusively in this business, remarked 

 the other day, that they would be compelled 

 to turn their attention to domestic goods, 

 that as to cassimeres, they were already 

 being driven entirely from the market. 



It is estimated it would take 2,000,000 

 acres of land to keep the sheep we require. 

 We have now about 20,000,000 sheep ; and 

 the clip of 1840, is put down in the Farm- 

 er's Encyclopaedia, at 35,802,114 lbs. The 

 sheep of Great Britain, were estimated in 

 1834, at 32,000,000. She imported in 1841, 

 for her own consumption beyond her own 

 production of wool, 52,862,029 lbs., almost 

 twice as much as the quantity grown in the 

 United States. W^e require for our own 

 manufacture and consumption, or shall by 

 the time we can grow the sheep, at least 

 twice the quantity of wool we at present 

 grow, and our flocks may safely be doubled. 



The western States are now growing a 

 good deal of wool. Ohio as a wool growing 

 State, comes next after new York and Ver- 

 mont, and is about on a par with the latter. 

 The relative advantages of the West, as 

 compared with the high mountainous dis- 

 tricts of the East, has been somewhat dis- 

 cussed of late. But why are not the soil 

 and climate of Delaware, Maryland, and 

 Virginia, as well or better calculated for 

 sheep-husbandry, than either the western or 

 the eastern States'! We have more land 

 cleared than we have capital or population 

 to work in tillage ; this is particularly true 

 of the lower counties of our State. To 

 work a whole country as a tillage, in grow- 

 ing grain, grazing little and mowing less. 



requires, to do so to advantage, the command 

 of a vast deal of labour and capital. 



The sheep we have, in every part of our 

 State look well, and seem to do well, though 

 they are not kept, with few exceptions, in 

 large quantities. We certainly have a great 

 advantage over the eastern States, in the 

 mildness of our climate and the very little 

 snow we have. Sheep will winter with us 

 without any hay or fodder, and do well, un- 

 less it should be necessary to feed them for 

 a few days during a slight fall of snow, 

 which seldom lasts over a week. I have 

 now on my farm a flock of 100, that have 

 scarcely eaten as many pounds of hay or 

 fodder thus far this winter, and they are in 

 good condition. I visited Dr. Jarvis' farm 

 near Claremont, in New Hampshire, some 

 time back. It was in the month of August, 

 and the Doctor had some dozen men en- 

 gaged in mowing, and informed me that he 

 mowed over something like 200 acres, to 

 get hay for iiis sheep. His flock was large, 

 consisting of about 2000. It is probably 

 fair to estimate that it costs nearly or quite 

 one dollar a head, to winter sheep in any 

 of the New England States or New York. 

 In reference to the West, we certainly 

 have a very great advantage over it, in 

 having a good and ready market for our 

 lambs; we can readily selU them to the 

 Philadelphia butchers when some four or 

 five months old, for two to three dollars a 

 piece. Then again, we can feed off any we 

 may wish to part with, in the fall or winter, 

 and get them to market almost without ex- 

 pense, indeed the butchers will come to our 

 farms for them. So that we may grow sheep 

 with us, both for the wool and for the car- 

 cass, and the latter is often the paramount 

 consideration with the English shepherd. 

 The West has no advantage over the 

 lower counties- in our State, on the score of 

 the cheapness of tlieir lands. An emigrant 

 cannot locate himself on a Western prairie, 

 build his house or log-cabin, and fence or 

 enclose his land, including the expense of 

 removing his family, as cheap as a farm of 

 like dimensions can be bought in Kent or 

 Sussex, and a naturally good soil too, with 

 decent buildings and fences, and well adapt- 

 ed to sheep-husbandry. This may seem 

 strange, but I believe it is true. Such farms 

 can often be had for six to ten dollars per 

 acre, including improvements, and in a good 

 neighbourhood, near a free-school and a 

 church, and with as good roads as a wheel 

 ever passed over. VVhen land can be had 

 at these prices, and such as from its position 

 and quality is adapted to tlie business, it 

 might do to follow sheep-husbandry exclu- 



