ITS S II E E P II U S B A i\ D II Y . 



How difTornnt nre the circumstances of sheep hushnndry in the 

 North, may bi- estimated by tlie fnllouini; account of his treatment 

 of his lluck, by Mr. Leonard .larvis. of Claremont, New Hampshire, 

 a sheep breeder of j^reat intrlligence and experience, owner of four 

 distinct families of line-wo()ll(>d sheep. He says, in a letter to the 

 Kev. Mr. Coleman, '• 1 animally commence wiih dry fodder by the 

 rniihlle nf November, and disconiinue by the 5th of May, (nearly six 

 months) ; i^enerally, however, for the first and last fifteen days, giving 

 no hay, urdess the ground should be covered, but feeding about half 

 a gill of Indian corn to each sheep twice a day. As far as my ex- 

 perience extends, a ton of i:;n(>d hay will suffice for ten sheep with the 

 above (juantity of grain; they are ft^d from racks in the yard, and 

 have sheds to retire to at will ; 1 have fed under cover, but believe 

 that it has a tendency to diminish the appetite and weaken the con 

 stitution. They are kept in separate yards, in number from fifty to 

 one hundred, taking care to keep those of about the same degree of 

 strength to themselves, and have running water through; when the 

 ground is covered with snow, I think they do well without it. 1 

 allow about fmir bushe/s of sail to the hundred sheep, the greater part 

 of which is consumed when the sheep are at grass. My bucks run 

 with the ewes from the 1st to the 1 0th of December, allowing three 

 to one hundred. The number of lambs reared depends much upon 

 the season. Sixty lambs to the hundred ewes may be the average 

 from flocks of quality like mine ; from coarser flocks the return is 

 greater. The ewes are not permitted to receive the buck until after 

 they are two years old ; and I prefer bucks from two years old to 

 four." 



We must here close this introduction to the work on the ••' diseases 

 nf sheep'^ with the following correspondence, opened on the part of 

 the editor, in the hope of obtaining some reliable information as to 

 the advantao-es held out for the growth of sheep and the manufacture 

 of woollen goods in the districts of country which have been strangely 

 overlooked since facilities were created and the rage inspired for 

 emio-ratino- to the far west! leaving' behind immense tracts of cheap 

 land, abounding in water-power, and adapted to the growth of every- 

 thing conducive to successful sheep husbandry; in truth, wanting 

 nothing but capital and industry. In presenting Mr. Clingman's 

 letter, we may express the hope that its interesting character, and the 

 freshness of the country it opens to our view, will atone to tlie rev-der 

 for the length and dryness of the route by which he has been led 

 to it. 



Washington, 20th January, 1844. 

 Hon. T. \i. Clinoman, 



Dear Sir,— I have lately had occasion, as a leisure hour has ofTered, to bestow some 

 consideration mi tlie skcep husbandry of the United States; in the course of v.hich it 

 has occurred to nie that th(! people of Virginia and North Caroli'ia, Kentucky and 

 Tennessee, have not availed themselves to the extent that they might probably do 

 of tliat source of reward for labour and capital. It seems to me tliat the middle Of 



