36 The Fence Question in the South. 



of the soil, and all this is made possible by a suitable system of fencing. For 

 such fencing is required a material light of weight, easily constructed, or easily 

 changed from place to place, as the fields and feeding places are changed in 

 constant rotation. What other material meets these conditions but Barb 

 Wire Fencing, which, as before shown, is so largely replacing all other kinds 

 of fence material, both for permanent and transient fences ? 



THE PROTECTION OF BARB FENCING. 



But we are further to discuss a need and a benefit pertaining to Barb Fenc- 

 ing, applicable to no other fence ; and this need is derived from the considera- 

 tion of facts of the present and past sheep husbandry in the South, in 

 relation to one of its most serious deterring features. 



The reports of the very able statistician of the Department of Agriculture, 

 which, from a careful examination of the system adopted by him in arriving 

 at results, we regard as very reliable, show the number of sheep in the South. 



Number of Sheep in Southern States, January t 1878. 

 STATES. Number of sheep. 



Delaware 4 35,000 



Maryland 151,200 



Virginia .... 422,000 



North Carolina 490,000 



South Carolina 175,000 



Georgia 382,300 



Florida 56,500 



Alabama.. ., 270,000 



Mississippi 250,000 



Louisiana .. 125,000 



Texas 3,674,700 



Arkansas 285,000 



Tennessee 850,000 



West Virginia 5i9,900 



Kentucky 900,000 



Missouri , 1,271,000 



Total 9,887,6000 



Now no fact is more prominent among those gathered from this great industry 

 than 



THE SHEEP-KILLING DOG A PERIL. 



Legislatures have not found it easy to overcome or repress the friendship that 

 exists between the dog owner and his four-footed favorite, even if the former 

 be in the depths of poverty himself, and his pet a worthless cur with no other 

 merit than the affectionate wag of his tail. North Carolina Courts have de- 

 clared the dog a wild beast, to be shot at sight if found trespassing. Many 

 sheep breeders have, with their quick shots, been a law to themselves on this 

 matter, but the nights are long, and the prowling sheep eaters numerous. 



This evil is graphically stated by Commissioner Killibrew of Tennessee. 



The country is often in an uproar from the depredations of one or two miserable curs in a 

 single night. The farmer goes to bed proud of being possessed of a fine nucleus of a flock. He 

 has carefully selected choice breeds, and spent many anxious hours protecting and caring for 

 them through the winter months, and it is his delight to exhibit them to his neighbors. But 

 some morning the unwelcome word comes to him, "the dogs have been among the sheep." 

 Every one who has experienced it knows of the volume of rage that swell his bosom. But it is 

 all for naught. The mischief is done, and the robber gone. Not a trace is left, except the dead 

 carcasses of many sheep lying around, and the frightened, stunned look of the more fortunate 

 ones that have escaped escaped the dogs it may be, but they have suffered so much by fear they 

 do not recover for months. They run at the approach of any one, they are restless, and the con- 

 stant shout of some watcher startles them from their food, and, as a consequence, they lose flesh 

 and become a shadow of what they were before. Sheep are very peculiar in this respect, and 

 nothing disturbs their equanimity more than the inroads of dogs. No animal is more easily 



