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CHAPTER II. 



1 HE United States of America, particularly 

 those which lay to the north of the Chesapeake, 

 appear to me to possess advantages in the breed- 

 ing of sheep which are unequalled by those of 

 any part of Europe which 1 have seen. First, 

 the country is generally hilly; the hills covered 

 with a fine herbage ; almost every pasture is fur- 

 nished with running water, and sheltered more 

 or less by trees against the summer sun; the 

 enclosures are much more extensive than those 

 which are found in the few enclosed counties of 

 Europe; where, except in England and Hol- 

 land, scarce an enclosure is to be seen; and in 

 these countries they are so small as to be ill 

 adapted to sheep; which, on that account, very 

 generally run on commons. Where there are 

 no enclosures, the sheep must necessarily be 

 folded at night at all seasons of the year, a 

 practice extremely hurtful to them. Again, 

 when they are turned out, they must be led 

 over fallow grounds, or pick the scanty herbage 

 upon exhausted fields. They must be sur- 



