410 APPEJ^DIX. 



north, is better tlian any country north of it to grow wool, as the 

 sheep can be kept all the time grazing, by sowing small grain, for 

 if grazed otf, it (juickly grows again in a few days ; and the wool 

 of tine Saxon sheep in this climate is softer and more cotton-like 

 than any I have ever seen, although I have samples from all 

 parts of the world. I have travelled from this very place to 

 Boston sampling all the sheep of note on the way, and I found 

 nothing on my journey or at Boston as good as the wool I had 

 grown, and so said all the wool-staplers whom I met with, and 

 they were not a few. I presumed, in reality, that the blood of my 

 sheep was no better than many I saw, but the superiority of my 

 wool I ascribed to our climate, and the provision for the sheep of 

 succulent food the year round. The weight of my fleeces is fair 

 — say from 3 to 5i lbs. each. 



At my residence, near Nashville, in latitude 36 deg. north, the 

 best lands, if well set in blue and orchard grass, Avill graze from 5 

 tf) 8 sheep per acre during the grazing season, when we have the 

 usual rains through the summer. With proper care of our 

 grown ewes, we may calculate on raising 80 lambs from one hun- 

 dred. 



The long-wooled or Bakewell sheep are rather short-lived in 

 Tennessee, from getting too fat in summer, as they cannot lose 

 that great body of fat without deranging their health; hence, 

 compared to the Saxon or Merino, they are short-lived. My fine- 

 wooled lambs commence dropping on the 10th of March. Our 

 meadows yield from 1^ to 2^ tons per acre. Tennessee is not 

 the true grass climate ; about 28 deg. north is the most congenial 

 for grass ; notwithstanding, our State is fair for pasture ; blue and 

 orchard grass, white and red clover, prosper pretty well. We 

 feed considerable millet, which yields from 4 to 6 tons to the acre ; 

 this and Irish potatoes, which thrive reasonably well here, will 

 keep sheep in good health and condition. 



There is much country in Tennessee and other Southern States 

 not fit for the plough, and would do admirably well for fine-wool- 

 ed sheep, and can be profitably so employed. A small capital 

 thus appropriated here in Mississippi would do better than cot- 

 ton-growing, at present prices. 



[Mr. Cockrill states that sheep are exposed to liver-rot and 

 grubs in the head.] 



I.ETTER FROM T. C. PETERS, OF DARIEN, GENESEE COUNTY, 

 NEW YORK. 



Dear Sir, — Your favor covering certain queries in relation to 

 sheep husbandry is before me. I shall give you an account of our 

 management without a formal answer to the various questions 



