SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTK. 117 



to first throw her agricultural products into ports where the demand is good, 

 is decidedly infericn- to that of Italy, France and Spain. The Danube 

 is the only natural outlet to her commerce — which, thanks to a liberality 

 of" policy on the part of Turkey,* contrasting most favorably with that 

 of several enl'i glitcned nations! under similar ciicumstances, she enjoya 

 without limitation. To reach Trieste, a long land caniage is indispensa- 

 ble. Her exports too, are embarrassed by the imposts and narrow restric- 

 lions of the Imperial Goverament. She cannot, therefore, export cheap 

 heavy articles, such as provisions, to so great advantage as the Levantine 

 nations : but every circumstance points to her as a country which should 

 be one of the first on the Eastern Continent, for the production of wine, silk, 

 wool, &c. 



Separated from Hungary and Transylvania only by the Carpathian M oun- 

 tains and Turkish Moldavia, lie the feitile provinces of South-eastern Rus- 

 sia, the basins of the Dniester, the Dnieper, and the Don. From the Car- 

 pathians to the Caspian, across the entire extent of the plains of ancient 

 Scythia, not an elevation which could be properly dignified with the ap- 

 pellation of a mountain, breaks the immense expanse! The lower valley 

 of the Dniester or Borysthenes, formerly known as the Ukraine, has been 

 celebrated for centuries for its pasturage — for its horses | and cattle : and re- 

 cently flocks of Merino sheep have been introduced there and successfully 

 crossed with the native variety. In 1839, Mr. Slade states that many of 

 the colonists on the Steppe and in Bessarabia had 20,000 sheep. Merinos 

 were introduced into Crimea or Taurida, by M. Rouvier, a French ad- 

 venturer, in about 1802.|| In this favored peninsula, which the learned 

 Pallas describes as little less than an earthly Paradise, they have multiplied 

 exceedingly, and extended to Cherson, Ekatherinoslav, Bessarabia and 

 other provincial Governments. § The export of wool from Odessa in 1829 

 was 3,402 lbs.; in 1830, 21,361 lbs. ; in 1831, 35,058 lbs.; in 1832, 41,558 

 lbs. ; in 1833, 66,457 lbs.; in 1834, 66,901 Ibs.^ 



In one respect Southern Russia has the advantage over Hungary. It is 

 more sparsely populated, and land is perhaps in still lower estimation. As 

 in the latter, the land, much of it, is feitile and well adapted to pasturage, 

 and the price of labor is next to nothing. But for causes adverted to in the 

 opening part of my eighth Letter, there is a wide disparity in the climates of 

 the two countries, if we leave Crimea out of view. That of Russia, affect- 

 ed by the north and north-east winds — which the Ca^^pathians exclude from 

 Hungary — has a winter which for length and inteiisity is entirely unequaled 

 in the latter, excepting in its northern mountainous regions. Sheep must be 

 housed, and fed for some months on dry food, in Southern Russia. Taking 

 into view the broad, level steppes** and their luxuriant natural verdure — 

 taking into view the climate, warm in summer, cold and exposed to winds 

 of great severity in winter, it strikes me that there must be no inconsider- 

 able z-esemblance between this portion of Russia and our own north- 

 western prairies in conesponding latitudes (45° to 46°). But when the 

 cost of land and labor is taken into consideration, wool can be produced 

 cheaper, in my judgment, in South-western Russia than in Spain, France, 

 Germany, Italy or any other portion of Europe, excepting Hungary. Were 



* Tliis power is remarkable for its liberality in all its regulations which affect the trade and commerce 

 other nations. 



t e. g., the policy of England in relation to the navigation of the St. Lawrence. 



t This wild region and its horses have been rendered classic by Mazeppa. Who, that ever read, baa for- 

 got the description of the horse on which theHetmnn performed his fiery and perilous ride I 



II For an interesting account of the adventures of this fortunate French Jason, see Sladc's " TraveU il 

 Germany and Russia," published London, 1840. 



4^ See Slade'8 TraveU; also McCulloch's Com. Die— art. Odessa. 



Il McCulloch's Com. Die— art. Odessa. 



"* This Russian word has a similar signification to prairie, pampas, UaTW, Sue 



