SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 157 



properly stocked farms, to slaughter or turn off the Merino wether at four 

 or five years old, to make room for the breeding stock ; but he will not 

 particularly deteriorate, and he will richly pay the way with his fleece, for 

 several years longer. Breeding ewes are rarely turned off before eiglit., 

 and are frequently kept until ten years old, at which period they exhibit 

 no greater marks of age than do the Down and Leicester at five or *^.T.— 

 I have known instances of Merino ewes breeding uniformly until 15 yt-ars 

 old! The Improved Cotswold is said to be hardier than the Leicester; 

 but I have said less of this variety, throughout this entire Letter, as from 

 their great size* and the consequent amount of food consumed by them, 

 and the other necessary incidents connected with the breeding of so large 

 animals, the idea of their being introduced as a ivool-groiving sheep any- 

 where, and particularly on lands grassed like those of the South, is, in my 

 judgment, utterly preposterous. There is one advantage which all the 

 coarse races of sheep have over the Merino. Either because their hoofs 

 do not grow long and turn under from the sides, as do those of the Meri- 

 no, and thus hold dirt and filth in constant contact with the foot, the coarse 

 races are less subject to the visitations of the hoof-ail, and, when contract- 

 ed, it spreads with less violence and malignity among them. Taking all 

 the circumstances connected with the peculiar management of each race, 

 and all the incidents, exigencies, and risks of the husbandry of each fairly 

 into account, I am fully convinced that the expenses, other than those of 

 feed, are not smaller /jer capita, or even in the number required to stock 

 an acre, in either of the English breeds above referred to, than in the Me- 

 rino. N:5r 5i-5}uld I be disposed to concede even equality, in these respects, 

 to either of those English breeds, excepting the South-Down. 



You wTite me. Sir, that many of the South Carolina planters are under 

 the impression that coarse wools will be most profitably groAvn by them, 

 first, because there is a greater deficit in the supply, and they are better 

 protected from foreign competition ; and, secondly, because they furnish 

 the raw material for so great a portion of the woolens consumed, in the 

 South. Each of these premises is true, but are the conclusions legitimate ? 

 Notwithstanding the greater deficit and better protection, do the coarse 

 wools bear as high a price as the fine ones 1 If not, they are not as profit- 

 able, for I have already shown that it costs no more to raise a pound of 

 coarse than a pound, of fine wool. Nay, a pound of medium Merino wool 

 can be raised more cheaply than a pound of the South-Down, Leicester, 

 or Cotswold ! This I consider clearly established. 



Grant that the South requires a much greater proportion of coarse than 

 of fine wool, for her own consumption. If a man needing iron for his own 

 consumption, wrought a mine to obtain it, in which he should happen to 

 find gold equally accessible and plentiful, would it be economical in him 

 to neglect the more precious metal because he wanted to use the iron 1 or 

 should he dig the gold, obtain the iron by exchange, and pocket the differ- 

 ence in vakie \ Would it be economical to grow surplus wool, wool for 

 market, worth from 25 to 30 cents per pound, when it costs no more per 

 pound to grow that worth from 40 to 45 cents % And even for the home 

 want, for the uses of the plantation — for slave-cloths, &c. — fine uool is 

 worth more per pound than coarse for actual wear or use ! Is this propo- 

 sition new and incredible to you ? I challenge the fullest investigation of 

 ita *' uth, through the testimony of those familiar with the subject, or through 

 the direct ordeal of experiment. It is true that a piece of fine broadcloth 

 is not so strong, nor will it wear like a Chelmsford plain of treble thick 



• I WW two at the late N. Y. State Fair, at Saratoga, which weighed over 300 Ibf. each i 



