21 



LOT No. 2. On 8,000,000 acres at five sheep each, 40,000,000 

 sheep, yielding at six: and a half pounds per fleece, 250,000,000 

 pounds of wool. 



LOT No. 3. On 8,000,000 acres of corn, at 25 bushels per 

 acre, 200,000,000 bushels of corn. 



The oil that ought to be removed from the cotton seed before it is 

 fed would amount tc/over 100,000,t)00 gallons. 



If these figures seem somewhat visionary, let it be considered that 

 the acres now under cultivation in corn and cotton in these six States 

 number nearly 19,000,000, and that what is proposed is only to en- 

 close 13,000,000 acres of adjacent waste land with what is now under 

 the plough, and then to put less labor on the whole 32,000,000 than 

 is now devoted to the 19,000,000 acres. 



The cow-pea needs only to be planted and ploughed in ; the sheep 

 need only to be folded, there would-be about 3,000,000 less acres 

 requiring qonstant labor than there are now. 



If the same intelligence can be applied to one-quarter part of the 

 land of six of the cotton States that has been applied in some small 

 portions of them, these results can all be attained. Their realization 

 is purely a question of common .sense, moderate industry, and suffi- 

 cient capital. How long will it take? The following report lately 

 made at the request of the undersigned may be taken in evidence of 

 the conclusions given in this statement : 



OAKLEY, ARKANSAS COUNTY, ARK., Sept. 7, 1880. 



GENTLEMEN, It has been suggested to me by Mr. Edward Atkinson 

 that it might be beneficial to sheep husbandry in the South to give my ex- 

 perience in sheep-raising in Arkansas, and my experience in feeding cotton 

 seed to sheep during the winter months. 



I commenced sheep-raising in 1854 with 300 grade merino ewes crossing 

 with Cotswold bucks. I wintered entirely with cotton seed and what grass 

 they could get in the cotton fields. My flock increased to about 1,000 nead, 

 which was as many as I could handle. They were a smooth, healthy lot of 

 sheep, and the deaths from disease were so few that I did not note the rate, 

 but think two per cent would cover it. All of them I lost in 1862 from 

 casualties of the war. 



In the fall of 1878 I purchased a small flock of inferior sheep, most of 

 them old, and some with symptoms of rot. I wintered them in the winter 

 of 1878 and 1879 entirely on cotton seed, giving them a handful of seed 

 morning and night. I had 20 ewes, and raised 29 lambs; 4 of the ewes not 

 lambing, and 3 of the 4 dying during the winter of old age. 



In 1879 I had 31 ewes, which were wintered during last winter entirely 

 on cotton seed. They dropped 53 lambs, of which I saved 47. I fed these 

 more seed, as I had plenty, and fed on the ground, which caused a waste of 

 nearly one-half the seed. Cotton seed can be purchased at the gins at from 

 three to four dollars per ton of 2,000 pounds. One ton will winter from 10 

 to 15 sheep when fed on the ground; if fed in troughs, it would winter 20 

 to 30 sheep. 



I suppose the seed must be good feed, as the sheep look well. A neigh- 

 bor of mine, who was a large sheep-breeder in Ohio, says that one ton to 

 40 sheep is enough when they have the run of a pasture, and that he can 

 winter well a sheep at ten cents per head. 



