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There are many cotton plantations in the South that are too much worn 

 to make the cultivation of cotton profitable that c/mld be brought to their 

 original fertility by feeding sheep with cotton seed on the fields. These 

 plantations could be divided into four fields, one of which could be set to 

 Bermuda grass, which will afford grazing for as many sheep as eight or ten 

 per acre as long as it would be healthy to keep them on it; one field could be 

 sown with cow-pease, and fed off the ground daring the winter; and, after 

 the pease and vines were consumed, the sheep could be fed on the field the 

 balance of the winter on cotton seed, and their droppings, together with 

 manure from the pea-vine, would double the crop of cotton; and by this 

 means the planter would enrich his land and himself at the same time. 



I find Bermuda grass as good grazing as any I have ever tried; but it is 

 only a summer grass, and seems to do best during hot dry weather, but re- 

 quired to be kept closely grazed, as it gets hard when old; but this could be 

 remedied by keeping cattle and sheep in alternate pastures. 



My experience teaches me that sheep can be wintered in the South at a 

 cost of ten to fifteen cents per head, and, if credit be given them for the 

 weeds and briers they destroy and the land they manure, the cost is less than 

 nothing. Another profit could be added to sheep husbandry at the South, 

 and that is the increased value of worn-out cotton plantations, which might 

 be computed at ten per cent on the original cost of the land. 



I neglected to say that I sow my Bermuda grass pastures with white 

 clover, which makes good grazing in the spring before the Bermuda grass has 

 commenced to grow, and again in the fall after the Bermuda has been 

 killed by frost. Could the cotton planter of the South be induced to raise 

 sheep, we could soon export wool instead of importing it. 



Respectfully, 



J. H. MOORE. 



It would seem that an experimental farm ought to be established 

 for the purpose of testing the best method of growing wool and cotton 

 on the same field ; and, lest the Washburn and Moen dog-proof fence 

 should not be sufficient, perhaps it would be well to begin in North 

 Carolina, where, so I have been informed, the supreme court has 

 lately pronounced dogs to be ferae natures. 



Let us assume the conditions and cost on a moderate scale, so that 

 the undertaking may not seem so visionary as the large figures given 

 in the preceding pages. 



A farm to be purchased consisting of rather poor sandy soil. This 

 I assume can be had at less than five dollars per acre. 



Say 500 acres at $5 $2,500 



Fencing and dividing 400 acres with barbed wire fence . . 1,000 

 Bam and sheds in centre of the quadrangle, including gin-stand 



and other appliances 1,000 



Tools and implements 500 



Total $5,000 



Houses according to circumstances, and five hundred sheep at a 

 price conditioned on their qualit} 7 . 



It may be assumed that ten thousand dollars would be an ample 

 capital for such a beginning ; but these figures are based on theory, 



