PRAIRIE MANAGEMENT. 143 



by immigration, settlement, and extended culture. I have 

 been in the country about nine years, having gone at the 

 first into an entirely unsettled region, and have paid much 

 attention to the matter ; and it is my belief, that the wild 

 prairies are desirable for wool growing to a very limited de- 

 gree ; but that the cultivated prairies are desirable for this pur- 

 pose to an almost limitless extent. When the cultivated 

 grasses are fully introduced, and people get at the business 

 in a proper manner, the prairies will supply wool of all 

 qualities in inconceivable quantities. Hence I have con- 

 stantly urged this view of the subject, and maintained the 

 necessity of entering upon the- cultivation of grasses at once. 



" ' 7s there any deterioration of the wool jof fine flocks ?^ 



" In a letter from George Flower, of Edwards Co., in this 

 State, published in the Prairie Farmer, I find the following : 

 — 'When I emigrated to this country in 1817 I brought 

 with me six of the finest animals of the wool-growing spe- 

 cies ever imported into this country. This is the origin of 

 my flock. > They have been kept on the same farm where 

 I now reside ever since. No deterioration in wool has taken 

 place ; on the contrary, the wool fibre of them is somewhat 

 finer;' If the above is true of Southern Illinois, it is doubt- 

 less equally so of the northern part of the State ; since that 

 is nearly 400 miles south of this, and consequently much 

 warmer. Very gross keep is supposed to render wool 

 somewhat coarse. Even, healthy keep, not too high, is 

 generally considered best for a good staple of fine wool. • 



" ' Are shepherds and dogs indispensable when sheep are not 

 enclosed' 



" On the open prairie, it would undoubtedly be unsafe to 

 trust large flocks, without oversight. .Many have kept small 

 flocks, for years, without, by inerely folding them at night. 

 In small flocks, where feed is plenty, there is little dispo- 

 sition to ramble. Sheep soon get accustomed to their 

 homes ; but in large flocks the temptation is increased with 

 the dangers of it. If the pasture is near the house, and a 

 good dog is kept, any further care is generally dispensed 

 with. The prairie wolf is a term beneath which animals 

 of considerable difference in size and fleetness are ranged. 

 Now and then a black or brown one is found, and some of 

 the grey ones equal them in ferocity. They are very sly 

 animals; and I have known one, protected by a hazel bush, 

 to enter a flock, while the keeper was with it, and kill quite". 



