EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. 679 



had never raised them, soon embarked in tlie enterprise, and many- 

 more were about doing so when the supreme court of the State stepped in 

 and decided that the law of 1875 was unconstitutional, that dogs were 

 property and must be taxed like other property, and that a special tax 

 could not be imposed upon them. This decision operated to the repeal 

 of the law in 1876, and again there was a decline in interest in sheep 

 husbandry and advancement of flocks. With the repeal of the law 

 sheep-killing increased and so did the dogs, and many counties reported 

 a loss of one quarter to three-fourths of all the sheep. One county 

 roported a loss of 20 per cent killed by dogs within thirty days after 

 the repeal of the law. 



An investigation into the condition of sheep husbandry in Tennes- 

 see in 1880 showed that the favorite breeds were the Southdowns and 

 Cots wold, and that the former was regarded as rather the hardier sheep. 

 Farmers situated convenient to railroads realized .$4 to $4.50 for their 

 ^jjring lambs, and obtained from 40 to 70 cents for their wool when sent 



SDT] 



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to the Eastern markets, but the amount so sent was insigniflcant when 

 compared with the whole clip; indeed, it was scarcely appreciable. 

 Native sheep sold from $1.50 to $2 jier head, and the cost of keeping 

 them was 50 to 75 cents per annum. Native wool, unwashed, which cost 5 

 to 10 cents to raise, sold for 20 to 25 cents per pound. Some of this 

 wool was sold to local woolen mills, of which there were only 16 in the 

 State, but the great bulk of it was used at home in the manufacture of 

 homespun goods. In many counties not wool enough was grown to 

 supply local demand, and yet there is not a county in the State in which 

 the farmers could not raise wool enough to clothe all its people at a 

 much less cost than the same number of pounds of cotton. The mar- 

 kets for fat sheep were Atlanta, Louisville, Memphis, Nashville, Cin- 

 cinnati, Augusta, Mobile, and a few to Baltimore and New Orleans. In 

 most of the counties no lambs were sold, in others very few ; some coun- 

 ties sold them to the Nashville, Louisville, Cincinnati, New York, and 

 Boston markets. 



During the period ftom 1880 to the present writing, Tennessee has 

 taken some advantage of the frequent importations of English sheep, 

 and has shared in the general improvement of the mutton breeds, though 

 not so largely nor so generally as many less favored States. This slight 

 improvement, however, and the fact that it is happily situated to raise 

 early lambs, has given stimulant to this business, and the State agent 

 for the U. S. Department of Agriculture reports in January, 1891, that 

 " on lines of railroad, with easy shipping facilities and favorable freight 

 rates to New York, there has lately grown up quite a market for spring 

 lambs at good prices, some four months old being sold as high as $7.50 

 l^er head to meet the demand for fancy priced meat in that city." 



It can not be said, however, that the sheep industry has made sub- 

 stantial progress, nor can such progress be made until such time as the 

 sheep is accounted better than the dog, and the people and the powero 



