110 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



explicit, we will state that we suppose it was about 

 the same sort of pasture, perhaps not quite so well 

 sodded as we once saw on Col. Ware's own farm, 

 which was certainly pretty hare at the time, though 

 a good sheep pasture then. 



He thinks, when we say that the lands of tide- 

 water and Piedmont are better on an average than 

 the lands of the Valley, that we are mistaken. 

 Very well ; that is a difference of opinion, a tangible 

 point distinctly stated. But it is a collateral issue, 

 one we shall not stop to argue now, though ready 

 to do it at a proper time, and to do it too in justice 

 to the Valley farmer; for it must be very evident that 

 the better his land is, the less credit is due him for 

 its profitable cultivation. Meanwhile, Ave admit, 

 if Col. Ware desires it, and with all its consequences 

 and effects on the character of the farmer, that the 

 lands in Jefferson and Clarke are equal to any in 

 the State. But what we wish to do now is to test Col. 

 Ware's assertions in regard to their lands. They 

 are, he says, in one place, from whatever cause, in- 

 ferior as pastures to Kentucky lands, "and yet," 

 he says again, "Kentucky's sods are not equal to 

 England's." AVe had stated that, reducing cattle 

 to sheep, on the farm described by Mr. Holbcombe, 

 there were kept on it 2,200, or nearly two for each 

 acre of the farm. He accepts this statement, tell- 

 ing us that it was " on such a sod of combination 

 of grasses as your eyes never rested on," which is 

 probably very true, though we have seen the pas- 

 tures on Lmvill's creek, in the county of Rocking- 

 ham. In the same breath we are assured, that on 

 the Valley lands, " where they have not one-seventh 

 of the number of grasses composing this sod, or 

 one-seventh of the quality of sod, they think they 

 can graze seven sheep, advantageously , to the acre ;" 

 arable of course, as in the other case, because he 

 is contrasting them. Now, many of us remember 

 that Col. Ware has very zealously, and by exact 

 figures, propagated the opinion that his sheep were 

 the best in the world, and that the best business was 

 to graze them for market, he getting always, except 

 in one instance, ten dollars per head for his at a 

 year old.* He owns, if we mistake not, three hun- 

 dred and fifty acres of land, probably equal to the 

 average in its capacity for sheep. He is, also, a 

 reasonably close calculator and alive to his own in- 

 terest. Seven sheep per acre, at ten dollars, is se- 

 venty dollars per acre, or about fifteen dollars per 

 annum over the fee simple value of his land : and 

 three hundred and fifty times seven — the capacity 

 of his land — is 2,450 sheep, which, at one half, an- 

 nual sales, at ten dollars per head, is $12,250 per 

 annum, and as many ewes kept back as will bring 

 that much more money. We will thank Col. Ware, 

 to show the error in the above calculation, to state 

 how many sheep he does keep, venturing the opinion 



* See Souther a Planter for 1852, Vol. XII, p. 170. 



in advance that he never had in his whole life as 

 many as three hundred and fifty at one time, and 

 to state how r it is that a "practical man," like him- 

 self, with land able to graze, "advantageously" on 

 ground not near so well sodded, more than three 

 times as many sheep upon a given surface as a 

 model farm in England, should actually keep less 

 than one sheep per acre, and of course six-sevenths, 

 or eighty-six per cent, less than a prudent " practi- 

 cal man" ought to keep. 



And whilst he is answering those questions, we 

 will get him to explain this little matter to us. As 

 under the system pursued in Jefferson and Clarke, 

 not less than half the lands are annually cropped, 

 he must graze fourteen sheep per acre on his pas- 

 ture ; of these the muttons, one year old past, will 

 probably, as they are very superior, yield one hun- 

 dred pounds of nett mutton each, and eighty pounds 

 more of wool and offal=l,260 pounds; the ewes 

 will derive their own support from the same land, 

 but as they are liberal to the lambs, we leave them 

 out of the calculation. Here there are seven sheep 

 at one hundred and eighty pounds, 1,260 pounds 

 elaborated from the grass of one acre in one year. 

 On lands in England, turf, not arable lands, that 

 graze five sheep per acre, it is estimated, (Agricul- 

 tural Magazine for August, 1852, p. 24, which we 

 happen to have accidentally by us,) that in the 

 summer, (and best,) half of the year they rarely 

 laid on more than two pounds per quarter, though 

 three pounds was argumentatively conceded, which 

 gives twelve pounds per sheep and 60 pounds of 

 mutton per acre : this, with the eighty per cent, of 

 wool and offal, as in the other case, gives one hun- 

 dred and eight pounds, or less than two hundred 

 pounds increase for one year, because the winter 

 half is not equal to the "summer half." The land on 

 which this was done was not first rate, we admit, 

 but probably as good as Col. Ware's, whose pas- 

 tures are confessedly unequal to the English. The 

 point we wish explained is this: how does Col. 

 Ware's pasture, with only two-sevenths more sheep, 

 make 1,060 pounds more gross mutton per acre ? 

 How happens it that when the English sheep, pre- 

 sumably as good, gains only twenty-one pounds, 

 per head Col. Ware's of the same breed gains, (or 

 makes, for he sells yearlings,) one hundred and eighty 

 pounds'? 



We do not wish to be unfair to Col. Ware, or to 

 give him any apparent right to complain. He may 

 contend that he meant seven sheep per an acre of 

 pasture — take it at that, and we have only to divide 

 the above figures by two. Then, it will follow, in 

 the first case, that he ought to make, (or be respon- 

 sible for not making,) $6,125 by his sheep, or forty- 

 three per cent, more than he does make ; and in the 

 other case, that his sheep instead of one hundred and 

 eighty pounds, will gain only ninety pounds per 



