182 
DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 
sheep have over the Merino. Either because their hoofs do not grow 
long and turn under from the sides, as do those of the Merino, and thus 
hold dirt and filth in constant contact with the foot, the coarse races 
are less subject to the visitations -of the hoof-ail, and, when contracted, 
it spreads with less violence and malignity among them. Taking all 
the circumstances connected with the peculiar management of each 
race, and all the incidents, exigencies, and risks of the husbandry of 
each fairly into account, I am fully convinced that the expenses, other 
than those of feed, are not smaller per capita , or even in the number 
required to stock an acre, in either of the English breeds above referred 
to, than in the Merino. Nor should I be disposed to concede even 
equality, in these respects, to either of those English breeds, excepting 
the South-Down. 
“ You write me, sir, that many of the South Carolina planters are 
under the impression that coarse wools will be most profitably grown 
by them, first, because there is a greater deficit in the supply, and they 
are better protected from foreign competition ; and, secondly, because 
they furnish the raw material for so great a portion of the woolens con- 
sumed in the South. Each of these premises is true — but are the 
conclusions legitimate ? Notwithstanding the greater deficit and the 
better protection, do the coarse wools bear as high a price as the fine 
ones ? If not, they are not as profitable, for I have already shown that 
it costs no more to raise a pound of coarse than a pound of fine wool. 
Nay, a pound of medium Merino wool can be raised more cheaply than 
a pound of the South-Down, Leicester, or Cotswold ! This I consider 
clearly established. 
“ Grant that the South requires a much greater proportion of coarse than 
of fine wool, for her own consumption. Ii' a man needingjron for his own 
consumption wrought a mine to obtain it, in which he should happen to 
find gold equally accessible and plentiful, would it be economical in him 
to neglect the more precious metal because he wanted to use the iron ? 
or should he dig the gold, obtain the iron by exchange, and pocket the 
difference in value ? Would it be economical to grow a surplus wool, 
wool for market, worth from twenty-five to thirty cents per pound, when 
it costs no more per pound to grow that worth from forty to forty-five 
cents ? And even for the home want, for the uses of the plantation — 
for slave-cloths, etc. — fine wool is worth more per pound than coarse for 
actual wear or use ! Is this proposition new and incredible to you ? 
I challenge the fullest investigation of its truth, through the testimony 
of those familiar with the subject, or through the direct ordeal of ex- 
periment. It is true that a piece of fine broadcloth is not so strong, 
nor will it wear like a Chelmsford plain of treble thickness. The threads 
of the former are spun to extreme fineness to economize the costly raw 
material. To give it that finish which is demanded by fashion — to give 
it its beautiful nap — these threads are still further reduced by “gigging” 
and “shearing.” But spin fine wool into yarn as coarse as that used in 
Chelmsfords, and manufacture it in the same way, and it would make a 
far stronger and more durable cloth. The reasons are obvious. Merino 
wool is decidedly stronger than the English coarse long and middle 
wools — or any other coarse wools — in proportion to its diameter or 
