214 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
Sheep Husbandry on the Prairies. 
Can Sheep Husbandry be successfully and profitably 
prosecuted, on the Prairies of Illinois, Iowa, and the 
bordering States and Territories? 
Eds. Cultivator —So little has yet been successfully 
done on the western prairies, in the production of wool, 
that the discussion of the subject through the columns 
of the Cultivator, might doubtless be interesting and 
profitable to many of its readers. It certainly does not 
require the power of propliecyirig, to determine the 
ultimate destiny of the west. As an agricultural country 
the upper Mississippi valley must shortly stand at the 
head of all other portions of the Union, if quality, quan¬ 
tity, and cheapness of production, be the standard for 
deciding this matter. This maybe said without disparage¬ 
ment to any other section of the country, and the most 
fhvored spots in New-York and Ohio • although beyond 
doubt, possessing many advantages and charms, and to a 
certain extent vastly productive in everything that would 
indicate a high state of civilization and power ■ yet when 
compared to the mighty natural elements of production 
of the far tvest, they become immeasurably insignificant! 
To no branch of husbandry are the high rolling prairies of 
the west, better adapted than for the grazing of sheep. 
Although it is a subject so fertile in interest and impor¬ 
tance, that a volume might be written upon it, yet, the 
few ideas, facts, and deductions therefrom, that may be 
condensed within the limits of two pages of this maga¬ 
zine, will be none the less interesting to those who desire 
to become acquainted with the natural resources of the 
west, and especially with the interesting subject under 
notice. 
Sheep, in no portion of the hilly regions of New Eng¬ 
land, uniformly enjoy better health, nor produce a finer, 
stronger, and fairer sample of wool, than on the dry roll¬ 
ing prairies of Illinois and Iowa. The comparative cost 
of production, may be somewhat conjectured, from the 
relative cost of land, the character of the herbage, and 
the facilities for transporting the article to market. The 
most extensive sheep ranges east of the Alleghany Moun¬ 
tains, are valued at from $20 to $40 per acre ; and the 
natural herbage on this expensive land, in an average of 
seasons, will not sustain more than five sheep per acre, in 
a good healthy condition. This is by far too high an es¬ 
timate, but for argument sake it will be allowed. If the 
artificial grasses be cultivated, and gypsum and other 
stimulating manures be employed, seven full grown sheep 
per acre, may be carried through the spring, summer, 
and autumn seasons, by having small enclosures, and 
frequently changing the flocks from one field to another. 
Neither of these results can be attained on any other than 
the very best quantity of land, and will require very care¬ 
ful attention on the part of the owner or manager of the 
flock. With the present extraordinary high prices, no 
branch of farming pays so well, on moderately high 
priced land, as wool and mutton. It is not probable that 
those prices can long be sustained, neither, on the other 
hand, need there be anticipated a ruinous depression in 
the wool markets of the union, from the fact that the 
demand will increase with the increased production of the 
article. It may be well, however, for the farmers, who 
June. 
are directly interested in this business, to keep well posted 
up on the great leading features, which in future years 
will govern the American wool markets. 
As an hypothesis to base a few arguments and conclu¬ 
sions, we shall suppose a point below which the eastern 
wool grower could not reach, without entailing loss and 
ruin. This standard need not be lower than 25 cents 
per pound for fine wool, and 20 cents per pound for the 
long coarse staples. Admitting this position, we shall 
presently prove that those prices will afford as high a 
profit to the prairie farmer as is now obtained for wool, 
by those who employ high priced lands, and that too of 
an inferior quality, for the production of a rich indige¬ 
nous herbage. 
For many years to come there is no necessity for the 
owner of a flock of sheep, in either Illinois, Iowa, South¬ 
ern Minnesota and Wisconsin, to invest a cent of money 
in the purchase of lands for the pasturage of sheep. The 
open prairie, of a suitable quality for the business, is 
sufficiently abundant to stock all the sheep in the union, 
within the limits of either of the states of Illinois and 
Iowa. The latter state is more especially adapted for 
sheep husbandry than Illinois, on account of the high 
rolling character of the prairies, and the total absence 
of swamps, marshes, and low unproductive wet lands. 
This feature applies to the whole state, whereas in Illi¬ 
nois, it is confined to about one-third of its area. The ar¬ 
gument still holds good, that the entire flocks of the union 
may be driven on to the prairies with impunity, and be 
fed at the public crib, for an almost indefinite period of 
years, without costing a cent per head, excepting the su¬ 
pervision of the shepherd. A very important feature con¬ 
nected with the pasturage of extensive flocks of sheep on 
an open prairie country, might be overlooked by a merely 
casual observer. The coarse natural grasses which are 
very abundant in variety, as the land becomes closely 
pastured, give way for those of a finer and more delicate 
quality, and the sheep selecting the finer kinds in pre¬ 
ference, head this species of herbage down so close, that 
it constantly thickens on the surface of the ground, and 
thus crowds out and destroys the coarser and rejected 
varieties. By this process and other influences favoring 
the eradication of the wild and coarse grasses, such as 
mowing for prairie hay and burning the surface by fires, 
the ground becomes closely matted with a rank growth 
of white clover, and the finest qualities of May and June 
grasses, which afiord a richer and more appropriate de¬ 
scription of pasturage, than can be met within any other 
country of which we have knowledge. 
The white clover does not appear to be so natural to 
those localities where the subsoil is loose and sandy, as 
upon those of a more retentive nature; but by far the 
largest portion of the dry prairies favor its growth to a 
much greater degree than the soils of any other portion 
of this continent, with which we have become acquainted; 
and this plant, in connection with several other domesti¬ 
cated grasses, affords a rich and abundant pasturage, es¬ 
pecially adapted for sheep, such as no where else can be 
found. Aside from the natural tendency of the soil for 
the production of the most delicate and nutritious varie¬ 
ties of grasses, it has a never failing supply of the nu¬ 
merous species of prairie grasses which all more or less 
