Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1851-05-02

enjoyment they find in the abundance they have
thus been made instrumental in creating around
them. T. s. w. MORT.
BeIvoir, N c., Feb 18th, 1851
From the Southern Cultivator.
Sheep Husbandry at the South.
This subject is of sufficient Importance to warrant
far more discussion in the Cultivator than it has
hitherto received. Whether the extraordinary eff
forts now put forth in England substitute fax for
cotton, in part, shall succeed or not Sheep Hus-
bandry is likely to be some day both popular and
profitable in all the cotton growing States. We
have before us short communication from Mr. Gid
con Lee, an emigrant from Western New York, who
keeps a flock of about 1000 in Texas. We will give
Patent Office questions and his answers
l. What breeds of sheep prevail in your district or
section of country
A. Chiefly Mexican, with small admixture of Me-
rino, Southdown, Blackwell, and lately few fine
German bucks have been introduced.
g What is about the annual clip of wool per head
A. Rarely pounds. Mexican sheep yield q ;
others (Southdown and BakewelD 81 pounds.
8. Are sheep healthy and prolific in young
A. Mexican sheep are prolific, but unhealthy; Me
rinos and others healthy, and think more produc-
tive than at the North.
4. What are the prevailing diseases p!
A. The rot kind of congestive chill from want of
shelter against - Northers,' and other wants in
summer.
5. Are the farmers planters of your region in
creasing their focks?
A. Not much owing to the cold weather and bad
grass this winter.
6. Where is your wool marketed =!
A. In New York and New Orleans.
7. What is believed to be the cost head year to
keep sheep in your district?
A. Twenty cents; which go chiefly to pay for the
services of shepherd, and for salt.
s. During how long period in the winter must
your sheep receive dry fodder
A. Some years they are fed not at all in others
two months according to the drought.
g. What are your grasses and eseulents for feeding
sheep in summer
A. Museuite or Muskeet grass, and sedge grass.
TO- What is the winter feed of sheep-green or dry!
A. Green.
1t is not often that we are favored with more
densed answers to inquiries than correspondent
has given to the above ten questions. MIR. Beck
writes Oh the same subject that have never
seen shelter for sheep in Texas during eleven years
residence and have no hesitancy in saying that
the rot alluded to by Mr.. Lee is owing entirely to
the want of shelter
Nothing surprises Northern man so much. till
he gets accustomed to it, the little attention paid
in the South to the construction of comfortable sheds
for neat cattle, mules sheep, and hogs. The varia-
tons in temperature sudden and great in the
Southern as in the Northern States; and cold rains
copious and trying in the Southern than
in the Northern climate 1t is foolishness to dsre
gard the laws of health or of latitudes. The fact
that kind Providence has done so much for the
people of the South incnes too many to do next to
nothing for themselves. If the United States beat
the world at its grand Fair in London in fine wool,
by actual measurement, as we think more than pro-
babe, the premium samples will be the native pro-
ducts of Southern State. Might not the Editor of
this journal be proud of such victory While he
aims to talk plainly harshly, to his readers,
he desires to let the world understand the invaua-
BILE of the Southern half of this vast Con-
federacy, Wool is an important staple the annual
consumption of which increases much faster than
ulati nd ia cd hU
exclusive cotton culture it may be economically i'm
proved by combining sheep husbandry with tillage.
We know well that one branch of agriculture can
be managed with less care to the owners of plan
taton than two or three branches but all tillage
and no stock, no forage crops, cheap manure,
rapidly deteriorate the soil The most rigid expert
ments have demonstrated thata farm in good hands,
which keeps sheep to the acre, will produce more
wheat in 20 years than it would without any sheep,
and cultivated in the usual manner. The manure
made by sheep IN year will produce more vege
tables than the sheep consumes. This providential
gain fertility provides for increase of the ovne
race; and where one does not wish to increase his
flock, he has the raw material at hand to increase
his crop Of cotton grain. We say distinctly to
our readers, that the experience of agricuturists
since Cain titled the earth, has shown that husban
dry and tillage should go together Of the two OPP
erations husbandry is the natural but certain
ly not the useful Provide sheep with good
enclosed pasture, and in few wears thew will pro-
harvest, by reason of their having run upon it. The
best crops of potatoes, corn wheat and barley,
have seen, in not unobservng life, found
on old sheep pastures, broken up and properly cul
tivated We not ignorant of the fact that sheep
sometimes iniure land at the South the blame,
however is in the husbandman, not the sheep. To
feed field too closely is like running it down with
cotton A man must have some Judgment to be
skllful farmer, matter where he lives. The fact
that gentleman from Western New York, has en-
barked in sheep husbandry, in Texas, without pro-
viding good shelters for his sheep, mark against
him. The popular idea of subsisting on the sponta-
fruits of the earth without labor, may do for
savages not for civilized society. Barns and sta
They are useful hats, shoes, coats and shirts
All manure should be stored in the Easements of
barns and stables, and composted with leached ash
es, plaster and swamp muck. We have seen thou
sands of sheep wintered in barns, on wheat straw
and chat, with moderate feed of cut turnips of
oats or corn, a day. Their wool, mutton and ma
nure, bring cheap gold to the farmer Turnips grow
quite as we'll in Georgia as in New York and they
might be fed off in the field at the South as is prac-
ticed in England. We have many communications
about keeping sheep in the woods but do not ap-
prove of the system, for good wool can never be
shorn under such circumstances. Our friends at
the Sonth must get in the way of producing clean,
handsome wool, before dirty wool can command
fair price It is of no to grumble at the buyers
the producer must furnish first rate article to make
half of the bargain in selling it, This remark ap-
plies not less to cotton than to wool Foul wheat is
more common than clean and foul land is still more
general in all the States Of the Union
| Neatness and system are the cardinal points in
agriculture. not to be departed from with safety
Wool should be carefully washed before it is clipped