The Camden weekly journal. [volume] (Camden, South-Carolina) 1853-1861, 1854-08-01
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Sleeps Dogs &C.,

The attention of our readere is called to an
article in our present number on raising food
for sheep. Who will make the experiment!
There will be time enough after this number
comes to hand. We prefer sowing corn late
for fodder. If you have no sheep, you have no
doubt more cattle than you ought to keep for
Your interests, and the corn, fodder and turnips
will answer for them fully as we'll as for sheep;
indeed, ,swe think better, so far as the fodder is
concerned. But, although we are much i'll fa-
vor of sheep raising, both as a source of profit
and as an important link in the chain OF i'm
provement of our worn out lands, yet we are
not quite sure that we are doing full justice to
our subscribers in encouraging them to enter
into it to any extent whilst our State and the
whole South is overrun with packs of ours,
whelps and pups of high and low degree, and
under the protection of our laws. The game
of sheep raising is not worth candle whilst
our legislators are too much afraid OF their
popularity with the "dear people" to enact
laws for the suppression of the dog nuisance to
good society. If we had a law allowing one
dog ON each farm to be kept free Of tax, but
g all over one, tax of, say 25 or so cents for
the first, and doubling on every one over that
with an additional clause taxing each white man
or woman for allowing Negro to keep dog
not less than five dollars for each so kept, it
would we feel quite certain in a very short
time, reduce our population at least 500 per
cent. and increase the number of sheep in as
great ratio. As to the fear of the people, we
don't believe word of it. We should not be
afraid to 60 before the people with all our pre-
iudices against the canine race. lfthere were
no other objections to us we should not fear
success. We know there are many gentle
men in the State that are greatly attached to
their packs of hounds Such men would, how
ever be found we venture, almost to man, in
favor of the law. They would most cheerful.
ly paw the tax, in order to have thousands OF
useless prowling ours destroyed. Even poor
men would prefer paying q tax on one or two
good dogs, to HAVING the country overrun with
worthless ones. AS to Negroes being allow
ed to raise and keep dogs by their owners, we
consider it an outrage on every decent commu'
nity. The man that suffers it is certainly
and often-times, no doubt, without reflection
too regardless of his own and Of his neighbor's
interest. If instead of allowing his negro to
raise dog, he would give him a pig to
raise, it would cost him no more, and very
probably much less. What negro would
feed to dog-for whoever saw poor negro's
dog-would raise pig yearly, which in the
family of the negro would be clear saving
to the owner. Besides, we know that in our
own neighborhood negroes keep dogs with them
in all their night prowling, in order to warn
them in their rogueries, as we'll as to protect
them from the patrol. We know an instance
that occurred few days since, in which the
dog protected "a negro from patro! that
pursued and overlook him, and enabled the ne.
gro to make his escape.
Upon the whole, it must come to this at last
we must make our election between the dog
and the sheep. We must agree to the reduc.
ton of large majority of our dog population
or we must content ourselves with the aband.
opment of sheep raising Who will vote for
degs and who for the Sheep
PendIeton Farmer and Planter.