Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1857-08-29
sHEKp RAIsIEo.

sHEEP RAISING.
There are asres upon acres Of land in Tennessee
admirably fitted for raising sheep Very little at
tsntion however has jet been paid in this State to
this important branch of productive industry
There are few animals more useful to man for food
and rainent than sheep and any information in re-
gard to their improvement, or the means to prevent
deterioration, deserves careful attention by those
who may intend to embark in the business Of sheep
raising. Dr. Brown, of Pennsylvania, divides sheep
into two classes-the wool. bearing and the hair
bearing. The structure of the fibre of the wool on
the former appears to be essentially different from
that Of the hairy substance on the latter when both
are viewed through powerful microscope These
are distinct species and should be kept So Yet no
attention has been paid to this fact and the races
have become SO crossed and confounded that the
same sheep bears fleece of both descriptions on
different parts of its body, which are incapable of
such separation as ought to take place
The Importance of keeping these two sorts of
wool apart will appear when it is understood that
after being wrought into CLOTH the texture of each
Is quite different. On the hair-bearing sheep we
ind plant-Iike appurtenance growing out of the
skin, elliItical and hollow When severed by sharp
instrument, the section presents about the appear.
anee OF an italic having the longer diameter one
third longer than the shorter and having central
canal from one end to the other, through which the
eoloring matter flows. 1t is made up of great
number Of hbres, running longitudinay and held
together by eorex or bark. The 6bres are SO dis
posed around an open central canal that two Sides
the opposite to each other have more of them than
the intervening Sides giving to the hair the shape of
tattened tube. The eortex or bark is not eontin-
uOus but made up of scales, the end of each scale
projecting little beyond that above and the termi-
nj of these scales are not pointed but round; and
they lie closely to the body of the hair so as to pro-
duce little roughness, and to offer no obstruction
when one hair is drawn or showed over another
That is, there are sharp beardlike points TO
catch and hold fast to another object This, we
shall see by and by, is the reason why hair howev-
fine, will not mat-cannot be wrought into fulled
cloth. you press it together it will not stay press
ed; there is nothing to hold it.
On the wool-bearing sheep we find also plant
ike appurtenance, having its root in the skin, and
sImuch like that of the hair bearing sheep that the
unaided eye cannot detect a specific difference
On applying microscope of high power, it is found
to be about twice as much hattened, to have no
central canal to be made up like the other of great
number of fbres, so arranged as to produce the
hattened form of italie 0, lite longer and mar
rover than the printer would make it, and to be
covered with cortical scales. Those scales are
entirely unlike those of hair. Each scale pointed
instead of being round at the end and instead of
lying fiat on the body Of the hair, the point turns
outward, so that every portion of fibre of wool is
thoroughly bearded. If portion of it comes
in contact with another, separation cannot easily
be effected. The peculiar shape and position of
these corticle scales afford the reason why wool
can be matted, or worked into fulled cloth, while
hair cannot Now for an example of the nature
of these two varieties One buys a piece of
flannel 1t is washed, but does not shrink. 1t is
worn and washed alternately it becomes thin, but
still does not shrink. The garment preserves its
shape and is, if anything, more pleasant than at
first, having soft silky coat. That flannel was
made of the hair variety At another time you pur-
chace piece of flannel, and the consequence of
washing and wearing is directly the opposite. 1t
shrinks but evenly, grows thick and almost impeI-
vious to perspiration and unfit for use. The laun-
dress must not be blamed it was made of wool
without any hair the nature of which is to shrink
Try still another piece of flannel 1t will shrink
much, but unevenly, some portions than others.
Spread it on table parts of it will touch it, while
other parts will rise less above the surface
One might well attempt straighten q natural curl
of hair by the hammer, as to make this fabric lie
smooth and even. This flannel was manufac-
tured from the fleece of sheep in whose veins the
blood of the wool and hair bearing races had been
improperly mingled The effect is injurious The
two should be kept entirely distinct, and then the
quality of the fabric will be uniform and to be de-
pended on. Each sort of wool has its peculiar
value; but the combination of the two having a
nature so opposed, can rarely if ever be anything
but hurtful.
DR.. Brown concludes, from an immense collation.
of facts, that the hair-bearing may be also
called the hannel-p producing sheep-will flourish
best in island coast localities or such as are sub
jected to the influences of sea breezes This of
course, is characteristic Of whole Atlantic coast
from the British to the Mexican territories. His
second inference is, that an inland, hilly, rolling
country, with a tolerably dry atmosphere, is most
favorable to the wool-bearing or the fulled cloth
producing sheep. He is of opinion, that with the
exception of the Atlantic strip, and some other oce-
anc regions, the United States is the best country
in the world for the production of fine wool and fab
ric. DR.. Brown supposes that large proportion Of
the sheep among us are mongrels or hybrids produ-
cling mixture of wool and hair. 1t is exceedingly
important, however, to separate the two kinds and
to breed none but the pure blood of one sort or the
other.
We have in the United States $50, 52S 900 acres of
unimproyed lands; and yet the little territory of
Austria, which Mr.. Webster told Huseman was so
small patch on the map of the world as hardly to
be discernsble, possesses good many more sheep
than we do, numbering in that dimnutve country
about seventeen millions, whereas, only boast
of fourteen millions. OF the product of these
enteen millions Austria exports annually to the value
Of twentyf millions of forms, retaining for her
own eight millions worth. On the contrary, the
product of sheep is annually but So SO 959 lbs
leaving deficit of - 345 $40 pounds TO be imported
from abroad for the SUPPLY of our own manufactures.
How desirable is it on account of their meat now
selling at eighteen cents pound, well for their
fleece that hills and valleys should be enlivened
by these beautiful and valuable creatures without
which landscape cannot deserve the name of pic
turesque! But countrymen appear to be about
backward in their study of public economy as they
are in their taste in painting.
MORNING ON THE HILL.