Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1872-03-15
MON AND AMERICAN.
FARM AND GARDEN.
zEuzEp Axn WOOL Growing.

SHEEP Ann WOOL GROWING.
With the scarcity of labor and the diff
Guilty which many farmers experience in
controlling it so as to make the farm pay,
many have tdrned their attention to sheep
and wool growing. The lamenued Gen.
Ewell had increased his focks to 5000, and
it was his intention, had he lived, to have
5000 on his farm in Maury county the
present year. He maintained that there
was no branch of husbandry that paid so
well and gave so much satisfaction. One
acre Of grass land, according to his estimate,
will keep three sheep, while It requires
three acres to keep one COW,
so that the expense of keeping nine sheep
is just the same as keeping one cow. Now
as to their respective values: An ordinary
average COW at two years of age will sell
for forty dollars. Nine sheep, of the same
age, are worth $50, and nine 1eeces aver
aging seven pounds each, at 40 cents per
pound, viii make $500, that the aggregate
for nine sheep, equal to one COW, is S6l.2O,
making difference in favor of sheep equal
to S2l.20. We suppose in making this
comparison, that the relative cost in keep
ing be the same in winter as in summer,
and that the early development of the pro-
creative functions in sheep will give in
crease enough in advance Of cattle to pay
all cost of shearing and delivering the wool
TO market.
1t is to be regretted that our Legislature
should so long give negative protection to
worthless dogs, and so discourage this
branch of husbandry so profitable in every
country. The truth is wool is one of the
necessaries Of life and It would be quite as
easy to do without shoes as to do without
wooden blankets and wooden clothes. From
the earliest records the rearing of sheep has
been fayorite employment. The first
division ofagliculture was made when Cain
became a tiller of the soil and Abel a keep
er offs sheep. The inhabitants of the billy
country of Syria, the dwellers in Mesopota-
mia and in the lands east of the
Mediterranean rejoiced in their
flocks of sheep and herds Of cattle. Lot
and Abraham grew sheep in sucffabund-
ance that they had to separate and find new
pastures, one going to the East and one to
the West. Garments Of wool ranked next
in dignity to purple linen. Indeed the
Jews appear TO have been a pastoral people
until their dispersion, when a knowledge of
other countries and climates were obtained
and fondness for commercial life created.
In the thirteenth century, Spain was re-
nowned for her sheep husbandry and wool
en- manufactures. Seville alone had TO-
600 looms. From Spain, England derived
her best breeds and the importation of for
eign wool into England was free until the
year 1902. Not less than 100000 out of
the 34,OO0,OO0 pounds imported into that
country from 1T01 to 1899 was Spanish.
During the stormy period Of the Peninsu-
lar war in 1909, four thousand sheep were
sent by Col. Downie, a Scotch officer in the
British service, to England, and 1000 to
Scotland. Other focks were also sent.
From this time forward England became
Prominently a sheep-growing country.
There is now an average of sheep to every
person in the British Islands, and while
wool has become a secondary considera-
tion, the question Of food being paramount,
Sheep husbandry in Great Britain is ex-
ceedingly profitable. 1t has been found i'm
possible TO combine the finest wool with the
best mutton, and in consequence thereof
England looks to her Colonies and to Con-
tinental Europe for supply Of fine woods;
the total imports for the year 1860 being
l45,500,651 pounds, which being added to
the home product, estimated at 100000, 900
pounds, and from which deduct the
amount Of exports, 9O,5OO,OOO, leaves
a total of 365,OO0,OOO pounds, all
of which is consumed in the vari-
Gus forms Of wooden manufactures in
Great Britain. In the United States the
amos Y consumed the same year was only
64,j72, 900 lbs.
Since the last date, however, the wool
product ofthis country has vastly increased
in all those States that have enacted strin-
gent laws having for their object the pre-
vention for the depreciation of dogs upon
sheep, and the reimbursement Of
sheep raiSers on account Of losses
therefrom. In Michigan, for instance,
there is law requiring town
SIP assessors 70 ascertain the number
Of dogs liable'tO be taxed, and the names of
their owners, and if such owners refuse to
pay the tax assessed, it becomes lawful to
kill the dogs. When damage is done by a
dog, fine Of three dollars is imposed upon
the owner for neglecting to kill him, and
one dollar and half additional for every
fOrty-eight hours thereafter, until such dog
shall be killed. Under the protection of
this law the wool product has increased
from 1850, 1888 lbs. in 1860 to S,726, las lbs.
in 1870. Indiana has a stringent law requir-
ing all owners Of dogs to pay license of
fifty cents for the first dog and one dollar
Act NeSAA NSNiiNASAAtAa ttNs9 anu bAC NAtAAdl III
every case for a female dog Accruing
funds are set apart for the payment If
damages suffered from injuries from sheep.
Under this law the wool product has in
creased from 2,552,318 pounds in 1860 to
5,O29,023 pounds in 1870. Minnesota has
the uzost stringent law and her wool pro-
ducts have grown from little over 10000
pounds in 1860 TO over 100000 pounds in
1870. On the other hand Tennessee is
better adapted by nature for wool
growing than any State mentioned.
No land under the sun, not even the
fertile plains and mountain heights of
the Spanish Peninsula, nor the rolling
ranges of New South Wales and Victoria
in Australia, are better suited for sheep
raising than Middle and East Tennessee.