The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1879-09-11
abe Tarnt.
Sheep Husbandry.

'sOne thing that struck me very forcloly
was, that all farmers testified that sheep
raising was absolutely indispensable to sue
cessful farming; and that without them the
whole kingdom would, in q few years, be
reduced to b~arrenness and s%terility. 1t Is
in this view that [ regard sheep raising in
this country as more important to the alti-
mate permanent prosperity OF the country,
than on account of their profits. Whatever
else may happen, we cannot permit the vlr-
gin soil and these beautiful fields Of ours to
be reduced to barrenness by the time they
pass into the hands of our children and
grandchildren. The fertility must be pre-
served at all hazards, even at the expense of
the present profit.
We have been considering the value Of
sheep husbandry merely as a means of en-
riching our lands, and upon this advantage
we will continue to dwell, although Bake
well, the great English farmer, scorned the
idea as much as a southern planter would
have scorncd the idea Of raising cotton on
account of the fertilizing qualities Of the
cotton seed. But we are SO far behind our
English friends in f~arming-not in plant
ing-that we must not expect to overtake
them at a single stride. Let Us enrich our
lands first, and then we can, like Blackwell,
talk of the Of the fleece, and the
flavor of the mutton.
As an instance of the intelligence and
energy of u Southern planter, even under
the most adverse circumstances, we will
again refer TO Mr.. David Dickson, OF Geor-
gia. He takes the agricultural position at
the South, which the lase Earl of Leicester
recently occupied in England, and makes
his piney woods land yield at the rate of q
700 lbs. cotton per acre, by expanding ST.
per acre IN bone dust, guano and plaster.
(See Southern Cultivator, March 1868, page
81 Let us suppose the case of two young
farmers located in Mr.. Dickson's neighbor-
hood, and determined to follow his example
in expenditure upon their lands. We will
suppose each to have 81, 900 in bank stock,
the annual interest of which they determine
to devote to the enrichment of their lands.
The first closely follows Mr.. Dickson's foot
steps, and lays out his 800 per year in COM
merciai manure, at the rate of SIT per acre,
extending oversomething less than p acres.
He acts wisely, but might he not do better
still. His neighbor puts 800 of his capital
into sheep, at 50 80 per head, leaving So
$50; the interest of which he devotes to pur-
chasing food for them, and paying his shep-
herd. He manures ''sutficicntly," il the
English sense of the word, 50 acres in the
course of a year, more than double the
amount manured by his ncighbor. and still
has bis wool and the increase of his flock;
which latter items however, we have agreed
not to take into consideration. Let US sim
ply consider the fact that the one enriches
so acres while the other does not enrich
quite o. The purchashcr of commercial
manures is sometimes imposed upon by dis
honest dealers, but the owner of the sheep
runs no such risk. We do not wish to dis
courage farmers from purchasing CONNER
cial manures. however; on the contrary we
cite Mr.. Dlckson's success with them as an
inducemeGt to use them, but we wish also,
to convince our friends that If Il corn fe Ill
Is worth a fence, a flock of sheep IS also
worth Il shepherd. Where farmers W too
small a number to justify the employment
of a shepherd, let them form a cooperation
society, and put their sheep together, or
better still, let them sell their sheep to those
who have capital enough to take care Of
them. Although most farmers assign the
ravages of dogs as the reason of their fail
ure in sheep raising, yet, a few assert that
even # this difficulty were removed, the de-
fciency Of pasturage would be an insuper-
able Objection, and that we annOt raise the
large root crops upon which the fiocks OF
England. France and Germany are chiefly
fed. This objection comes from farmers
who are not willing to purchase food. Il
Is probably true that our climate and pres
ent system of labor will prevent the culture
of roots as a field crop, but there is no such
difficulty with clover. Any land which will
produce Is bushels of corn per acre, will, |
if deeply plowed, and well pulverized with
a roller, bring fine and abundant crops of
clover. here sheep are pastured for any
length OF time, the grasses best suited to
them spring Up naturally-it seems as if
Gods blessing followed the innocent crea-
lures since Abel's day and that they, above
all other created animals, were formed for
the seeoial service of man. Abel, Of course,
did net use his flock for food, as animal
food was not permitted at that time, but
they, no doubt, ~abundantly repaid his care,
in destroying the thistles and noxious
weeds which sprang up in obedience to the
curse, and in promoting the vigorous
growth Of the ''trees for meat" which God
had appointed for their sustenance.
at an agricultural meeting in Boston,
one of the speakers remarked, that on a
tract OF land which was overrun with wood
box, bria-s and other shrubs, he turned one