Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1880-12-09
The firm aud firesiae.
SHEEP AND The FERTILITY OF THE SOIL.

SHEEP AND The FERTILITY OF THE SOIL.
As showing the importance of sheep hus.
bandry in various countries of the globe, we
find that Great Britain has one sheep to each
two acres of land Germany, France and
Spain one to each FIVE acres +; the United
States one to each fifty-six acres. This latter,
however, does not give really correct idea.
Sheep husbsndIy is essentially gilmore and
more importance in thickly settled regions
The United States has yet vast areas Of wild
and unsettled or partially settled land. The
New England states, with an area nearly four
fifths as large as that of Great Britain, have
but one sheep to each thirty acres, and Ohio,
one of our greatest sheep producing states,
has but one to each eight acres. The cotton
states have but one sheep to each $1,000
acres yet as the Prairie Farmer has time and
again said. there is no region in the country
better adapted to the production of wool, and
especially of fine mutton. All the hill regions
of the South, even of the gulf states, might not
only raise their own mutton and a large amount
of wool for export, but sections near to railways
might realize largely from the sale of early
lambs at high prices for shipments North.
So they might send extra fat mutton sheep
North, which always sell for good prices.
The great drawback to this industry in the
South is, as is we'll known, the horde Of dogs
kept there. Legislation might do something
to remove this disability, especially if it Was
supplemented by severe shotgun practice or
that more effectual remedy, strychnine. -.
Sheep husbandry is one of the essential
means which has been used in England to
bring into the highest productiveness the worn
lands of that country. There it has been tur.
nips and sheep. In the South it may be man
gel wurtzel and sheep, supplemented with
corn, to which many portions of the South
are we'll adapted. 1t is true. grass must be
the foundation of all successful farming. In
this respect the intelligent farmers there must
experiment with view to Ending the varie-
ties best adapted to the climate. There are
rndoubtedly varieties Of clover which will
10 we'll there. Alfalfa should be at home iii
the South, but this plant is better adapted to
uoiling than to pasturage.
There is no farm animal that with proper
care-and this they must have-will DO more
for q worn country than sheep. So well
known is this that their tread has been called
golden. 1t is so inasmuch that while paying
we'll for the care bestowed on them, they are
constantly enriching the soil on which they
feed by their droppings. 1t has also been
said that sheep pay twice; once in the fleece
and once in carcase This again is truism
but to be applied with profit, the conditions
must be congenial and the care exact.
The West, as rule, is better adapted to
the growth of cattle and the feeding Of swine
than it is to sheep husbandry. Pastures on its
teeming soil are flush, and corn is king
Sheep require firm soil, or at least dry
one A hilly country is especially adapted
to sheep.
Large portions of the South possess this bro
ken country. It has heretofore been allow
ed to run to waste, and only the cotton, sugar
and rice lands have been utilized. The al
most exclusive cultivation of cotton over q
wide range of territory has impoverished the
SOIL as any crop exclusively cultivated for q
long succession of years will asuredly do how
ever rich the soil may originally be. Thence
forward the regeneration Of the soil must be
work of time. Special fertilizers may stimu.
late the soil into fictitious fertility for some
other years, but unless supplemented by d ju'
dicious rotation, the end carries the sul fur
ther and further from real fertility. A judi
cious rotation Of crops with plenty of grass
and sheep to eatIt, is, we believe, the ground
work of recuperation for much Of the upland
region of the South. Not exclusively sheep
however; swine, horses and cattle must find
place. But when kept in small aocks, the
long wool varieties of sheep may he kept in
just such proportion as the disability of loss
from predatory dogs may lie removed. The
finer wooled breed may be kept in larger
hocks.