Herald and tribune. [volume] (Jonesborough, Tenn.) 1869-current, 1897-06-23
TENNESSEE SHEEP HERDING.


Wool grown in Tennessee Superior to That
of Any Other State
When the world exhibited its finest
specimens of wool ut the London Ex-
position of 1S49-5O the prize medal
was won by Col. Mark Cockril, of
Tennessee. Wool grown in Tennessee
pronounced as near perfection as can
be attained. 1t is well established
law that the wool OF sheep in the torrid
zone degenerates irto a species OF hair
ana IN very cold regions, though fine
near the roots, becomes coarse towards
the ends Tennessee seems to occupy
a happy mean, sa, a Nashville letter
to the New York Post.
The fine wooled h1cks-and thew are
merlnos-of the Te nessee Mountains
are called travelling sheep, in contra
distinction to tn" stationary flocks
herded in the plateau lands. These
travelling sheep migrate every spring
from the warm plains and valleys to
the cool mountainous regions, where
they pass the summer, to return again
in the autumn. The parts of the coun.
try where the sheep Craze are divided
into pastures, each capable of main
tanning 1900 sheep, watched by five
under shepherds and five dogs. The
chief shepherd is required to be owner
of 400 or 500 sheep, and capable of at
tending to every duty. He has abso.
lutte control of the under shepherds,
whom he chooses or discharges at will.
While travelling, and when the ewes
are giving birth to their young, two or
more extra hands are allowed to each
TRIBE In time OF shearing 1876
shearers are required for flock of
10000 sheep. The pay of the chief
shepherd is 5000 year; the under
shepherds receive $500 and board.
They have comfortable little huts to
sleep in when upon the mountains.
The dogs are generally white and
black, of the size of a wolf, with Il
large head and thick neck, and are
allied to the mastiif breed. They are
allowed two pounds of bread each day.
and as much milk and meat as can
conveniently be spared. These dogs
are so fierce and strong that no wolf
can resist their attacks, and to render
them doubly secure, their necks are
protected with heavy collars armed
with spikes. There are still some bears
in the Tennessee mountains. The dogs
rarely bark except when an enemy is
at hand. They are also taught to guard |
the sheep on the road, and to prevent
the mingling of different flocks. Should
sick or wearied sheep lag behind on
the way, unobserved by the shepherd,
the dog always protects it until one of
the under shepherds brings relief.
The first thing the shepherd does
when his flock reaches the mountain
pastures is to give them as much salt
as they will eat. Each tribe" of a
thousand sheep is allowed $500 pounds
OF salt, which they consume within five
months. They eat none on their Jour
neys nor are they allowed any in
winter. The shepherd places fifty or
sixty flat stones about five PAGES apart.
strews salt upon each, leads the sheen
slowly among them, and they eat it at
pleasure When sheep feed upon lime
stone land they require no salt.
One of the shepherds chief cares is
not to suffer his sheep to imbibe. in the
morning the frozen dew or melted frost,
and never to approach pond or stream
after shower of hail. For, if thew
should eat the dewy grass or drink the
melted hail, it is believed the whole
tribe would become depressed in spirits,
lose their appettes, pine away and die,
as has often happened. Hail water is
looked on as so pernicious to man in
that climate that the people have
learned not to drink from stream
until some time after q violent storm.
towards the close of September the
shepherd smears the sheep with a
leavy, irony earth common in the
mountains. 1t is first mixed with water !
md then daubed on their backs. This s
operation serves three purposes: ming
ing with the oil of the wool it becomes
varnlsh impenetrable to the cold and
ain; its weight keeps the wool down
ND prevents it from growing long and 1
oarse, and it acts as an absorbent, re q
ewing part of the perspiration, which i
would otherwise foul the wool and c
ender it rough. /
AT the end OF September, the sheep
egln their journeys toward the lower
'lalns, their itineraries being as we'll
egulated as a march of troops. Each t
ribe is led by dozen weathers, which v
re obedient to the voices of the shep- c
erds, who give them small pieces of a
read to encourage them. The sheep i
eed freely in all the wilds and COM t
nons through which they pass, and 8
ften travel fifteen or twenty miles a
ay, from one pasture to another. They c
walk slowly all the time, never ston. v
ing till they get to their journeys f
Id The chief shepherd is cautious b
see that each tribe is carried to the b
anne district in which it fed the winter Q
efore, for this is thought to prevent g