ANIMALS. 55

The“Randall Grass''— said to have been discovered in one of the western counties of Virginia— promises to be the most valuable for sheep-grazing in the regions spoken of. From the many experiments resulting from the distribution of the seeds of this grass through much of Virginia and Tennessee, it seems to have met with universal favor. In character and growth, it closely resembles orchard-grass, but is more tenacious of life, flourishing under the most unfavorable treatment, and resisting the intrusion of sedge and other inferior grasses. It has a more profuse foliage than the orchard-grass, and a more slender and soft stem; it will retain its green color during the severest weather of winter, and exhibit an earlier growth in the spring than other grasses known in this region.

A comparative statement of the expense of maintaining sheep at the North and in this Southern country will exhibit the decided supe- riority of the latter, and materially assist us in forming correct con- clusions. If we examine the various communications on this subject, contained in the Agricultural Reports of the Patent Office, we shall find the average expense of wintering sheep at the North to be about. §1 25 per head, while in the region herein treated of it does not exceed 25 cents, or one-fifth the above amount; and in most winters,

when the snow does not lie more than a day or two at a time, the

cost of wintering is hardly worth computing. This difference in the expense of maintaining a flock is considerably widened when we con- trast the value of lands in the respective districts. Those at the North, we may safely place at an average price of§20 per acre, while in the Southern region any quantity of lands suitable for sheep-walks can be purchased at an average of dl, and many large tracts at half that price, or even less; thus affording decided advantages to per- sons of small capital.

That the climate of the Northern States is more favorable to the growth of fine wool than the region to which I refer, repeated experiments are disproving. Although it is an admitted law of Nature that the covering of an animal will adapt itself in a great degree to the climate in which it abides, yet this does not prové that fine wool cannot be grown in a warm climate any more than that fine furs or fine feathers cannot be found there; for many animals, bearing the finest quality of furs, inhabit the most southern borders of our country, such as the beaver, otter, muskrat, and flying squirrel, and may be classed among the finest fur-producing animals; they are all found in Texas, as well as in the Canadas. The Merino sheep has been bred for ages as far south as the 36th degree of north latitude, in Asia; and we are informed by eminent writers on the subject that there is no perceptible difference in the fineness of their fleece from that of the flocks of Europe; and we have the testimony of the head of the great, Lowell Manufacturing Company, who has purchased extensively from all parts of the United States, that“ wherever there are good shepherds there is sure to be found good wool.“ The veritable samples of wool grown by an eminent sheep-farmer of Tennessee,(Mr. Cockrill,) are said to have exceeded in fineness those selected by an agent of our government from the best flocks of Europe; and this gentleman