WOOL GROWERS' ASSOCIATION. 435 



the wants of the trade. As a sequence the price of wool has advanced over fifty per 

 cent witliin the hxst few niontlis, and the advance will undoubtedly be sustained. 

 With these paying prices for wool, farmers will improve the shearing capacity of 

 their flocks by better care and more careful breeding. More and better wool and 

 better animals will be the result. At no time in the history of sheep breeding has 

 there been so great a demand for thoroughbred males as the present. It is not con- 

 fined to any particular locality, but from all over the sheep producing regions. 



The demands of the far west are very great, and must be supplied from the more 

 eastern portion of tlie United States. Every good lamb that is dropped should, if 

 possiple, be raised. But, says the timid man, this demand cannot last. Too much 

 wool, too many sheep, and the result will be starvation prices again. This is what 

 he is always saying about all branches of business, and he never helps any. The les- 

 sons of the past should be heeded. Sheep in the days gone by ruled high. Wool was 

 high, and many invested their money recklessly and lost. The fault was not in the 

 business, in the times and in the men. The war caused a large demand for woolen 

 goods, and consequently an increased demand for wool. Greenbacks were worth 

 about forty cents on the dollar, but passed for a dollar. Everybody had plenty and 

 expected to have, and extravagance ruled the masses, the rich, the government offi- 

 cial, and the laborer alike. Wild investments were made, debts contracted, and every- 

 thing seemed prosperous, the war suddenly collapsed. 



A very large amount of manufactured goods were thrown upon the market by the 

 United States Government, as well as by manufacturei's and merchants, whose shelves 

 were overloaded with goods made from wools bought at the prevailing high prices. 

 The country was full of foreign wools and woolen goods brought over by the import- 

 ers. The demand ceased. Greenbacks depreciated greatly in value, debts contracted 

 in the wild times of seeming prosperity had to be paid with the depreciated currency, 

 and then came, as must always come under similar circumstances, a general and uni- 

 versal shrinkage in values and consequently a paralysis in business all over the land, 

 and in sackcloth and ashes have we been paying penance for years, as a result of the 

 most cruel and relentless civil war on record. But cii'cumstances have changed. 

 Peace encircles our domain. From the debris and desolation of those terrible years, 

 Phcenix-Iike, business prosperity has arisen from these ashes and sends its cheering 

 influence into every department of industry, and to-day a man who carefully invests 

 his means and time in sheep husbandry does so with the certainty of a liberal reward 

 for his investment. It is estimated that about eighty per cent of the wool manufac- 

 tured of late has been produced in this country, the other twenty per cent iiaving 

 been imported fvom other countries. W^ith the Increased consumption of woolen 

 goods and the certainty of its continuance, it needs no very astute calculation to show 

 that an over production of wool is not to be feared in the near future. This country 

 is receiving from the old world its hundreds of thousunds of her people who must all 

 be consumers, for all must be clothed. 



Mutton is so desirable and necessary an article of consumption, and brings so remu- 

 nerative a price, that sheep will not accumulate as fast as in years gone b}'. By a 

 concert of action and unity of interests, the wool gi-owers and manufacturers, through 

 associations kindred to ours, have formed a powerful co-working national organiza- 

 tion. The views of the wool grower and manufacturer no longer conllict, but work 

 in harmony. The present tariff on wools and woolen goods works satisfactorily to 

 both producer and manufacturer, and if let alone by Congressional tinkers will give 

 stabilit}' and security to our business as wool growers. 



By these two national organizations, sustained by the different State organiza- 

 tions, we represent no feeble power, and can by united affort be of material aid in 

 checking a revision of that portion of our present tariff laws. 



By organization much more can be accomplished than by individual effort. Among 

 the many societies of merit in this State ours holds no mean place. Its importance 

 demands our earnest attention. To sustain it by well attended meetings, by papers 

 well prepared relative to its interests, accompanied by discussions and interchanges 

 of views on different subjects, is our duty. It should not only be a Michigan Wool- 

 growers and Sheep-breeders' Association in name, but in fact. ' Its importance should 

 bring breeders from every part of the State. The acquaintances formed will alone 

 pay for the time and expense. It sliould be confined to no particular class of breed- 

 ers. Not Merino, Longwool, Downs, nor any special breed should be represented, 

 but all breeds. Every breeder should feel equally at home and champion his partic- 

 ular choice of breeds. The great principles of improvement in breeding, underlie 

 all breeds, and each breeder should make such application of them as best pertains 

 to his chosen breed or family. 



The pecuniary consideration in raising wool and mutton is of the greatest impoi'- 

 tance, and each should have the benefit of the other's experience. Annual meetings 



