State Agricultural Society. 501 



The Spring clip was above the average of several preceding seasons 

 in staple and condition. Southern wools especially were remarkable 

 for their good condition and comparative freedom from bur. In the 

 wool from other sections the improvement was less marked. The Fall 

 clip has not been equal to that of eighteen hundred and seventy-three. 

 The condition is. poorer, in consequence of sheep farmers having bred 

 more for fine heavy wool than formerly, which naturally retains more 

 dust than open wool of a coarser fiber. The fact, also, of valley lands 

 having become too valuable for sheep raising, has driven the flocks into 

 the mountain districts, where more seeds are found, and consequently 

 ver} T little Fall wool is now free. 



The demand throughout the year has been for wools of good staple. 

 Southern wools in the Spring met with ready sale, because the length 

 of staple was thought to more than counterbalance the burs they con- 

 tained. Short-stapled fine wools are the last to move, as they are only 

 suitable for a few kinds of manufactures. 



The wide-spread introduction of Merino blood into the flocks of the 

 State is now making its effect apparent in the increased amount of short 

 fine heavy wool. Such wools are not suitable for fine goods, because 

 the staple is too short, and they are usually defective. For common 

 goods they are too expensive, as the shrinkage is heavy, on account of 

 the quality, and the staple is also too short. Long-stapled wools, of 

 medium grade, are in demand during Spring and Fall, and it is to the 

 production of such descriptions farmers should turn their attention, if 

 they want to have their wools meet with ready sale. The agitation 

 now going on for a revision of the tariff on wools and woolens, should 

 cause wool growers to pay attention to the wants of consumers. 



As the wool product of the State increases, the time in which it is 

 disposed of becomes longer, so that in future this market will seldom 

 be entirely bare. The stock of Fall wool in store at the beginning of 

 the year was unusually large. An active demand, which continued 

 during January and February, was sufficient to take nearly all of it, so 

 that when Spring wool began to arrive, it came upon a bare market. 

 The first receipts of the Spring clip were so superior to the preceding 

 year, in condition, staple, and freedom from defects, that they were 

 taken quickly, at prices considerably above the rates of the year before. 

 The scarcity of domestic and foreign wools in the Eastern marketa 

 turned the attention of consumers to California for supplies until other 

 domestic wools should arrive. The presence of an unusually large 

 number of Eastern buyers caused an active competition, and prices 

 gradually advanced throughout the season. Although the production 

 was larger than ever before, and was brought into market more quickly 

 than usual, there was no accumulation, except from the inability of the 

 packers to forward the wools. The shipments East during April and' 

 May largely exceeded that of any previous year during the same time. 

 By the middle of June very little wool remained to be marketed. 



Fall wools began to arrive in September, and at first met with ready 

 sale. The market gradually advanced to the point of restricting opera- 

 tions, while at the same time the condition of the Eastern markets was 

 unfavorable. Wools began to accumulate, and this continued until 

 stocks were larger than ever before. During the past month a demand 

 has sprung up, and supplies have been somewhat reduced, but they are 

 still greater than usual. 



The large amount of Fall wool this season has astonished everybody. 

 It shows that the farmer, expecting good prices, has shorn every sheep, 



