SELLING THE WOOL. 211 



within eight cents per pound as much as the farmer who 

 takes the greatest pains in washing his sheep, and pre- 

 paring the wool for market; and, in view of this fact, many 

 of our sheep-raisers have adopted the plan of shearing 

 before turning their sheep to pasture in the spring, hav- 

 ing become satisfied that they receive more money for their 

 wool per head than when washing and preparing their wool 

 in the "good old way." There evidently is a premium of- 

 fered for filth in this particular, which the farmer who keeps 

 his sheep saturated during the winter (much to their dis- 

 comfort) wins ; and I can but enter my protest here against 

 the manner in which some of our farmers dispose of their 

 annual clips of wool as tending to lower the standard of wool- 

 raisers. Under the present system the wool is sold before it 

 is taken from the sheep (unless, perchance, one is sheared in 

 January), a certain price agreed upon, and "more, if others 

 pay more." Under these conditions the farmer promises his 

 wool, and so on to the next neighbor, who is informed by 

 the speculator, that he has purchased Mr. A's wool, and you 

 can have the same, shall I have the promise of yours ? The 

 answer is in the affirmative. The condition of the wool is 

 not known by either party to the arrangement. 



Now, the farmer who refuses to sell his wool until it is 

 ready for the market, and in good condition, of course gets a 

 much higher price for his wool, and so forces No. 1 buyer, 

 under the terms of the contract, to pay much more for the 

 lots engaged by him than he expected, and more than they 

 are actually worth, having, in the former cases, been very 

 improperly prepared for market. A wool-buyer should not 

 be allowed in a sheep community until the wool is taken off 

 and prepared for market, and then, not unless he will buy 

 the wool upon its merits, paying for Mr. A's wool (that is 

 prepared in first-rate order, and is of a very long staple, suit- 

 able for combing) more than he pays Mr. B for his lot of 

 wool, that is dirty, ragged, and out of condition throughout, 

 although claimed to have been well washed. Farmers are, 

 like all other classes, human ; and strict honesty, neatness, 

 and their efforts to bring their pursuit to a higher plane in 

 all its branches, should be encouraged. I speak of the wool- 

 business to show that too often the good wool sells the wool 

 that is too poor to sell itself, and the remedy is this. 



