CONSUMPTION 



— ^PRODUCTIOM 



1912 



1913 



1915 



1916 



WHY WOOL IS MORE EXPENSIVE EACH YEAR 



The above diagram shows that the production of wool in the United States is slowly diminish- 

 ing, while the amount of it used is rapidly growing. It is, therefore, inevitable that clothing 

 should be dearer. The situation is aggravated by the fact that the production of wool is 

 decreasing in most other parts of the world, wiiere the large areas that formerly supported 

 flocks of sheep are being plowed under. (Fig. 1.) 



disperse their flocks. But the i)rice 

 has held firm. Many sheepmen, in- 

 deed, have been forced to ship their 

 stock east, but it has not reached the 

 stockyards — it was bought up, in large 

 part, by the farmers of the middle west 

 for Vjreeding purposes. The farmers 

 of the cast and south have not yet been 

 able to get many sheep, but are ready to 

 buy more as fast as sheep can be grown. 

 Considering the advantages of sheep 

 on the farm, it seems odd that they 

 should have been universally neglected 

 in the United States, so that only one 

 farm in a dozen has any. The reasons 

 are numerous. Shepherding is a special- 

 ized branch of the animal husbandry, 

 which requires skill; few American 

 farmers understand it. Those who did 

 keep sheeiJ confined them to small 

 areas of ground, which in a few 

 years became infested with deadly para- 

 sites. And the ubiquitous farmer's dog 

 388 



has always been an enemy of ^heep 

 The first difficulty can be overcome 

 by education in the agricultural colleges. 

 Stomach worms can be avoided if sheep 

 are moved around from one ])iecc of 

 ground to another, after a few years, 

 and if the lambs are marketed early. 

 Dogs can be suppressed. Middle west- 

 em and other States which are trying 

 to encourage sheep-raising are taking 

 vigorous action against the dog nuisance, 

 and baying the moon may soon become 

 merely a tradition. Iowa has passed a 

 sort of curfew law which provides that 

 owners of dogs must keej) them tied 

 up at night, while Illinois has given the 

 sheci) raiser authority to shoot any dog 

 he finds on his land, the owner of the 

 dog having no recourse whatever. 



TIIK MOST VALrAHLli BRIiliDS 



By such means sheep raising can be 

 reestablished on American fanns. Its 



