SHEEP. 327 



better off. The sheep, by feeding on the corn saved it from the frost, and the droppings of 

 the sheep in one night so enriched the field that it produced the largest crop of corn that had 

 been grown in the town for years.&quot; 



Sheep graze more closely and keep the pastures in much better condition than any other 

 animal, and will do well where other animals would hardly gain a subsistence. 



Wool and its Uses. Unlike the culture of cotton and other textile materials, the 

 cultivation of which is confined to certain localities of our country, wool-growing can be 

 successfully practiced in every State in the Union and its territories, being suited to all soils 

 and climates. The South and West are sections peculiarly adapted to this enterprise, while 

 in New England it must of necessity be limited, owing to the density of the population and 

 the small size of the farms in that section. In the South the season for winter feeding is 

 much shorter than at the North, affording an opportunity to depend more upon pasturage in 

 maintaining the flocks, while the well-sheltered valleys afford protection from the severity of 

 storms in winter and induce an early growth of spring grasses. The infertile and worn-out 

 lands can by this means be reclaimed to cultivation and fertility. 



By the more general recognition of sheep husbandry as an adjunct of Southern 

 Agriculture, for a few years, a marked improvement in soil, general agriculture, individual 

 and State wealth must of necessity follow. The remarkable success attending wool growing 

 in New South &quot;Wales, which is a region of excessive heat, proves what -can be accomplished 

 in such climates. The admirable facilities for wool growing in the Western States and 

 Territories, and the success already attained in it there, where it is but yet in its infancy, 

 gives promise of what may yet be accomplished in this direction in the future. 



In a recent article on the Wool Industry in our National Economy, Hon. John L. Hayes 

 says, after referring to pastoral sheep husbandry as of the first importance as a means cf 

 settling new territories : 



&quot; The relations of domestic wool to domestic manufactures are equally conspicuous and 

 important the rule being that the characteristic wool manufactures of the leading nations 

 have been determined by the abundance and peculiarities of their raw material. Turkey 

 makes but few, and exports no cloths, but her carpets and rugs, made from the wool of the 

 barbarous sheep, are sought everywhere; England, the home of the combing-wool sheep, 

 was the inventor of the countless dress fabrics into which the fleeces enter; Germany 

 produced the electoral fine-wool sheep, and her light, fine broad-cloths dispute with all rivals 

 for the markets of the world; France created the Merino combing- wools, and from them 

 established her prestige in the fabrication of the luxurious dress goods which in their infinite 

 variety contribute to the adornment of the female world. 



The wool manufacture of the United States is dependent upon domestic wool production. 

 The two branches of wool industry have always stepped together, though unconsciously 

 quickened or retarded by the same influences. As the flocks spread in the new State the 

 mills were planted in their midst not clustered in a few centres, as in Europe, but broadly 

 scattered, like sheep feeding in a wide pasture. The more prominent wool-growing States 

 have woolen mills as follows: California 10, Illinois 99, Indiana 157, Iowa 98, Michigan 55, 

 Missouri 57, Ohio 187, Oregon 9, Wisconsin 67 all using American-grown wool, and 

 mostly produced in their immediate neighborhoods. It is safe to say that not one of these 

 mills would have been established but for the contiguous flocks, and if forced to seek imported 

 wool, each one would stop. But consumption of domestic wool is not confined to Western 

 manufactures. Manufacturers prefer American to foreign wool. The census of 1880 

 indicates an enormous preponderance of the domestic article over the foreign. Two reasons 

 are assigned for the superiority of American wool. The first cause is a physical one our 

 characteristically dry climate. The second is a moral one as a rule the farmer is his own 



