S6 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 



$3. Thu Welsh plains, imported from England, weigh%sually net far from 

 13 ounces per yard, and cost from 65 to 70 cents; and fhe Chelmsfords, 

 a heavy, coarse article, from Massachusetts, from 50 to 58 cents. 



Now what is the cost of manufacturing (including wool and every other 

 expense,) cloth of the same amount of stock, and better quality, than Welsh 

 plains 1 To the present weight of the cloth per yard add one-third, and 

 you have the weight of the wool in the fleece as bought of the farmer.* If, 

 then, the Welsh plains weigh 13 ounces per yard, they required 17^ ounces 

 of fleece-wool as stock. Wool of the quality worked into " plain cloth " 

 or " sheep's gray," in this State, (New-York,) many shades better in qual- 

 ity than the stock of Welsh plains, has averaged from June to December, 

 1846, from, say, 20 to 22 cents a poundf or, if pulled from the pelts of 

 slaughtered sheep, as is the case with large quantities of it worked into 

 these cloths, it did not, during the same period, stand the purchaser-in to 

 exceed 18 cents per pound. Assume the average to be 21 cents per pound, 

 and the stock of a yard of these cloths (17J ounces) would cost 22J cents. 



You are familiar with the character of the " sheep's grays " of New- 

 York. They are worn almost universally by our farmers. Of the twenty- 

 five thousand men you saw at the State Fair at Rochester, at least three- 

 fourths of them ordinarily wear this quality of cloth for pantaloons, and 

 say one-half of them for coats. Its ordinary weight is from that of the 

 Welsh plain to 16 ounces per yard, and its style and expense of manufac 

 ture are superior to those of the former. It can be manufactured, in 

 chiding use of machinery, &c., and every process after the wool is received 

 in the fleece, to fitting it for market, for eleven cents per yard ! A mer- 

 chant of this State owns a manufactory, employing say $25,000 or $30,000 

 of capital, which turns off from 500 to 600 yards of cloth per diem the 

 fleece-wool being converted into finished cloth in eight days. His whole 

 expenses, including use of manufactory, averages, according to his own 

 statements, not to exceed the above named price per yard. Add this sum 

 to the cost' of wool, and cloths containing an equal quantity and quality of 

 stock with Welsh plains would cost 33f cents per yard ; and you there- 

 fore pay for this class of cloths about one hundred per cent, beyond the first 

 cost, for transportation, duties, and manufacturer's profits. The latter, of 

 course, absorbs most of the immense sum thus paid, or rather thrown away, 

 annually by the Southern States. The Chelmsfords, and various other 

 woolen goods imported by you, are probably manufactured at nearly equal 

 profits. 



Is it singular, then, that " acres of woolen manufactories " are now in 

 the process of erection in the North 1 or that existing establishments 

 are declaring dividends of from ten to fifteen per cent. 1 J 



But I have not done with the data of manufacturing. The manufac- 

 turer above alluded to has, to my certain knowledge, exchanged "sheep's 

 grays " requiring a pound of stock per yard, for wool of the same quality 

 as the stock, giving a yard of cloth for i-J- Ibs. of wool. Calling this wool 



* After being washed in the ordinary manner on the back of the sheep. 



t Wool has risen since December. 



1 1 did contemplate an enumeration of the new woolen manufactories now buiHing, or in contempla 

 tfon, within fhy knowledge, in this Si ate and New-England , but will mention but a few of the most im- 

 portant ones. The Bay State Mills now in process of erection in the new city of Lawrence, Mass.. will 

 Work iiu 2,000,001) Ibs. of wool per annum. One. of the mills, 200 feet long and six stories high, will go intd 

 operation thi* summer. The machine-shop, wool-house, etc., 'the mere offices,) will be, including wings, 

 thirteen hundred feet in length, nd three stories hih. Their very srwcr will cost $25,000 ! A splendid 

 Bteam mill hns iust gone into operation in Utica, in this .^tate, which will work up 1.000,000 Ibs. of wool psi 

 annum. Another of the same size is in contemplation, in Utica ; another in Syracuse ; another in Auburn, 

 &C ! There never was a time when American manufactures stood on firmer basis, or were making bet 

 ter profits with a prospect of having them continuous. This is conceded by the ablest of the manajaciwert 

 tktMsilviS. as 1 shn.ll, in the proper place ; show. 



