SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 87 



21 cents per pound, the cloth would thus cost the purchaser 36f cents per 

 yard. 



Any of the manufactories doing custom-work will manufacture these 

 goods " at the halves," so that a yard requiring a pound of stock would 

 cost two pounds t;f wool, or 42 cents. That as heavy as Welsh plains 

 would thus cost 45i cents, it being from 19J to 241 cents per yard less than 

 vou now pay. Yet here the manufacturer of custom-work admits the sufifi 

 ciency of the profit, by asking no more. 



Blankets are of still coarser wool, having the appearance of Smyrna, or 

 inferior South American. They are not " sheared,"* which diminishes 

 the waste. Neither do they need dyeing matter. But independent of 

 these considerations, calling cost of stock per pound, and the waste from 

 all causes the same, 6 Ibs. of fleece-wool would make a blanket. To the 

 wool costing 21 cents a pound add 11 cents per pound (of the stock) for 

 manufacturing, and the actual cost of the blanket is $1 92. Have them 

 manufactured by the halves, and they would cost you 12 Ibs. of wool each, 

 or $2 52. 



I have in the previous estimates, based my calculations on the market 

 price of the lower quality of medium wools.t But there is another and a 

 most important view of the subject. It has already been shown that the 

 South can produce wool, to any desirable extent, at a sum not exceeding 

 8 cents per pound and, in favored localities, at a much lower rate. By 

 the exchanging system (wool for cloth) you would get a yard of cloth 

 equaling the YVelsh plain in stock, and superior in quality, for 2 Ibs. 2|- oz. 

 of wool, costing the producer just 171 cents ! A blanket weighing 4i Ibs. 

 would be obtained for 12 Ibs. of wool, costing 96 cents ! 



Does this sound a little like dreaming, Sir ? I ask you to carefully 

 examine the premises, and see if there is any escaping from these con 

 elusions 1 



Will the South continue to slumber on, thus throwing away the fruits 

 of her industry ] Do you tell me that her people know nothing about 

 manufacturing, and have no taste for it 1 The necessary knowledge is as 

 readily acquired by a Southern as a Northern man ; and when that is ob% 

 tained, and there is a prospect of profit ahead, the taste will not long be 

 wanting ! You have the capital : you have natural facilities to an un- 

 bounded extent both to propel the machinery and produce the staple. 

 What more do you want ] What more can you ask ? A joint stock asso- 

 ciation of planters, at any suitable point, might cause a manufactory to be 

 erected worth say $25,000, under the direction of a skillful and experi- 

 enced machinist. This would turn off, say, 500 yards of cloth per diem. 

 If the machinery was in all respects good, and the water-powei sufficient 

 and unfailing, a competent and responsible Northern manufacturer could 

 be obtained (if desired), to take the establishment, furnishing hands, &c. y 

 and work the wool furnished him into cloth of the kind before described 

 containing about the same stock with Welsh plains, and fitting it for mar 



* * After a sufficient number of fibres have been torn up from the threads by the teazles or cards of the 



* gig-mill " to form a sufficiently thick nap on the surface, these fibres are cropped or " sheared " by a ma- 

 chine for that purpose ; and in superfine cloths the process is several times repeated, each time cutting off 

 an additional portion of fibre, which is called "flocks." A dishonest custom now prevails among somt 

 manufacturers of working these flocks again into the body of the cloth to give them weight, denscness, and 

 apparent firmness. By this means the gigging and shearing process can be continued on thinnish cloths un- 

 til a beautiful surface is obtained, without the additional thinness and lightness consequent thereon being 

 apparent to any but an experienced eye. Sheep's grays and other coarse "cloths are gigged and sheared but 

 slightly. In eome manufactories the former process is altogether omitted, and the cloth is simply 

 brushed " prior to shearing. Such cloths are stronger, but do not look as well. 



t Say of the quality of common South-Down and Native and Long wools, with a sufficient dash of Me- 

 rino blood in the last to make thAm carding-wools, and to bring them to about the same fineness with 

 ihe firs 1 , earned. 



