SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 291 



worth about fifty cents, more or less, according to their condition- Each 

 is carefully examined ; if put up in bad order, it is so noted, and a deduction made by 

 !he sorter, to make it as it should be. So that it is no object for a man to send to the Depot 

 wool in a bad condition. 



THE ADVANTAGES. The foregoing facts would seem to be so plain that it cannot be 

 necessary to refer to the advantages. No man, however, is more at the mercy of the specu- 

 lator, than the wool-grower. The very fact that he has so many kinds of wool in his clip, 

 prevents him from ascertaining the market value of the whole, for being in comparatively 

 small quantities, he has not enough, if ever so well sorted, to make it an object for the differ- 

 ent manufacturers to visit him. He is therefore compelled to sell his whole clip at the 

 price of his present quality, and at prices from five to fifteen cents per Ib. under the real 

 market value of his wool. Allow me to illustrate by an example. A farmer has his wheat, 

 corn, oats, and barley, all mixed, and carries it to market in this condition. Will anybody 

 give him the value of each kind of grain? On the contrary, they_ would not be willing to 

 pay even the value of the cheapest kind. And yet each kind by itself has a market value/ 

 Precisely in the same situation is the wool-grower, except that he has no means of knowing 

 the value of the various sorts of wool, except from the speculator. 



The advantage of the Depot system, then, is, that there his wool is properly sorted. The 

 wheat is separated from the corn, the corn from the oats, and the oats from the barley, and 

 each is- made to bring its fair mai-ket value. By having an extensive correspondence among 

 the manufacturers throughout the country, I am kept constantly advised of the market ; and 

 knowing the price of cloth in the cities, I am enabled to know to a certainty what the price 

 of the various grades of wool should be. 



When th manufacturer can get the kind of wool he wants, and in large quantities, he is 

 willing to pay, and does pay a better price than when he has to buy that which he does not 

 want, to get the right sort. It also equalizes the market, and brings the producer and the 

 manufacturer together, without being compelled to pay agents or speculators, and prevents 

 that fluctuation of the market which is always produced by speculation. 



But there is another very great advantage growing out of the system. It enables the wool- 

 growers in the various sections of the country to compare wool, and to know who has really 

 the best and most profitable kinds of sheep. It has been strikingly manifest with me thir 

 season. For I have been enabled to point out to people in different States West, where 

 they could find the most profitable sheep, by the wool which had been sent me. And in- 

 one instance men had been over five hundred miles after sh'eep, and paid high prices, when 

 there were sheep in their own town worth double the money. 



There is no difficulty in sending wool here from any part of the country bordering upon 

 the Ohio, or its tributaiies. The expense of transportation will range from one to one and 

 a half cents per Ib. depending much upon the bargain made with the clipper. I have re- 

 ceived wool this year from all the Western States, in some instances as far West as the Mis* 

 sissippi River, and the average cost for freight has been about one cent per Ib. 



It was urged by many last spring that this city was not a good point, inasmuch as it wa. 

 not sufficiently central in its location. For nothing is more certain, than that a wool Depot,, 

 to be successful, must be so located as to command a large amount of wool. The larger 

 amount you can concentrate at a point, the more rapid and sure will be your sales. To this 

 city the products of the West naturally tend, and to this point the producer can calculate with 

 great certainty when, and at what expense it will arrive. But after its trans-shipment here, 

 expenses accumulate, without any corresponding benefit. And it is peculiarly so, in regard 

 to wool, coming as it often does in bad order, sacks torn, broken, and wet. 



But I have made my letter already longer than I intended, and in speaking of my own. 

 Depot have perhaps gone more into detail than is necessary. 



This much I must be permitted to say to every wool-grower, that the Wool Depot system,, 

 properly conducted and patronized, is indispensable to ultimate and profitable success. 



I remain, my dear sir, 



Very sincerely yours, 



T. C. PETERS 



* 



Messrs. Perkins and Brown have a Depot at Springfield, Mass. ; and' 

 I believe the establishment of two or three others is in contemplation, by 

 companies or individuals. 



Conducted with skill and fidelity, there can be but little doubt that these 

 establishments are alike beneficial to the wool-grower and manufacturer, 

 That Mr. Blanchard's and Mr. Peters's have thus far been so conducted, there 

 is not the least doubt. Of the other I know nothing, though report speaks 

 well of it. The design was not regarded with much favor, in the out 

 set, by many of our most extensive wool-growers. They preferred to " dr 



