[27] 



producing wool of better quality and higher price than that 

 of South America. 



"The average supply since 1870 may properly be placed 

 at 224,000,000 pounds, of which two-thirds is home grown, 

 but the nominal third of the foreign is mostly unwashed 

 Merino and low grade carpet wool, constituting not more 

 than one-fourth of the value of our wool supply. 



"It is a suggestive and gratifying fact, that while the 

 value of our manufactures is about four times as great as in 

 1850, the average of imports of woolens of the last five years 

 ($23,797,698), exceeds but little that of the entire period of 

 fifty-five years ($21,191,674), beginning with the very in- 

 fancy of this benificent industry. It is particularly note- 

 worthy that our imports since 1870 are less by several mil- 

 lions annually than for the period between 1850 and I860, 

 notwithstanding the immense increase in the consumption 

 of woolen goods." 



Having reviewed the rise and progress of sheep hus- 

 bandry in other countries, and other portions of our own, 

 we now come to our own highly favored State, Tennessee. 

 The formidable array of figures against us may well make 

 us stand aghast as in despair of our being able to contend in 

 any appreciable degree against such fearful odds, but we 

 shall endeavor to show that, though numbers will always be 

 against us, there is no reason why we may not rise to a pro- 

 portionate value of the grand total. Our favored geograph- 

 ical position and climate, and the changed character of the 

 requirements of the trade, justify us in this assumption. In 

 all the sheep producing countries of the world there are only 

 four in which it is practicable to meet these requirements, 

 England, France, Germany and the Uuited States. All 

 others are debarred by climate or distance, or other causes, 

 from entering into competition with them. This narrows 

 the field wonderfully, and enables Tennessee to bear her 

 proportion to other parts of the country in the enterprise. 

 By these requirements of course we mean the raising of the 



