1846. 



GENESEE FARMER. 



157 



the manufacturer of fine cloth to put a stop to tlie 

 degradation of our fiocks, he will surely see that 

 it can be done only by putting an end to the pres- 

 ent manner of conducting the wool trade, and will 

 at once lend his elective aid in bringing about a 

 result so desirable to tlie prosperity of the Amer- 

 ican Farmer. 



As a very large proi)ortion of the wool pur- 

 chased by the wool-factor is obtained from men 

 who keep but small flocks, and who have there- 

 fore no character to sustain as flock-masters, it is 

 very apparent from the laws of trade, that iiow- 

 ever bad may be the condition of their wool, un- 

 less it is separated in the market from that of 

 others, who are truly flock-masters, it will, more 

 or less, according to its quantity, materially afTect 

 the price of the other, though a superior article. 

 To show clearly that I am not mistaken in this 

 position, allow me to direct your attention to the 

 unwashed and filthy wool imported last year, 

 costing under 7 cts per lb., and its influence in 

 regulating prices. I was shown imported wool 

 by a manufacturer, which cost him, in Ihe condi- 

 tion it then was, 13 cents per lb. Yet it was 

 equal in appearance to American wool worth 35 

 cents per lb. Owing to the shrinkage of this 

 wool, however, it took 3 lbs. of it to make one 

 lb. when it was worked into cloth, which there- 

 fore was equivalent to 39 or 40 cents per lb. — 

 American wool, worth 3.5 cents per lb., will 

 shrink about one-third in its preparation for cloth, 

 and therefore cost, when in cloth, about 43 or 44 

 cents per lb. It is therefore apparent that this 

 filthy foreign wool last year, had a material in- 

 fluence in ruling the market price of American 

 wool of medium quality. 



Tag locks, filth, and twine cannot enhance 

 the value of any portion of the wool in market ; 

 nor ought a system to be longer tolerated that 

 makes little or no difference in the price of wool 

 thus basely contaminated, and wool wholly free 

 from censurable impurities. 



Look at the consequence. The price obtained 

 may adequately remunerate the grower of the 

 one, while to the grower of the other it is utter- 

 ly ruinous. The one keeps his small flock poor- 

 ly and cheaply by the road side, or on the refuse 

 of the farm, while the flock of the other consumes 

 the entire or chief product of the farm, and the 

 wool it yields is the only or main crop that its 

 owner carries to market. To each, theretore, 

 the same price will not bring the same returns. 

 The one may and will probably continue to raise 

 wool in his small way, without any material 

 change in its condition, whatever may be the re- 

 sult of any effort to alter the absurd practices of 

 the wool trade. But the other can not and will 

 not long persevere as a wool-grower, unless j 

 there is an alteration ; and if the present sheep- 

 walks are in consequence turned into plowed t 

 fields, the ordinary farmer will in his turn expe- 1 

 rience the ruinous consequences of neglecting | 



studiously to foster such modes of marketing wool 

 as will secure to each shepherd an exact recom- 

 pense for his skill and care. It may be possible 

 for tt*B agricultural products of the country to 

 sink still lower in value than they now are. Per- 

 haps there is margin enough for a great depreci- 

 ation in prices ; but it will sooner or later be- 

 come necessary for the manufacturer to inquire 

 whether his interests will be promoted or preju- 

 diced, by having i\\e farmers of the United States 

 become merely peasantry. May he not so de- 

 preciate the value of wool that he will ultimately 

 injure himself? Until the letter of Mr. Gay 

 nothing has ever before been said, that I am 

 aware of, about the necessity of sorting fleeces 

 for market. According to Mr. Gay, wool, des- 

 tined to European markets, must be sorted, else 

 the fullest advantage will net be realized from 

 the venture. Nor is it less certain that an un- 

 necessary loss is annually submitted to by the 

 neglect, or rather by the impossibility, under the 

 present system of doing the same thing with 

 fleeces destined for home consumption. The 

 necessity of sorting in the one case springs out 

 of the division of manufacturing labor. The di- 

 vision of labor, it is true, is not carried as far 

 with us as with foreigners — it nevertheless exists 

 to a great extent — is daily becoming more per- 

 fect, and fi'om t!ie necessity of the case, must 

 ultimately be as complete hei'e as elsewhere. — 

 But, even as things now arc, it is not difficult to 

 show that the sorting of fleece-wool is requisite 

 to prevent an otherwise unnecessary loss to the 

 wool-grower. Ojie factory that I can name val- 

 ues a certain description of wool only at 35 cents 

 per lb., because it is unsuited to their style of 

 goods, while the very same wool is valued in an- 

 other factory at 40 cents per lb. for the opposite 

 reason. 



Flere is the evidence in one case, at least, that 

 in this country, as in England, the manufacturer 

 undervalues the wool brought to his factory for 

 sale. 



Again, the Mousselin-de-Laine manufacturers 

 in some instances use wool of precisely the same 

 market value with the satinet maker. But the 

 style of the wool is different — the staple of the 

 one being longer than that of the other. 



The interest of both would be promoted by 

 sorting wool, not only as to its quality and the 

 condition of the fleece, but also as to style ; and 

 undoubtedly both would be willing to pay a trifle 

 more per lb. — a trifle it is true — but success often 

 depends on trifles. 



The staplers of satinet factories, and other man- 

 ufacturers of coarse fabrics, frequently collect 

 large stocks of wool of a quality used only by the 

 manufacturers of broadcloths. Yet for this supe- 

 rior wool no more has been paid by the satinet 

 maker than for that of inferior quality, which is 

 perfectly well adapted to his purpose. 



I have before me the evidence of one case 



