122 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 



LETTER IX. 



PROSPECTS OF THE WOOL MARKET— FUTURE DEMAND AND SUPPLY. 



The Imports and Exports of Trans-Atlantic Nations... Means of ascertaining their Comparative Produc- 

 .'tion... Table of the Imports of England. ..Amount of Wool grown in the United Kingdom, Consumption, 

 Export, Facilities, including Soils and Climate, for its Cheap Production, and Prospect of its Increase or Dim- 



inuiion Same of France — Same of Spain- Same of Italy — Same of Turkey in Europe — Same of Germany, 



including Prussia and Austria, with the exception of Hungary — Same of Hungary — Same of Russia — Same 

 of Asia Minor — Same of Persia — Same of Independent Tartary — Same of Afghanistan and Beloochistan — 

 Same of Thibet, Little Bucharia, and the remainder of China — ;5ame of the Cape of Good Hope— Same of 

 Australia and Van Diemen's Land.. -Conclusions in regard to Comparative Facilities, etc., of above Na- 

 tions and the United States.. .The Northern States can compete with the most favored of them — and of 

 course the South can, to much greater advantage.. .The South might safely embark in Wool-Growing, re- 

 lying on the European Market alone . . . Rapid Extension of that Market Past and Future ... But the Ameri- 

 can Wool-Grower is not compelled to seek a Foreign Market. . .Our Production does not meet the Demand 

 of our own Manufactories.. .Table of the Imports of Wool into the United States.. .Table showing 

 whence we Imi)Oit Wool.. .Letter from Samuel Lawrence, Esq., showing the inci-easing call for Man 

 ufactories — The Stability of existing ones — and their ability to compete with those of Foreign Countries.. 

 Extent of our Consumption of Woolens above the Supply made by our Manufactories... Table of Imports 

 of Woolens. ..Probable Increase of our Manufactories.. .Reflections on the Tarilf. ..Rapidly Increasing 



Consumption of our Population — Amount Consumed per head. . .Table of Increase of our Population 



Future Increase. . .The Amount of Wool Necessary at various Future Periods. 



Dear Sir : Probably there are few men who now dream of any danger 

 to the wool-grower of the United States, in the 7io?ne market, from trans- At- 

 lantic competition. But there is another point of view, in which a glance 

 at the facilities of the eastern nations, for the production of this staple, may 

 not be uninteresting. Ma 7/ we not underseli tliem with the raio material, in 

 their oion markets ! He who carefully and intelligently examines all the 

 facts involved in the solution of this question, will find, in spite of the vague 

 popular impressions which prevail on the subject, that so far at least as 

 those nations are concerned, which now produce the gi'eatest amount of 

 the wool which supplies the markets of the Old World, the United States 

 can, if satisfied with equal profits, easily nndcrsell them. 



As an importer of the raw and exporter of the manufactured article, 

 England occupies the first place. In these particulars, she probably ex- 

 •ceeds, by fully one-half, all the other nations of the Old World. France 

 ranks next, and largely takes precedence of the remaining nations. Hol- 

 land, though shorn, by disastrous political revolutions, of much of her an- 

 cient importance in this class of manufactures, still maintains a trade of 

 «ome magnitude. Several of the Cxerman and Prussian States export par- 

 ticular descriptions of woolens ; Italy sends out some light cloths ; and 

 Turkey the carpets of that name. A full exhibit of the exports of all the 

 wool-producing nations, would not, of course, lead us to an accurate knowl- 

 edge of the amount of their production — for there is no one which does 

 not manufacture the raw material to some extent. But with what knowl- 

 edo-e we can obtain of their manufactures, the former information would 

 enable us to ascertain, approximately at least, the amount of their produc- 

 tion. This is all that is necessary for our present purpose, for we do not 

 now, in reality, so much seek iheir actual as their comparative production. 



England, as I have before remarked, is the great importer and exporter. 

 Her duties on imported wool are, as has been seen,* exceedingly low, and 

 ehe makes no discrimination in this paiticular, in relation to bottoms, or 

 the places of export.! The vastness and variety of her demand give a 



* See Letter VIII. 



<t With the exception, of course, of her own Colonies, from which it is exported free. 

 (26ti) 



