



IIME ^!f I^r ^if £1m 



Vol. XV., Second Series. 



ROCHESTER, K T., JUNE, 1854. 



No. 6. 



THE GENESEE FARMER, 



A MONTHLY JOl'RXAI, OF 



AGRICULTURE & HORTICULTURE. 



VOIiUME XV., SECOND SEIRES. 1854:. 



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 DANIEL IiEE, 

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THE WOOL-GROAVING INTEREST. 



For some reason, not veiy ob\'ious, the Wool- 

 grovrtug Interest has received small attention in this 

 eountr}- in comparison with that of cotton, tobacco, 

 wheat, corn, or common daiiy husbandry. Even some 

 who profess to make wool-growing a special study, 

 have misjudged to the amount of about thirty mil- 

 lion pounds, as to the annual clip in the United States, 

 which produce but a trifle over fifty million pounds in 

 the aggregate. This is aliout equal to the annual ex- 

 port of wool from the comparatively new British 

 province of Australia. 



There is good reason to believe that the manufac- 

 ture of broadcloths has diminished fifty per cent, in 

 the last five years; while the importation of broad- 

 cloths has increased over one hundred per cent. In 

 1849, the value of woolens imported was .1rl3,,o03,- 

 202; in 18.53, it was $27,621,921. In 1848, we im- 

 ported 11,381,429 pounds of wool; in 18.53, our im- 

 portation liad increivsed to 21,595,070 pounds. We 

 now annually import in wool and woolen fabrics not 

 far from one hundred million pounds of wool a year. 

 One estimate before us, made by a gentleman of large 

 experience in the manufacture of wool, makes the an- 

 nual consumption of foreign wool 112,742,000 pounds. 

 This is twice as much as is grown in the United 

 States. By the tariff of 1846, foreign blankets are 

 axlmitted at an ad valorem duty of twenty per cent. ; 

 while the manufacturer who would make good blan- 

 kets out ot imported wool has to pay thkty per cent, 

 duty on his raw material — giving a premium in fa- 



vor of the foreign manufacturer of blankets of ten 

 per cent. ! While the high duty on imported wool, 

 and comparatively low duty on wool in a manufac- 

 tured state, repress home industry and build up for- 

 eign manufactures, they have signally failed to encour- 

 age the production of more than a thkd of the wool 

 which the country really needs. These are facts of 

 great importance; and it is high time that all wool- 

 growei-s understood them. If they cannot more than 

 one-third supply the wants of the country with wool, 

 and it is, consequently, compelled to import woolen 

 goods to the amount of nearly thirty million dollars a 

 year, the time is not remote when the people will de- 

 mand the free importation of the raw material from 

 which their necessary clothing is so largely fabricated. 

 What say you, wool-growers, to this? Many of you 

 and your families consume not a httle cloth made in 

 Europe out of foreign wool. Are you ready and 

 willing to give up all protection to the wool markets 

 of the United States by government? To foster the 

 manufacture of woolen goods in your own country, 

 will you retain 25 per cent, duty on foreign woolens, 

 and permit the raw material to come in duty free? 

 This is what the manufacturers desire. If you are to 

 have no protection on the production of wool, should 

 the manufacturers of the article fare any better? If 

 free trade is good for the farmer, can it be less advan- 

 tageous to the mechanic? 



The importation of foreign wool into Britain was 

 free, until 1802, when it was subjected to a duty of 

 5s. 3d. per cwt. This was gradually raised, until in 

 1813 it was fixed at 6s. 8d., and in 1819, the prohibi- 

 tory rate of 56s. per cwt,, or about 12c. per pound. 

 Under this system, the woolen manufacturers lan- 

 guished, and in 1824-5 the duty was reduced to a 

 halfpenny per pound for medium and coarse, and one 

 penny for fine. LTnder this nominal rate, such an im- 

 pulse was given to the woolen business, and conse- 

 quently to the value of the home product, that all 

 fear of trouble from competition was given up, and 

 under the present tariff all descriptions of wool are 

 admitted duty free. 



In sending to South America, Australia, and the 

 ^lediterranean, cargoes of breadstufis, tobacco, and 

 other staples, our ships have not full freight home- 

 ward bound, and might bring wool to good advan- 

 tage, if all grades were exempt from duty; and, as in 

 England, vast quantities would be imported by capi- 

 talSts to be spun and woven for re-exportation and 



