1879.] 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



149 



HOME AND EXPORT TOBACCO MAR- 

 KET. 



Below will be fouud the raoiitlily trade cir- 

 cular of Messrs. J. S. Gans, Son & Co., to- 

 bacco brokers of 86 Wall street, New York. 

 From it we learn what has for sonic time 

 been wliispered in trade circles— that the 1878 

 crop of IVnnsjlvania leaf is not up to what 

 was expected. The best portions of it, such 

 as were first purchased, will no doubt bring 

 full prices, but the inferior kinds will have 

 hard work to hold their own : 

 Seed Leaf. 



With large offerings of 1878 pro]) by stripped 

 samples, we have an extensive business to re- 

 port, principally in Pennsylvania and New 

 England. The former does not by any means 

 come up to expectations, as far as leaf is con- 

 cerned, and wl\en comi>ared to the 1877 crop, 

 appears very liigh-priced; so much so, that 

 some of our manufacturers, after a thorough 

 examination of the various packings, en^'crly 

 bought nearly all good lots of 1877 remaining 

 on the market. As we are, however, bare of 

 old tobaccos, there is no doubt but that all 

 the finer lots of 1878 Pennsylvania will be 

 rapidly taken by consumers, whilst we haidly 

 believe that present asking prices for common 

 lots can be maintained. 



The better classes of New England to- 

 baccos, (including Housatonic) look extreme- 

 ly well, and with, as we hear, the demand for 

 abominable black cigars falling off, we should 

 not be surprised to see this long neglected 

 article again come into fayor. 



Ohio tobaccos are also meeting with ap- 

 proval from home buyers; in fact, with Wis- 

 consin nearly out of the market, it is the 

 best and most useful article for cheap cigars. 



The export trade oll'ered no new features; 

 factors, who this year have been nearly the 

 only exporters, dispose gradually of theiroffer- 

 ings abroad, but at by no means satisfactoiy 

 profits, and the German markets have, accord- 

 ing to our latest advices, become duller. 



Of the new crop we hear the most flatter- 

 ing reports, and only regret that some let us 

 hope not too sanguine operators have already 

 commenced buying eastern and western Ha- 

 vana Seed and other sorts; in Wisconsin 

 nearly all the Havana has been bought at 

 from 8 to 12 cents through, unpacked. 

 Sales. 



CHOP OF 1877. 

 New England 600 cases. 



Cbop or 1S7 



Pennsylvania . 



New York 



Ohio 



Wisconsin 



New England: 

 Harana seed 

 Wrappers, co 



Quotations. 



do seleelious.. 



Seconds 



Fillers 



Pennsylvania* 

 Assorted lots, commoi 



,.1C @n 

 ..IS @25 

 ..27>^@35 

 @... 



.... @... 



13 @U)i 



16j!f@18 



20 @40 



9 @1» 



Wrappers 



FiUers 



New York: 



Assorted lots, good 13 @15 



Ohio, assorted lots, good 9 ©12 



do wrappers 12 @18 



hSBorled lots 8ii@10 



Wiscoi 



do 



Hava 



Crop of '78. 

 22 @30 

 13 @16 



16 ©18 

 20 @25 

 27>|(®35 

 10 ®12>i 



5 @6X 



10 @12 



13 @15 



17 @22 

 ... @... 



12>i@15 

 8 @14 



... @... 

 8 @13 



1 Jan 



SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE UNITED 

 STATES. 



There is warrant for saying that this coun- 

 try is entering upon a new era in sheep hus- 

 bandi7 which is fraught with great promise 

 for the future of that important industry— an 

 era which will bring wealth and honor to in- 

 telligent and carefiil flock-masters, and to the 

 counti7 at large. 



First there is the assured demand for wool 



to meet the requirements of the manufacturers 

 of woolen goods, or, rather, the consumption 

 of sucli goods by the people. During the 

 period of business depression through vvliicii 

 the coimtry has passed, there was under-con- 

 sumption of woolen fabrics. Thousands of 

 people were not able to buy them, and to sup- 

 ply cheaper goods, the mills turuedouta class 

 of fabrics into whose texture entered, more 

 or less, cut-up rags. Shoddy goods were the 

 rule, and straight woolen fabrics the excep- 

 tion. Now this is vastly changed. People 

 will buy good goods if they are able to do so, 

 knowing that the best is the cheapest. Western 

 nulls, almost without exception, make straight 

 good.'i, and eastern manufacturers will be com- 

 pelled, sooner or later, to adopt the same 

 policy. Indeed, the percentage of the stufl" 

 which circumstances made necessary for some 

 years past, forms an inconsidcrable"porlion of 

 the product of tlie mills at the present time, 

 and as it is being relegated to the rear, there is 

 little proljability that it ever regain the place 

 it recently occupied. 



Again, notwitlistanding the quantity of re- 

 fuse with which rag-dealers furnished the 

 mills, the country has been a large importer 

 of wool and woolen goods; in other words, 

 we have fallen short of supplying our home 

 requirements for wool by millions of dollars' 

 worth. If this was the case while prostra- 

 tion marked almost every branch of industry, 

 how much greater must be the deficit with 

 labor of all kinds employed, and every manu- 

 facturing industry in active operation, unless 

 the wool product is largely increased? We 

 have not taken into account the increase of 

 population, which, as recent statistics show, 

 is being greatly augmented by immigration, 

 and constitutes an item by no means insig- 

 nificant in forecasting the future requirements 

 of the country for wool and woolen fabrics. 



The foreign meat traffic furnishes, also, an 

 opportunity to extend sheep husbandry in the 

 production of mutton, which must, we opine, 

 awaken a far greater interest in that branch 

 of the business than has hitherto been known 

 among us. The export trade in mutton— live 

 and dead— is increasing every year, and must 

 do so for some time to come. It is, as yet, in 

 its infancy; and as American farmers come to 

 understand, more generally, what the foreign 

 market requires, it needs no seer to predict 

 that this traffic will reach proportions com- 

 pared with which its present volume is insig- 

 nificant. Our capacity for the production of 

 mutton of fine quality is almost without limit, 

 and upon the quality of the product more 

 than anything else the volume of this traffic 

 depends. That it may be vastly augmented 

 does not now admit of question; and that it 

 will continue to grow in greater ratio even 

 than it has yet done is scarcely less probable. 

 Greater care in selection, in breeding, itr rear- 

 ing, in alimentation, on -the part of farmers 

 who make this branch of sheep husbandry a 

 part of their business, will mark the future of 

 this industry, and place it on a higher plane 

 than it has yet occupied in American agricul- 

 ture, for the inducements are greater than they 

 have ever been before. 



But another feature which renders the fu- 

 ture of sheep husbandry still more promising 

 has been inaugurated. The rearing of sheep 

 for breeding purposes to supply tlie require- 

 ments of fai-mers throughout the country has 

 long been a specialty with some breeders. The 

 demands, also, of flockmea in the southwest 

 and far west, have for the last few years con- 

 siderably stimulated this branch of the busi- 

 ness. But the shipment of sheep to foreign 

 countries for breeding purposes has com- 

 menced. It has not been long since a ship- 

 ment of American merinos was made by Mr. 

 Markham, of New York, to fill an order 

 from the Government of Japan. Nor is this 

 all. American merinos have been sought and 

 bought by Australian wool-growers, to cross 

 upon the sheep of that region, which, as in 

 the case of Japan, there is hardly room to 

 doubt, will be followed by increasing orders. 

 From South America, also, there are inqui- 

 ries for our sheep for breeding purposes. The 



fact is, our American-bred merinos are supe- 

 rior in all essential characteristics to their 

 French, English, or .Spanish congeners, and 

 foreigners who are largely interested in wool- 

 growing learned that fact at the centennial. 

 Tlio fruits of tliat knowledge are beginning 

 to be gathered. The American sheep of this 

 breed have greater hardiness and constitu- 

 tional vigor, and at tlie same time produce a 

 heavier fleece than others, the the shrewd 

 flockmasters of the vast sheep-walks of Aus- 

 tralia, South America and elsewhere are be- 

 gining to find it out ; and knowing that the 

 maximum of profit lies in breeding from such 

 sheep, they are turning tlieir attention this 

 way to secure breeding animals. It is, there- 

 fore, a reasonable supposition that this branck 

 of American sheep husbandry will develop 

 steadily in the luture, and become an im- 

 portant source of wealth, as well as fame, to 

 this country. 



From every point of view, therefore, the 

 outlook for sheep and wool is encouraging. 

 The oportunities are not wanting to make this 

 industry more prosperous than it has ever 

 been in this country, and judicious flock- 

 masters, breeders and farmers will turn them 

 to advantage. As has aptly been said by a 

 prominent authority in this industry — "The 

 'luck' of sheep husbandry is so thoroughly 

 within the control of the flock-master that he 

 randy need look beyond his own management 

 for those causes and efl(3cts which go to make 

 or mar his fortune." The present isatime, 

 we believe, when the chances are all in the 

 flock-master's favor.— ^merioon Stockman. 



RAISING HORSES IN TEXAS. 



One of the most prolific sources of wealth 

 in this county, and, in fact, throughout the 

 entire State, is tlie raising of horses. This 

 frontier country, until within a very recent 

 date, did not indulge in the luxury of thorough- 

 breds. In former years tlie Lone Star State 

 boasted of fast pacing or fast runnmg ponies 

 and Mexican mustangs. Tliey were small 

 in stature, and in many cases quite rapid, the 

 speed of some reaching a quarter of a mile in 

 twenty seconds. Within the past few years 

 greater interest has been taken in stock, and 

 the crosses of Kentucky and Canada and 

 other more hardy and vigorous horses with 

 the Texas ponies have vastly improved the 

 breed. Each year increases an interest in 

 horse raising in Texas, and produces better 

 animals. As the blue grass region of Ken- 

 tucky aflbrds such delightful food for horses, a 

 more extensive and greater crop of mesquit 

 grass, peculiar to Texas only, furnishes to the 

 stock-raiser a far better article of food, and 

 almost without limit. Everywhere west of 

 the Trinity river it is abundant, and east of 

 that river it is found in many localities. 

 Until very recently stockmen and horse- 

 raisers encountered severe trials from the 

 Indians, who would frequently make raids 

 and rob tliem of much of their property, 

 taking on these occasions the very best stock 

 on the ranch. One of the peculiarities of all 

 the Indian tribes is their knowledge of and 

 extraordinary fondness for the horse. They 

 seem to have an intuitive understanding of 

 all the strong points about the animal, and 

 generally steal the best of the horses on the 

 ranch or in the corral, or wherever else these 

 governmental thieves make their predatory 

 incursions. Keeping or raising horses is much 

 easier than cattle or sheep. After securing a 

 ranch, which is similar to selecting the proper 

 location for cattle, the owner divides his 

 stock into "bands," or "bunches," or "caval- 

 lards" of twenty or twenty-five mares and 

 their colts and as many yearlings, and places 

 a stallion with them, which acts in the 

 capacity of herder. The bunches are placed 

 about a mile apart. The stallion guards the 

 cavallard with a jealous eye, and allows no 

 interference from other horses, often battling 

 so ferociously with any and all intruders that 

 when the owner or herdsman approaches he 

 is compelled to use stones or other missiles 

 before the guardsman allows him to enter the 

 range over which he holds supreme jurisdic- 



