70 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



March 



He was inclined to think that sufficient national 

 law had been enacted to give the wool-grower all 

 the protection he could desire, if it were justly 

 observed. The evil lies in the evasion of the law, 

 under one pretence or another, or by a wilful in- 

 fraction of it by designing men,- -and producers 

 will never reap the benefits which law is intended 

 to confer, until this evil is remedied. In his ca- 

 pacity as a national legislator, he had proposed 

 and urged legal remedies, but they had been de- 

 feated by the compact and intelligent power which 

 the manufacturer had always been able to bring to 

 bear dirertly upon the legislation of the country. 

 The manufacturer has been uniformly able to ac- 

 complish this, while the isolated condition of pro- 

 ducers, their want of means and concert of action 

 — for concert of action on an extended scale can- 

 not be had without money — has kept them scat- 

 tered, divided and powerless. 



A resolotion submitted by Mr. Green at an 

 early stage of the session, was called up and 

 adopted, as follows : — 



Bcsolved, That this Convention recommend to 

 the Wool-Growers of Ohio, that they form them- 

 selves into Associations for the purpose of pledg- 

 ing themselves to put in force the present laws 

 now upon the Statutes of Ohio, for the protection 

 of sheep. 



Sheep "Washing. 



Another subject presented to the Convention by 

 the Committee appointed for the purpose, is ex- 

 pressed as follows : — 



Resolved, That washing sheep is in itself injuri- 

 ous to sheep — and is no advantage to wool — and 

 is only made necessary by the present custom of 

 wool-buyers — and it is highly desirable that a 

 reform be affected. 



It was argued on one side that the wool of Ohio 

 is of too unequal quality to be sent to market 

 without washing, and that until there is more uni- 

 formity in the breed of sheep, as well as in tending 

 them, and handling their wool, the practice of 

 washing should not be abandoned. It was quite 

 evident that the manufacturer had his friends in 

 the Convention, to check any radical change that 

 should afi'ect his particular interests. Much feel- 

 ing was manifested in this discussion. Mr. Gris- 

 wold argued strenuously that washing was inju- 

 rious both to sheep and wool, and denounced the 

 practice — if it ever existed — of applying any oily 

 matter to sheep beyond their natural secretions, 

 in order to give the fleece more weight. This 

 subject was discussed at different times during 

 the sittings of the Convention, with much anima- 

 tion and ability. What conclusions were reached, 

 I do not know, as I waa not present when it re- 

 ceived its last touch. 



Col. Needham's Address. 



On Tuesday evening, an address was delivered 

 in the Senate Chamber to a large audience of 



ladies and gentlemen, by the Hon. Daniel Need- 

 ham, of Vermont. It was an off-hand, animated, 

 instructive effort, just such as will gratify an in- 

 telligent audience. After speaking of the pro- 

 ductive capacities of the farther West, and of the 

 industry and thrift of the people of Ohio, he gave 

 a rapid account of his late visit to the International 

 Exhibition, or World's Fair, at Hamburg, to which 

 he was accredited aa the Commissioner from the 

 State of Vermont. He briefly related the whole 

 matter — the design of the exhibition, the nobles 

 and counts and republicans and shepherds, me- 

 chanics, plowmen, artists and scholars that were 

 there, — the agricultural implements, the sheep, 

 horses and horned cattle, and the manner in which 

 the judges were elected or appointed, and how; 

 they went to work to make up their decisions. It 

 appears that the award of three premiums to 

 American sheep "gave great dissatisfaction which 

 found tongue not only among competitors, but hi 

 the public press. This induced Mr. Campbell, the 

 owner, through the Commissioner, to make the 

 proposition to shear as many other sheep as there 

 were of the American, and of the same class, and 

 if they did not then excel in weight of carcass and 

 quantity of wool, any of their competitors, then 

 they would yield the palm and relinquish the 

 prizes ! This proposition was so evidently fair 

 and honorable that it disarmed all opposition and 

 the American Sheep and the American men be- 

 came " the cynosure of all eyes." 



Honor to Mr. George Campbell. 



In alluding to this result, Col. Needham said : 

 " The honor of triumph belongs alone to George 

 Campbell, of Vermont. All America was invited 

 to the exhibition, and all Americans to contribute 

 of the wealth of their agricultural industry. Ohio, 

 with her two millions and a half of people, and 

 her five million of sheep, all the great East and 

 the greater West, of their treasures of mechanical 

 skill and agricultural production, were invited to 

 bring their best specimens and compare them with 

 those gathered from Great Britain and France, and 

 Germany, and all the world ! One man alone, of 

 all the Americans, dared to venture with live 

 stock — and that man, George Campbell, of 

 Vermont, took of his own breeding, the result of 

 his own care and skill, twelve little sheep, and those 

 little American sheep took the prizes from the 

 sheep gathered from every other country, and gave 

 to America an honor that had been denied her by 

 all the rest of the world, and an honor that Amer- 

 ica did not even know belonged to her." 



In speaking of the samples of wool presented at 

 the Exhibition, Col. Needham said : " There were 

 none from America but those sent by Nathan 

 CUSHING, Esq., of Woodstock, Vt., and that they 

 elicited a great deal of surprise on account of the 



