The Dawn of a New Constructive Era 215 



opened for wool especially, and for the product of meat which 

 our -rapidly increasing population must have, it is safe to as- 

 sume that prices will be maintained upon a very high level, and 

 that the opportunity presents itself to those who have lands suit- 

 able for the maintenance of sheep, to engage in sheep husbandry 

 as a very profitable business. 



I have been engaged during the past year in presenting this 

 situation to our Northern farmers, in order that they might be 

 fully aware of the fact that today sheep husbandry affords a 

 wonderful opportunity for them to add to the profits of farm 

 production. I have come here to present to you .this informa- 

 tion in regard to the sheep industry, that you might seriously 

 consider whether or not the great areas of land which you con- 

 trol, and which I understand are largely unproductive today, 

 may not be utilized and made profitable by engaging in the main- 

 tenance of sheep on these lands. I do not pretend to be an ex- 

 pert, with sufficient knowledge to inform you adequately as to 

 how suitable the lands you control are for this industry. To ob- 

 tain that information, you have at your command the services of 

 the United States Department of Agriculture, the State Depart- 50,7 Survey 

 ments of Agriculture, and your Agricultural Colleges. It will be Should be 

 advisable that you should solicit from them a proper survey, Made of Cut- 

 which would establish to what extent your lands are adapted for ^"'^'' ^"""« 

 keeping sheep. It is worthy of note, however, that practically 

 the same parallels of latitude north of the equator run through 

 this section — that is to say — 30 degrees North Latitude — as run 

 through the great wool-producing sections of Australia, Cape 

 Colony and the Argentine Republic. Another point to be con- 

 sidered is the fact that experience shows that the sheep readily 

 adapts itself to greatly varied conditions of soil and climate. In 

 England, where sheep have been bred for a long period of time, 

 different breeds have been evolved exactly suited to local condi- 

 tions, and in the little territory of England there is a great variety 

 of sheep, which have been developed to suit the exact conditions 

 of each locality ; from the Moorelands, with their Romney type, 

 to the Cheviots in the Scotch Highlands, and the Kerry sheep 

 for the rough mountain sections of Ireland. It is worthy of note 

 here to state that the British Isles esteem sheep husbandry as a 

 most important part of agriculture, especially in connection with 

 the maintenance of soil fertility on high-priced lands. And it 

 is also worthy of note that the British Isles, with an area less 



