900 SHEEP INDUSTRY OF THE UNITED STATES 



the grower for the last four years has been about 24 cents a pound. 

 The distributing point for the wool of this section is Sulphur Springs, 

 the county seat of Hopkins County, where a well-organized association 

 of sheepmen is maintained. The association is made up of wool-growers 

 of Hopkins and adjoining counties, who cooperate in selling their wool. 

 Each member prepares his wool at the time of shearing in good mar- 

 ketable shape and then takes it to the temporary storeroom at Sulphur 

 Springs, where it is sorted and graded. When the entire clip of the 

 association is in, word is sent to the wool-buyers, who bid on the vari- 

 ous lots, and the entire clip goes to the highest bidder. The choicest 

 grades at the 1890 spring sales brought 31J cents, the highest price 

 paid for wool in Texas last year. It went to a St. Louis firm (S. Bien- 

 en stock & Co.), who have been the highest bidders for this clip for sev- 

 eral years. The members of this association claim that they i^roduce 

 the best wool in Texas. This is perhaps true as to the particular grade 

 of wool, because it is not produced elsewhere in the State in suflficieut 

 qiiantities to attract the attention of buyers. The secret of the high 

 prices realized is the care in properly j)reparing the wool for market, 

 the small shrinkage of their class of wool as compared with the bulk 

 of Texas wools, and their method of selling the same in bulk to the 

 highest bidder, thus getting the full benefit of competition and the top 

 of the market. 



The flocks of this portion of Texas are decreased annually from 20 

 to '25 per cent by the sale of wethers and stock sheep, the stockers 

 going to the more extensive sheep districts of the State, and occasional 

 sales to North ern flockmasters wh o desire to replenish their stock. The 

 owners realize from $2.25 to $2.50 per head for their stock sheep. The 

 mutton sheep or fat wethers go mainly to Kansas City or Chicago to 

 the packers. St. Louis is receiving more than heretofore, and the in- 

 dications are that markets will receive increased shipments hereafter 

 if the sales continue as satisfactory as those of 1890. The average 

 weight of the wethers sold ranges from 85 to 100 pounds. 



The annual cost of raising sheep in northeast Texas, including all 

 expenses, is 30 cents per head; losses from any source not considered 

 in the calculation. Yet, notwithstanding the profit generally realized 

 in sheep-raising in this part of the State, it is a fact that the industry 

 is gradually declining, for the reason that the prairie land is being 

 overpastured and fenced, and tame grasses are not cultivated to an ex- 

 tent which wiU replace the native grasses and afford sufficient pastur- 

 age; so that sheepmen are reluctantly reducing their flocks rather than 

 to hire additional pasture from their neighbors and run the risk of rav- 

 ages from dogs, which are entirely too numerous in this section and 

 add a hazardous feature to the business. These curs are the most 

 serious drawback encountered in this section. With the exception of 

 this difficulty no class of live stock gives better returns for the money 

 invested than d*.sheep. So the decline in sheep-raising here is charge- 



