332 
WOOL-GROWING. 
almost everywhere abound, secure to sheep a 
healthful growth, and vigorous constitution. 
3. The economy of labor in producing wool. 
The average time of an intelligent, able-bodied 
man throughout the year, will, on a good farm, 
well arranged for the purpose, and with suitable 
fixtures, provide the winter food, and give all the 
attention required, to a flock of 500 at the north, 
600 in the middle, and probably, even more than 
this in the southern states. 
We have examples the present season, of a 
choice Saxon flock producing lbs. of wool each, 
at an average price of 6S cents, or nearly §2 per 
head ; and of another Merino flock producing over 
5 lbs. per head at 48 cents, or $2.50 each. This 
would yield, for the productive labor of a single 
individual, inclusive of capital for the flock, land, 
and fixtures, (and many flock-masters consider the 
lambs a full equivalent for all these,) from $1,000 
to $1,500 per ,annum. What other agricultural 
occupation will produce one half as much ? The 
above statement is predicated on the choicest 
sheep; but as these are as easily supported as the 
worst, it is not presuming too much on the intelli¬ 
gence of Americans, to suppose they will not long 
hesitate to follow where it is manifest their inter¬ 
est leads. 
4. The cheapness of transportation. A pound 
of good wool in an European market is worth from 
30 to 100 cents, and some, when thoroughly 
cleansed, even much more than this. Flour and 
grain is worth from 2 to 4 cents per lb., and beef, 
pork, cheese, lard, &c., from 5 to 10 cents; and 
although from its increased bulk the former may 
be charged at double the ship-freight of the latter, 
yet this would be hardly appreciable in its market 
value; while, with the other agricultural products, 
it sometimes reaches beyond 50 per cent, of their 
worth, even in the place of consumption. 
5. England is the great wool market for the 
world, and although it is computed she has 
50,000,000 of sheep, they but partially supply her 
own manufacturers. And England manufactures 
a vast amount of the finest kinds of wool, scarcely 
a pound of which she raises within her own island 
territory. Her supply for all this comes from 
abroad, and after the quantity sent by her Aus¬ 
tralian and other provinces, she will as readily 
take of the United States as any foreign nation. 
It is probable that a large portion of her sheep 
lands are unsuited to the production of fine wool, 
and it is certain her management and policy are 
decidedly against it. Food for her millions of hu¬ 
man beings, as well as food for her woollen ma¬ 
chinery, is her object; hence her policy, and the 
almost universal practice of keeping the mutton 
sheep, the long and middle wools, neither of which 
can ever make anything but the coarser fabrics. 
The duty now levied on wool in England is but 
one cent per lb. on its value of 24 cents or under, 
and two cents per lb. on wool costing over 24 cents 
per lb. 
6. The restrictive policy adopted almost through¬ 
out Europe, with regard to our agricultural prod¬ 
ucts, while they amount to an entire prohibition 
of nearly every article of human consumption, 
(wholesome, nutritious, and abundant food, being 
generally deemed by their rulers articles of super¬ 
fluity to the ruled,) yet what is essential to them 
as articles of traffic or manufacture, out of which 
money can be made, as cotton, wool, &c., they 
readily admit on favorable terms. A large part of 
Europe is now so fully stocked with people, as to 
be incapable of multiplying sheep in the ratio of 
the demand for their fleeces. And if the peace 
policy is to be continued there, as we see no 1 m- 
probability of its being, its increase of inhabitants 
must soon drive out sheep where they now exist. 
The ratio of supply will be, therefore, inversely as 
the demand. Where, then, can that deficiency 
be as well made up as in America ? and what 
more rational than for the shepherds of hundreds 
there, to transfer their flocks to this country, and 
become the shepherds of thousands here ? 
With all our peculiar advantages then, of cheap 
land, every way adapted in climate, soil, and posi¬ 
tion, to the healthful maturity of the animal, and 
the perfection of the staple of the wool; the large 
returns for the labor bestowed; the trifling cost of 
transportation ; the incapacity of the largest manu¬ 
facturing kingdom in the world, (now and always 
most nearly and most extensively connected with 
us in commerce,) for raising any of the fine wools, 
which enter largely into her consumption; and 
finally, the restrictive policy of foreign nations, 
which exclude our bread-stuffs and eatables, but 
admit, wherever they can use them advantageous¬ 
ly, the raw material for their manufactures, there 
is every probability, ere long, of a large demand 
for wool abroad. 
One word to our sheep-owners, as to the kind 
of wool to be grown. The finer you can get the 
wool, with a large fleece, and good constitution in 
the animal bearing it, the more profit. In the 
neighborhood of good markets for mutton, there 
is an exception in favor of the mutton sheep, to the 
extent of the demand for the carcase. And it is 
probable there can be thus raised, all the long 
wools required for our worsted stuffs; if not, it 
will be profitable extending the long wools into 
the interior, to the full supply of that demand. 
But remote from markets, the best Merinos, and 
most hardy Saxons, are beyond all doubt the most 
profitable. It will pay liberally to the flock-mas¬ 
ter, to select the very best the United States affords, 
and we could wish, and hope, they may see their 
own interest in immediately selecting some of the 
best specimens from the royal flocks in France and 
Spain, to refresh and re-invigorate the flocks, im¬ 
paired by injudicious mixtures in our own country. 
It may be proper enough to add, that soil has 
much to do with the softness and perfection of the 
fleece. A clay or loamy soil improves the fibre 
of the wool, making it finer and more soft and 
pliable; a sandy or silicious, and a calcareous or 
limestone soil, renders it stiff and harsh. The 
first improves, the last deteriorates, not only the 
fleece of the individual, but also the progeny. 
Thus, time may produce an essential change in 
the character of the race, without reference to any 
other consideration, than the quality of the soil 
on which they are reared and sustained. 
Climate, and the rutting time, we ought to look 
to also, on every philosophical principle, as having 
