320 Wisconsin State agricultural society. 
WOOL GROWING IN RELATION TO FARM AND STATE. 
Wool growing in Wisconsin should be pursued as a part of' 
mixed farming; for of all domestic animals the sheep stands unri¬ 
valed in its adaptation to preserve and increase the fertility of the 
soil. M. Thiers, that great statesman now at the head of the 
French Republic, in a speech before the French Chambers, 
affirmed the dependence of French agriculture upon sheep hus¬ 
bandry. England with her small agricultural area, dense pop¬ 
ulation and high priced land, keeps about as many sheep as- 
the United States with her vast area, and it is said that if for any 
reason the turnip crop should fail there for a series of years, and 
so cut off their ability to keep a large number of sheep, famine 
would soon ensue. The productive power of English soil has 
doubled in the last half century, and much of that increase is due 
to her excellent sheep husbandry. Prussia, Austria, and all Ger¬ 
many foster this industry, both on account of the wool and mut¬ 
ton product, and its power to stimulate the production of other 
agricultural products. While we feel justly proud that the United 
States produce about one-tenth of the wool of the world, England 
with her small area, in her home country, grows one-ninth of the 
wool of the world. There are two entirely different modes of 
sheep husbandry. The pastoral mode is pursued in mild cli¬ 
mates principally for the wool alone, and has no connection with 
the other industries of a country, and builds up no cities and sus¬ 
tains no schools, and is mostly so pursued in semi-civilized coun¬ 
tries; but this is not the class of sheep husbandry that we advo¬ 
cate. It is that class of sheep husbandry that is pursued in 
mixed agriculture, that is truly valuable to a civilized country— 
that class that enables the farmer to increase the productive power 
of his farm, and thus increase his own revenues in the same pro¬ 
portion as the productive power of his land is increased, and helps 
to build up all other industries which pertain to civilization, and 
invites the manufacturer to our doors, not only to manufacture 
our wool, but to help consume our other agricultural products.. 
Look at Europe in this light, and show me a country in which 
agriculture, arts and manufactures flourish, and I will show you a 
country in which this industry has been fostered and cherished,, 
