, 1865-11-24
aHFEP ANp WOOL RAIsINa.

1AA-LAAE 49, " 49, ~~~---~~~ANe
One Of the main objects Of the weekly jour
nal should be 70 assist in developing the indus
trial interests Of the country. Indeed, great
psrt Of politics and legislation ought TO have
The same design At the head Of all industrial
pursuits stands the farmer supporting every other
ana being truly what Daniel Webster calls him,
1.-THE founder Of civilization" And in this
country, especially, no intelligent farmer need
be ashamed Of bis business. 1t has been followed
bV the brightest names Of our entire history,
Adams, jefferson, franklin, Clay, Webster,
Wright, Harrison, aud that one more illustrious
than all George Washington: It was not the
least OF the glories OF these great men that they
chose and sought the quiet and purifying work
Of the farm.
Such were our thoughts abd such our object
when we took up the editorial pen. In pursu-
ance of it we desire to call the attention of the
farmers of this county and territory to very
important, and, ~ithal, very profitable branch
Of industry, viz the raising Of sheep and wool.
And that our agricultural readers may see that
what we say is Yell based, we will state that,
taking the last FIVE years as basis Of caleula-
tiop. We import into the States annually from
thirty-6ve to forty-fve millions of pounds Of
manufactured and unmanufactured wool being
the produce of thirteen mlliohs of sheep. The
annual increase Of our own population reqhires
the wool frompmdre than three millions Of sheep,
so there need be 1p fear of glutting the market
with our own production for after taking 'out
the number reauired for meat, it would be i'm
possible to more than keep pace with the in
crease Of our population, and thus at any future
time we shall probably lack as much, relatively,
of meeting our wants as we dc now.
These are general facts relating to the whole
United States, but they have stronger apPlica-
ton to the people of this coast than to any
other part of the country. With milder aver
age climate, our clothing is more exclusively
woolen here than in the Atlantic States We
also wear out and destroy more clothing to the
single person here than there BY at least ohe-
third.
At the present time the greater part of all we
use is imported by us, and What makes it yet
more exhaustive to our financial prosperity is
the fact that we import it almost entirely id the
shape of ready made clothing. We buy not
only the wool of the Atlantic States, of France
and Spain. but we pay their manufacturers also
for fitting it to our limbs. Probably for this
one purpose ten times the value of all the wool
we raise, leaves the Pacific States and Terrific
res every year
What then, in the light of these facts, are the
inducements for our farmers to make sheep rais-
ing one of the specialties Of their work2
Sheep raising is attended with less trouble
and expense than the raising of almost any
other kind of stock. They will thrive on pas
turage where other stock cannot live at all, and
thev also become important aids in clearing and
subduing the land The laiids of this county
ard peculiarly adapted to their habits and con-
sttuton, and they will be secure here from
many Of the troubles incident to a level, wet
soil and an open, exposed country. When they
are compelled to range on an open plain, through
the long, severe storms of our rainy winters,
they lose much of their wool, and often have
an unhealthy appearance. And the preof OF
the thing is in this fact, that all the shsep now
here retain their wool, and have clean, thrifty
appearance. Take the whole range of plains"
the region of country beyond the Lackamus,
and all that extensive country known as the
burnt woods and no finer sheep pasturage can
be found anywhere. And beside, in all these |
places it is easy to provide feed against the ext
gencies of hard winter, and here the farmer |
who neglects this ought to be expelled from the |
Another reason for the farmers of our coun- |
try entering more largely in the sheep husbandry |
is the fact that they thus keep the wealth of the
land on the land, instead of taking it of and |
setting it in the market. Daniel Webster said |
. animals are machines for converting heritage |
into money" The results of neglect of the |
some of the older State. Virginia and several |
other States have exhausted a naturally fertile |
toll by the constant process Of depletion insep-
,rable from grain raising and tobacco growing; |
md whole counties have been allowed to go back |
10 wilderness state, because they were worn |
out. The same process is being carried on in |
several of the newer States, and the same re- !
suits will certainly follow. Vermont covered |
ler mountain sides With hocks, and though her |
,oil is comparatively stETile, her climate rugged
md violent, yet her land increases in value and |
and simply because she does not |
strip it of its productions Vancouver Register!
-
MINES AND MILLS AT SouTH BoIsB.-Mr. Green !