Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1869-08-17
6rant County 6eralo.
What Kind of Wool Shall we Grow.

Va
There are SO many contingencies
depending upon proper solution of
the problem, that, it is impossible to
give categorical answer. Over a
country embracing such variety of
soil and climate as does our own,
and each given locality governed by
peculiar circumstances, not applica-
BILE to the other, render an answer ali
once difficult, and the discussion of
the subject one of national signifi-
canoe.
Let us take general survey of tho
country, with view of forming some
idea of its adaptibility to that branch
Of farming known as sheep husban-
dry. On the very threshold it startles
one with the magnitude of the effort
for there is little of the surface
where sheep may not DO bred profit
ably, and upon vast surfaces the nat
ural haJitant for every known species
may be easily attained. The exquis-
itely fine and tender Saxony, the on,
Iva thought less fine Spanish meri-
no, the broad back Cots void, or the
compact and smaller Southdown, and
all the mongrsl grades between these
points of coarse and fine mutton
sheep and fine wool bearing animal
each and all can find hcrbage con>
genial to their habits, and necessary
to the full development of their
forms or fleece.
That but small portion of our
vast resources in this regard are at
present made available, we gather
from a few facts made apparent by
comparing the number Of sheep in
the United States with those of Great
Britain. In England proper, with
Wales, they average one sheep to
every acre of enclosed land in farms
In the United States we average one
to six and six-tenths OF an acre, or
six and half acres to one sheep. 1t
is evident, therefore that sheep hus-
bandry is only in its infancy in this
country. We have one hundred and
sixty FIVE millions of acres inclosed,
and in farms, with quite as broad an
area of uninclosed lands attached to
farms, which could more than sup~
port every one of the supposed TWEEN
ty-fve millions which we now pos
sess. Ifthen we increased our sheep
but one to every three acres, or two
to where we have one now. Uncle
Samuel would have nearly sixty mill
lions of sheep il his field, and pro-
duce the very respectable annual
crop of one hundred and eighty mil
lion pounds of washed wool, worth.
say eighty cents per pound. AS one
fourth of the flesh can be sold to the
butcher annually, it gives food to up>
ward twelve and half millions,
which at the average weight of cars
cass of forty pounds of meat, would
give upward Of two hundred and six
ty million pounds of very nourishing
and cheap animal food. But this is
only very partial view of the ques-
ton. It's the possible, not the prob
able. 1t is no idle dream to suppose
that the agencies now at work will
the next fifty years quadruple the
fiocks of to>day, and they will num-
Der fully one hundred millions, and
our home supply of wool can be fur>
nished so cheaply that our manufac>
tories will compete successfully in the
markets of the.world for their supply.
As yet wool growing has not been
prosecuted upon any generally broad
and comprehensive plan, and per-
haps we were not such a homoge,
nous people that it were possible
But the time has come now when
the exigencies of the country will
warrant the adoption Of system in
regard to this branch of agricultural
industry.
We find, in the beginning of dis
cussion, the question naturally divid
ed into two branches, fine and coarse
wool.
In the profitable production offine
wool the carcass becomes of secon-
dairy Importance, while in that of
coarse wool, the fleece is only secon-
dairy, though in each the profit of the
whole is materially enhanced by the
fact that the secondary can have a
market value, which will add to the
gross profit of the business.
Fine wool can only be grown proS
ftably when there is a wide range
of cheap lands, and when the rigors
OF the climate do not compel expen-
sive preparations for forage and
shelter. AS these requirements are
only found upon mountainous or
sparsely populated tracts of land, not
easily accessible by routes of COM
mercial traffic, the sheep can only be
used for it's wool, and hence early
maturity is disadvantage, for the
carcass cannot be carried to a mar
ket, and has therefore no market VAL
ne.
On the other hand, the coarse wool.
ed breed flourish best when the land
is In a higher state of cultivation
and population so dense, that il ia
Improbable to keep large tracts of
land waste, or only for sheep walks
The coarse woeled sheep usually &C
companies dense population, and it's
result-high farming. The wants
of population increase the demand
for the smaller animals for bnman
food. The production of cattle has
not kept pace with population II
is in the remembrance of many 7
doubt not, who read this article
when the supply of cattle was drawn
almost exclusively from Wegtern
New York, then Pennsylvania and
Ohio, then from Indiana and Illinois
while it is now known that the hnll
OF our supplies come from west of tho
Mississippi river. Ultimately our
supply must come from the Sontb
and Southwest. Two causes onerata
to produce these results, which vii
be examined in our next article
Hearth and Home.
THE COMING CHINAMEN.-Tbe Lon.