Urbana union. [volume] (Urbana, Ohio) 1862-1872, 1869-06-16
From the Wool Growers (CIeve.) Advocate.
To the Wool Growers OFOhio.

One Ofthe chief objects and aims Ofthe
Ohio Wool Buyers and Dealers AssOcia,
ton, under whose auspices this paper i;
published, is to improve in character
and condition, the wool grown in Ohio
and raise the standard Ofthe same, to its
former enviable reputation. How that
reputation was acquired and dnOW so near
ly lost, is we'll known to all who are IA,
miliar with the history of sheep husband,
Ty, and wool growing, in this State, fol
the last 40years.
Previous to the year 1880, butIittle at,
! tentiOn had been paid to sheep in this
! State, and the small fOcks were theI
! composed mainly Ofa hardyraCe OfcOaTst
wooled, or so called native sheep, whose
annual clips were mostly WOught by
| danes and fair damsels of that day.
/ Gradually, however, for the next q
/ years, these coarse wool sheep were i'm
| proved in quality or displaced, bv the
| importation of the light open wool SaxO-
ny and Spanish sheep, from the Eastern
| States, until about the year 1850, when
/ Ohio took the front rank as a wool pro-
! ducing State, her clip of thatyea amount
| ing to about Il, 900, 900 lbs, and acI1nowl-
| edged, as a whole, to be the most desira-
| BILE in quality and condition Ofany grown
in the United States, and therefore the
most sought for, at the highest prices,
| by the manufacturer.
| At that time, Ohio could boast Of many
large flOcks Ofpure SaxOnysheep, which
| in the splendid style and exceeding
| fineness of fleece, were not surpassed
and scarcely equaled, by any others to
be found in this country, and which were
not much excelled by the best fiOcIls of
| the Old World.
| This race ofsheepis now nearly extinct
| in the United States, and we regret to
say has left no successors which furnish
so fine and delicate a fibre, and hence
! the manufacturers of our finest fabrics
are to-day compelled to import from Ger
many and other countries.
The reputation so justly acquired by
| Ohio wool growers was well maintained,
until about the year 1860, when it may
be said we had reached the ezra of
grease,n and courses not loud but deep"
began to be heaped upon the heads of
the unwilling wool buyers of the State
by the consumers of our wool, who had
discovered that much of it contained an
additional Is to 25 per cent, of some
worthless substance, which the latest
improved machinery and most skillful
labor of the East utterly failed to make
into cloth, but which, to their great dis
may and sad loss, melted from their
grasp and ran down their streams, pOlu-
ting as it went.
The cause of this great change in the
condition of our wool was readily found.
UnscrupuloUs dealers in sheep, from 9TH
er States, inspired only by the love of
gain, imposed upon our farmers by the
faIsest representations a pampered and
unhealthy breed of sheep, whose only
merit consisted in those peculiar quail
ties of the fleece, which tenaciOusly alb
sOrbed all the seCretiOns and eXcretiOns
of the body, as well as allartiticial appli-
cations of grease, gum and dirt, and
which it was claimed by many growers
the most persistent attempts at washing
failed to remove. Tempted by the high
prices that prevailed during the four
years of the War of the Rebellion, and
encouraged by the extreme recklessness I
of wool buyers during those years, many
of our wool growers carefully avoided
washing these sheep, in a thorough and |
proper manner, and also, by allowing !
them to run an unusual length Of time |
after washing, secured additional weight |
of filth to the fleece.
To such extremes was this finally car