The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1876-02-16
to draw a wider margin between wool

10 draw Wtder margin between WOOL
and grease. Bnt 80 1t was.
As matter Of course there was n big
rise in the price Of Merino sheep. Span
ish bucks went up from ten dollars per
head 70 hundreds, and even Thousands
All because they would breed sheep that
would shear from 20 10 90 pounds Of
wool to the fleece. When | found
that these were the kind OF sheep
that brought the money l went to YER
mont and bought some Spanish bucks,
and also some ewes, and, on returning,
sold them,from $50 up to $500 per head.
One very extra buck ! sold for $650-the
highest priced sheep ! ever sold. Re-
turning again to Yermont,4 went to a
grower who lived some distance beyond
Rutland, named George Campbell, said
TO be the best wool grower in that coun.
try for Spanish Merinos. From him I
bought thirty early spring (buek) lambs
at $25 per head, and also1some ewes.
This second pdfchase i sold ont to the
growers Of this region at prices running
from $40 toS91 so per head! AT this latter
priced sold q buck to S. S. Mathews, then
of Licking county, Ohio, who after keep
ing him for three or four years sold5llim
for three thousand dollars. AT the same
timeI bought a buck lamb for $40 that |
afterwards sold TO man near Pittsburgh
for $500. Thea next year lie shore
90 pounds Of wool and his owner was
offered o Thousand dollars for him. |
have known several bucks in my time TO
sell for $3,000;on account Of the weight Of
fleece, Of grease and wool together, and
have heard Of one selling for S., 200. but
do not vouch for the report, Mr.. Archer
was reported to have bought buck Of n
Vermont man named Hammond ut this
price. So the story went at the time. |
give itas a hearsay incident ofmy exper-
fence in sheep. fa"
The wool growers Of Washington,
Brooke and other counties, on both sides
Of the river, went largely into breeding
Merino sheep. They went III as a money
making scheme. There were tcw-n
very few-who refused to do so. Among
them / remember Samuel Patterson, OF
Washington county, John B. Wilson, OF
your county, and Thomas Wood, Of Jei-
ferson county, Ohio. These growers adj
hered to the clean wooded Saxony fleece,
being content TO take such profits as the
business would yield. - 81
From all the facts Of the wool business,
rs now carried on throughout the coun:.
try Il am persuaded that il has deprecated
at least so per cent compared with what It
was 25 or 80 years ago. And just here l
will put on record prophecy for the ben
eft Of those whom it may concern,
which is that before ten years our
coarse common wool will be worth 700
cents per pound, while the wool so much
in vogue OF late will not be worth more
than rs or 80 cents, My reason for 30
thinking is that supply and demand al
ways regulate prices. ! do not suppose
that there is at this time one fleece
Of our common wool for every thousand
ileeces Of the greasy fine wool. The man
ufacturers will pay more for this CON-
mon wool, to manufacture into smooth
cloth. The rich will buy this cloth, and,
as usual, all classes will follow suit,
which will create a demand that will adj
vance this kind Of CLOTH 10 $40 or $l2
per yard, while cloth made from the
greasy fine wool will not be worth more
than 81 to S. Old rs ! am, l shall not
be surprised 10 see the day when our
common coarse wool will reach IS cents
per pound before the supply Phall over
take the coming demand for it. In pro.
cess of time we shall again see, as q
matter OF course, natural reaction and
lower prices.
During long life have continually
observed this tendency to change when n
business was ovcrdone. For instance,
take the history Of our fine furs. Many
years ago The demand was for otter, musk
rat and bear skins for mnfls and furs.
Now look at the change: The demand is
for polccat and mink: skins that at one
time would not pay for the skinning, and
yet now sell for 81 % to 81 80 apiece.
Any person in my early days who would
have forctold such change in the taste
Of rich people would have been laughed
at for fool.
But, NIessrs. Editors, have gone over
all the ground that it seemsto me judici-
GUS or necessary TO traverse in this artl-
Gle. Imperfect and desultory US it is, it
will, as sort OF Centenary sketch,
serve to throw some light onthe ups and
downs OF an important branch Of business,
and, in that way, will, I trust, be Of inter-
est TO number OF your readers and to
some ofmy old friends.
MATTHEW McKEEvER.