The Pascagoula democrat-star. (Pascagoula, Miss.) 1878-1920, 1879-04-04
Our DUTY to Raise Sheep.


The aim of every people, or what
should be the aim of every people,
is to come as neal to the production
of what they consume as possible.
II a nation could produce every
thing that it eats, wears or uses, IL
would as u matter of course ac-
quire wealth in proportion to the
excess of it's productions over its
consumption, provided that the ex-
cess were of that character as to
command market in other nations.
If it were not, therefore, an already
settled principle of political encOn-
Omy that a people should strive to
produce all that they ueed for con-
sumption, a moments cOnsidera-
ton of its reasonableness would
make 1t clear. If this, therefore,
is true, 4 nation that does not
make the best use of it's resources
to that end is criminal against it.
self; and that the United States
has for a whole century neglected
to employ the resources at hand to
make this people practically indie
pendent of all the balance of the
world, does not argue well for II
enterprise-our bOasting to the
contrary Notwithstanding - and
should awaken us to some degree
of realization of the fertility of our
resources, aud our only partial use
of them. This country has been
expanding money tor a whole cen
fury for goods Of foreign lnanufac-
ture, which, there was no reason,
except the inexcusable one of not
knowing what the wealth of the
nation was, or a lack OF real enter
prise, for our not producing at
home. In no department of Ameri-
can industry does this fact show
itself mere clearly than in that OF
wool. The importation of wool
and wooden goods into this country
for the last year amounted to thirty
six millions of dollars. Now why
this drain upon the United States
for what they are abundantly able
to produce themselves in all essen
tial ~rarticularsi Why import wool
into the United Statesi We have
millions of acres that are fit for
nothing else than sheep husbandry,
and the Western Rural has referred
to the fact frequently. In Texas
there are thousands of grazing
fields that might be employed to
produce the wool that this people
want. They are unoccupied now,
and it is a mystery that those of
little capital, but who have some
knowledge of sheep husbandry,
should neglect to go there and
make n respectable fortune. Texas
cannot be SO unknown to any of
our readers as not to be known as
the Palestine of sheep. In the
Northwest, however, weraise sheep
at very little cost above that which
the u%noccupied fields of Texas en-
able the heIdsman to raise them
there. W. have grain aud roots
that we do not know how to use
prOitably in winter, unless we feed
it to stock, and no stock thrives
upon such food better than sheep.
In the cold climate of Canada, the
Cotswolds have always done well,
when properly cared for, and if
they can be preserved from dete-
riOration in that climate by such
rations as %roots-and they are the
most delicate breed to provide for
why cannot the whole West, where
beets, mangel wurtzels and all 9th
er roots grow with little care and
are gathered without difficulty, sup
port a sheep husbandry that will
be nearly equal in profit to any
other section of the countryf But
upon the truth of this statement
rests the fiattering possibility that
this country a produce sheep and
wool for the world, and if it can do
that it has no business to be i'm
porting wool surely. North and
South, East and West have each
their natural advantages for the
successful prosecution of sheep
husbandry, and it is our duty to
employ them to u benefit.