San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1882-09-21

Wooi-growing certainly oilers very
superior inducements to those who
thoroughly understand il; il is vet
true that 1t may also be successfully
conducted by men who have no prac.
teal knowledge of or experience in
sheep husbandry, if they are willing to
deny themselves the pleasure of society
and the Injuries OF life, and give their
business close attention and study un
til 1t was established on paying basis.
Some OF our most successful sheep men
have never herded whole day in their
lives, and probably would not be sue.
cess as herders; but they know how it
should be done, and are therefore COM
petent to manage the business.
The wool-growing business first came
to Texas through Mexico; the slow
methods of that primitive country
being first adopted by their American
neighbors, who, however, soon began
the work OF Improvement by grading
their focks from thoroughbred bucks
and better care. This improvement
was continued to greater extent by
the more enterprising men who have
engaged in the business in this section
the:last few years. Thousands of fine
sheep have been driven here from Cali
fornia and Missouri, and since the com.
pletion of the great transcontinental
line of railway through Texas, the high.
graded Merino and Cotswold ewes
from California and thoroughbred
Spanish Merino bucks from Vermont
have been. imported, until now our sheep
are producing wool which commands o
good price, and is continually improv-
ing, until northwest Texas will have a
reputation for the fneness as we'll as
the quantity of it's woods. In the mat
ter of improved grades, this section is
advancing more rapidly than other por.
tions of the state. This fact, toa great
extent, accounts for the difference in
quality of wool in favor of this section,
and the difference in price per pound,
which would at first thought appear
not in our favor. Competent judges,
men of experience in handling the
woods of western Texas, say that in
southern Texas the staple is much
lighter than the growth in northwestern
Texas; that the sheep of these counties
being of a higher Merino grade, the
staple is, though finer, much heavier
with grease and dirt than the sheep
bred from the Mexican of southern
Texes. This theory will be readily
by any one who has ever
compared the feeces OF the thorough
bred Merino, long, fine, but weighty
with the natural grease, and the Mexi-
can, which, though very light, is an in.
ferior staple, coarse and heavy. It is
q well-known fact that the wool-growing
business is more lucrative in this part
Of the state than in any other, and the
yield per head greater; the product.
though of finer staple, does not sell for
quite as much per pound as I. the more
southern wool. For instance, the
Hilson clip, in Taylor county, of 1860
pounds from 1,465 sheep, an average
If 1872 pounds per head, is the largest
Known in the state, and while it was a
very fine staple, it was 80 weighty with
he grease common to the Merino, that
t sold here for twenty-four cents per
pound, realizing about 1915 per head.
Tributary to Abilene are the counties
# Taylor, Tom Green, Runnels,
Joncho, Jones, Nolan, Fisher, Stone
vail, Haskell, and parts of Callahan,
coleman, McCulloch, Mitchell and
From reports of assess
RS of some of these counties on the
irst of January last, the number of
heep may be estimated at 100000, from
which a product of five pounds per
cad will be marketed here this year.
If this amount 100000 pounds has
lready been received at Abilene. The
atural increase in sheep has averaged
his year 95 per cent, and in many in
tances it was los and ITO per cent,
hitch would nearly double the wool
rop for the next season. Then the in
rease from imports from other states
- 4 .-,,1lo~,, oo,,nSias hos hean from 10