St. Landry democrat., 1889-08-10
Sheep HusbandrY a Necessity.

The Lon. ]. n. Cotton has furnished
the Indiana Farmer with grand good
article on sheep. He says; The sheep
has followed man wherever he has built
his habitation, and has become an ele-
ment of his support, and to-day within the
United States, with all our varied soils,
from alluvial valleys to high table lands,
with all the varied climate of the inhabl-
ted part of the globe Except the extreme
tropicaD the sheep may exist and flourish.
| doubt if there is a country, yes, even a
township in the United States where sheep
will not be found therein and raised with
profit.
1t may be more universally raised, es-
pecially in the United States, than any
other domestic animal And with proper
protection for the carcass within and the
fleece without, we should supply every
thread of wool consumed by the citizens
of the United States, giving employment
to the agriculturist wherever he may
| choose his habitatiOn, and whether they
| Craze in the valley, On the hillside or
mountain top, they leave the soil in better
! condition than it was when they entered
upon it; and that is one of the relations of
| sheep husbandry to the wants of mantle
lettering of the soil. For the day is fast
approaching when our virgin soil will all
be occupied by the pioneer, for you have
only to turn your ear to the West to hear
| the clamor of Oklahoma, and when the
| wheat has consumed the virgin soil of the
Red River valley, and eaten up the chemi-
| cal elements that compose wheat, for time
| will do it, then the agriculturist will have
to look in some other direction for his
| livelihood.
! Who knows but what the sheep will
then dot the plains as thicl1ly as the wheat
| sheaves do to-day, for the sheep is the
scavenger of the farm, and turns his food,
whatever it may be, into the best of ma
nure And the sooner the country is rid
of the scalawag and replaced by the wool
Merino the long wooded Cotswold, the
pretty little Southdown and the broad
backed Shropshire, the better will be the
relations of sheep hu. bandry to the wants
| of man.
In showing up the sheep and its relations
to man, | shall give you few figures,
for whether in raising, picking, spinning
weaving or tailoring wherein it gives EN-
| ployment to man it has a relation to man
wants From the best estimate | can get
the inhabitants of the United States con
sumo 800, 900, 900 pounds of wool annual
/ ly. Estimating our popu alton at 60, 900,
! 900 it would give ten pounds to each In
| habitant, and of this amount we produce
about one-half or 800, 900, 900 pounds,
worth 800, 600, 900 In 1887 we imported
| ia, 100000 pounds, leaving 1856 900, OOC
pounds 10 be imported in clothing and
other wooden materials to make up the
amount consumed. ,s9n our estimate OF
/ 800, 900, 600 worth OF wool we can add
| $25, 900, OC0, worth of mutton, giving us
annually $125000,000 as the proceeds
| from the sheep direct. And here we have
relation of the sheep to mans wants, in
the converting of grain, and grass and
| grain into dollars and cents.
The next relation of this 800 ,OO00 DOC
pounds of wool, is the buying, storing AND
| shipping to the manufactures Now let
us look into these factories and see what
they are doing Over 1000 wooden factories
in the United States with capital of 500
| 900, 900 employed over 100 900 men
women and children with annual
wages of $50, 900, coo, consuming 100000
| 600 pounds of raw wool, and turning out
| 5000 900, 900 worth of manufactured
goods And again we have about 10t
worsted mills with capital of $25 ,OOO,
| 900, employing 10000 men, women anc
children Here l might refer to the labor
of thousands engaged in the manufacture
of the machinery, and to the miner who
digs the coal, and to the railroad thai
hauls the coal that makes the steam thai
drives the machinery, but become lost il
the multiplicity of this labor. And yet We
have not enumerated the knitting, hosiery
tailoring and dressmaking establishments
and we shall not stop to give figures, hQ
will you take thought of our 60, O5O, o.
people and the proportion of wool in theil
clothing? Let US look into the clothing
manufactures, at the numerous cutting
and sewing tailors, besides the millions Of
garments sent out to private families which
the census taker cannot reach. But If yol
want to grasp the magnitude of tailoring
of this country, turn your eyes to thu
masses and behold with what they ar
clothed, and then commence to enumerate
the wooden pants, coat and vest, and try tt
enumerate the innumerable stitches that it
took to make them, and your brain will grow
dizzy, and your head swim, and after you
have steadied your brain with a littl
choral turn to the women of this country
and behold their raiment of worsted ant
wooden, for there is none so well clothes
as the ladies of this country. We nigh
as well view them from distance, for yo1
have not been in their dress shops much
unless your wife got in hurry to shov
You her fine all wool merino before it
finished. So we will stand at a distanc
and view them with their worsted hose, al
wool dresses and merino shawls abou
their shoulders. We spoke Of the in
Vulnerable stitches in mems clothing, bu
the word innumerable in women's clothing
will not cover the thought. You nigh
as well undertake to count the leaves OF
the tree, or the sands on the seashore, a
to enumerate the stitches on woman
dress. Think of the dressmaking shop
in this country, and look into ever
private family and you will find dress
maker there, and then tell me what re
lation Sheep husbanbry has to our wants
Horticulture and Stock Raising,