Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1890-03-14
Sheep Jnterest.
AMERICAN WOOLS.


of the wool tariff now in progress:
IMPAIRMENT OF AGRICULTURE. !
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY,
WASHINGTON, ID. c., Feb. 2S, 1890. J
"Sir-Your letter is received making
inquiry whether our country lacks condi-
tons of soil and climate for producing
every variety of wool, and that, too, in
commercial quantities, and as fairly re-
munerative branch of agriculture. This
inquiry is suggested by the following
quotation from the Providence Journal
of a recent date:
"'We have tried all sorts of high wool
tariffs in years past, and never yet have
they caused the production here of GER
tain kinds of wool that are absolutely
necessary to give The required finish to
wooden and worsted fabrics and to make
carpets. We never can accomplish the
feat. 1t is physically impossible. Ger
tain woods require for their production
conditions of climate and soil which we
do not possess, and that settles it,
"This country possesses marvellous
range of climatic conditions, having "a
degrees of latitude between % degrees
ard 46 degrees, with a attitudes COM
passing levels from the semi-tropical to
those of perpetual snow, and ocean cur
rents modifying the climates of both
coasts. Its soils range from those of
geological formations of the early geol-
ogic ages to the alluvium of the present
day. a continent so broad, SO varied in
soil and climate, is properly designated
as the Western world, and the United
States cOmpasses all its possibilities cX-
cept those Of strictly tropical and abso-
lutely polar areas. 1t can therefore pro-
duce, with no limitation of practical i'm
portance, all the races and breeds of
sheep in the world. The families of the
Merino race, originating in Spain, all
thrive in this country, and include a
large proportion of existing flocks. All
the mutton breeds of Great Britain, the
breeds producing medium and long wool,
flourish here, and are to be found scat
tered through the regions in which sheep
husbandry is fostered almost exclusively
for its natural wool production. The
coarse wool type is also represented by
the Spanish varieties which went first to
Mexico and thence to another Southern
domain and formed the foundation of
most of all the flocks of the territory of
the Arctic region beyond the Missouri.
There have also been importations of
Asiatic and African sheep in the South.
We actually possess the fiocks and pro-
duce the woods of the three groups in
the customs wool classification, viz, the
carding, the combing and the carpet
woods. The supply of each class, it is
true, is not proportional to the manufac-
turing demand for many obvious reasons
which have nothing to do with soil or
climate or impossibilty of adaptation to
the physical conditions prevailing on the
Western continent
"Our manufactures of wool have had
an unnatural development. Two genera
tons ago the domestic manufacture was
very generally distributed through the
districts. The rise of the factory system
destroyed the hand manufacture of wool
throughout the world The development
of manufacture by machinery was slow,
beginning with coarse fabrics. For many
years the carding processes only were in
vogue. \ single generation ago there
was little combing or worsted manufac-
ture and fine cassimeres were unknown.
Carpets were then made here. Industries
have since had remarkable development.
nearly supplying the home demand. and
no demand for foreign carpets exists eX-
cept to supply the fancies and whims of
the fastidious who want particular pat
tern or foreign name. Our patented ma
chnery is now sought abroad with which
10 manufacture the supply of other coun-
tries. Thus our progress in manufact-
uring, apparently slow, and by steps
from lower to higher forms, has been
really rapid, and every stage of progress
has created demand for greater variety
of wool, which there was before no in
ducement to produce. The Saxon Me-
rinos. for instance, bearing the finest
wool in the world, were imported and
bred when our manufacturers were
pressed to supply the requirements of
| the country for cloths of medium fine
woods, and were not ready to produce
fine broadclOths and therefore could not
offer prices that would foster increased
supply of that grade. But there is no
climatic difficulty in their production.
As to carpet woods the principal reason
why they have not been produced in
sufficient quantities is because they have
been Disseminated against in tariff
rates. For instance, the import of
clothing woods in 1885 80 paid an aver
age duty of 1913 per cent, worsted woods
a duty of 42.5 per cent, and carpet woods
duty of only 26.l6 per cent. The aver
age duty per pound was 1885 cents for
clothing woods, 1909 for worsted and