The weekly tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1891-1894, 1891-06-27
SHEEP, SHODDY AND WOOL.


lent article on the subjects named. We
regret that want of space prevents its re-
production entire in the columns of the
TRIBUNE. but liberal extracts showing
their treatment will be given. The
writer, in speaking of sheep, expresses
the belief that there is no kind of live
stock that can be produced to better adj
vantage than sheep. But there are GER
tain matters the stock grower must at
tend to in order to make the business
profitable. First in Importance is breed
ing; second, proper sheltering, and lastly
the watering, grazing and feeding.
Mutton sheep says the Journal. "are
almost always in good demand at fair
prices; lambs of the right kind always
bring high prices in the leading consum-
ing markets. and the wool will pay for
carrying the animals to mature age"
1t has been said, and the TRIBUNE IN
clines to the belief the assertion is true,
that upon the free ranges Of the west
money can be made by growing sheep
for mutton alone, if mutton breeds be
exclusively employed in the business.
But whether this be so or not it is
certain that s%heepmen must depend more
or less upon their mutton wethers and
old ewes to add to their bank account.
The raising of sheep for wool alone, ac-
cording to the journal, has not the
most fiattering prospects for the reason
that the competition of foreign woods is
being exceedingly hard against it. 1.-THE
London sales of foreign wool periodically
made" says the Journal, 'handicaps u
American wool trade through the whole
of every year. as. if any advance of i'm
%portance should be made at any time in
our market, it would quickly draw a
heavy supply of wool from the British
markets.
1.-The production of foreign woods is in
creasing rapidly, proving a constant
menace to the growers of this country.
According to the estimate made by the
London Board of Trade, the worlds sup
ply of wool in 1860 was 995.OO0.OO0
pounds, and in 1889 was 1.9o0.000.O0O
pounds. This increase has been confined
almost exclusively to fine woods, the in
crease in three countries alone, which
grow fine woods alone, being 1~15,O00,OO0
pounds, viz: Australia O,O0O,OOO;River
Plate 81 100000, and Cape of Good Hope
4%4,OOO,OOO: and we may add that the in
crease in the clip of Australia for 1890
over 1889 is about 10000 bales. and that
of the River Plate 10000 bales, the in
crease of the Cape country being about
equal to the amount of wool grown in
the state:of Ohio"
And there is another matter which is
seriously damaging the wool business.
and which ~antagonizcs wool men. That
is found in the great Hood of shoddy. that
has. within the past few years. been let
loose in all the wooden trade ccnters. we
may say. of the world. Shoddy is made
from all the old wooden goods that may
have been worn out and thrown in the
alleys or dumping ground in any locality
"iiSi liz "C toINiuly SdtllCl'N UP ny
the old rag pickers and which are sent
by the car load or dozen car loads TO the
great shOddy factories where the old
blankets of all kinds, the old clothing
and any old worn out wooden goods are
all, by i~ngeniously contrived machinery.
brought into live wool condition.
Speaking of this. the journal says:
Large shoddy factories have now been
established both IN Great Britain and in
our own country, and in the aggregate
enormous quantities of this shoddy wool
is sold and worked into new cloth. much
of which is sold as supertine. and it is all
warranted to be all wool; a small amount
of good wool is mixed with a large
amount of shoddy in making cheap all
wool goods. and thus cheap goods is
worked up into pants or new suits as the
case may be, and any number of wearers
may be seen any day decked out in the
shoddy goods cut in the latest style and
made in the most artistic style.
OF course the many millions of shoddy
that is being made into new cloth creates
and keeps alive hard competition against
the general wool trade. According to
the census report Of 1880, our wooden
goods were then made of us parts of
pure wool to los parts of shoddy, hair.
cotton or other substitutes.
According to that census the raw
material put into our wooden goods was
as follows:
Pounds.
, Domestic wool. ....... ... 222. 991 ,531
Foreign wool ............. 79.2OO,69S
!, Cancels hair ............. l.583.l19
, Mohair. 159,67S
Buffalo hair. .............. 67l,O27
Cotton mixture. .......... 48,OOO,857
: Shoddy 52,163,926
, During the decade ended with 1890
this kind of adulteration has been kept
up; the shoddy part has even been large