The record-union., 1892-09-10
A MoMENroUs EXPERIMENT.

A MOMENTOUs EXPERIMENT.
a Mr.. Bennett of the Wool and Cotton
Reporter is about to begin an experiment
that makes one hold his breath-and his
sides-to contemplate. We assume when
Mr.. Bennett is spoken of as "of the Wool
and Cotton Reporter" that it means that he
is the editor Of that sheet, and represents
it in its completest purpose. He is, there
fore, something more than mere indi-
vidual of ordinary attachments and has,
besides, a mission which no detached
fragment of humanity, though all wool
and yard wide, could ever feel himself
charged with. Mr. Bennett, we learn, is
opposed to the present duty on wool. He
does not believe it necessary to profitable
sheep-raising, and is sure that it hurts the
manufacturer Of woolens: and he pro-
poses to demonstrate by practice that his
theory about the uselessness of the wool
tariff is correct.
And, according to an Eastern exchange,
this is what is proposed to be done:
Six adjoining farms in Maine that have
been abandoned as Improbable have been
purchased by MIR. Bennett, the whole making
tract of 400 acres. Some of the buildings
VIII be put in repair, one or two more barns
ana sheep sheds added and wire fencing put
around the land. Then the business of rails
lag mutton sheep VIII be entered upon. The
experiments with Merinos in that section
nave never been satisfactory, SO none of that
Nlr1n he rIrsayn I,s,,
Delng more hardy and requiring less care,
Will be adopted; another reason being that be-
sides being good mutton sheep they grow a
very good grade OF wool. Part of the land
VIII be devoted to the production of small
grain, and by looking after the grass land he
hopes TO support considerable flock of sheep
on the 400 acres. He is Sanguine that the
experiment will be success, and a large
enough profit will be realized on the invest
nent TO make the abandoned hill farms of
New England once more attractive and pay
ing property. The Wool and Cotton Rep0rter
says that the experiment, if successful will
prove that woolgrower who does not be-
lleNe IN the present duties upon wool can
make mutton sheep husbandry profitable
upon the deserted farms of New England.
II unsuccessful, the enterprise will hereafter
pc cited either as the 1mpracticable idea of a
low tariff wool-grower, or the irredeemable
nature of Maine agriculture, according TO the
bias of the commentator.
That the tariff never did have anything
to do with the business of raising sheep
in Maine is a fact that need not be argued,
for it happens that the only period DUR
ing which sheep were generally found
upon the little farms there was during
the very lowest tariffs, and in which a
tax on wool was not an element; and OF
late years, with the exception of perhaps
one county, no sheep can be found,
though one were to hunt them with dogs.
And this is true all over New England.
In the old days, almost every family had
a few sheep. They worked up the wool
themselves and they used a carcass now
and then to exc out the fresh meat sup
ply, an important matter, for then there
were nolbutcher's carts in the rural re-
gions. Even if there had been the pres
ent tariff on wool, it would have had no
more to do with the keeping of these
little flocks Of sheep than the tides had to
with it.
But even in the old days, when the
wool was so handy and necessary for
family clothing, and the late summer
lamb and the fall-stalled mutton were
such part of the family living, it was
only profitable to keep little flocks, just
enough to pick up living in the sum-
mer in the rocky pasture and the forest
edges, and to be mainly subsisted in the
winter by sheltering them in pen under
some of the farm buildings and feeding
them from the odds and ends of farm
fodder. What dozen neat cattle leave
in their cribs will go long way toward
keeping half dozen sheep alive through
the winter. And thus keeping a few
sheep was profitable in those days, just
as keeping a few hens was and always
viii be profitable. They had large
range, and what was necessary to be fed
to them would have been at least partly
wasted otherwise. But no old-fashioned
Eastern household ever found it profit
able to make anyone of these lines a
main business, nor has it ever succeeded
anywhere in a cold country, unless all
the conditions have proved exceptionally
favorable.
Now, the editor of the Wool and Cotton
Reporter ought to be told kindly, but
firmly, that it is vociferous nonsense to
talk about fencing in four hundred acres
of rough, WORKOUT land in Maine, and
put thereon, say. from one to two nuns