The herald., 1893-12-16
THE WOOL B. JGABoo.

hired attorney of T. le Ohio wool growers
and rushes to the r assistance on all oc.
casions. He pr sdicts great disaster if
the modified TO riff should put foreign
wools ON the free list, or even admit
them at nc .minal rate OF duty.
In truth. there is no article OF COM
merce aoo 1T which there is as much
unnecess' lry outcry as wool. Looking
back oW ,r quarter of century we find
that ool was two cents per pound
lower in 1872 than it had been in
1870 II, both in San Francisco and
Por tland, Notwithstanding that the in
cr Jased tariff OF 1872 went into effect in
) anuary of that year. three months be.
.ore there was sheep sheared in any OF
the Pacific states; while they were at
least month earlier than any state in
the Mississippi valley. To tell the
truth, wool is an article whose value
depends upon tho oldest of commercial
laws. the law Of supply and demand.
If men do not want to breed sheep for
wool, let them essfiy experiments in the
growth of mutton. With this end in
view let them import few of those big
bucks from New Zealand, which are q
cross between the Lincolnshire and the
fst.tailed sheep OF South Africa, and
they will soon hive. through the aid
OF our eucculent p asturage of alfalfa,
sheep for the cha mbles that will dress
from "a to ITO pou inds. At prices which
prevail from Dec ember to April in the
San Francisco m Rrket, there is quite as
much profit for he product of mutton as
for that Of wool.
But this is lomething to which the
wool growers of the Pacific states have
persistently b Ended their eyes ever
since the she sp industry was inaugur.
ated. Had tn .ese wiseacres seen that
there was m ntton side to the question,
they might b. ave bred exclusively for the
shambles ant so kept down the price Of
beef and pt ,rk by a most wholesome
competition. But that they would not
do. They referred to pay cash for beef
rather tha slaughter single sheep.
England hi Is set us a much better ex-
ample in this respect, and her object
Lesson ha been, SO far, wholly dsre.
garded.
OF cour se, the days Of the man who ia
exclusiv, ly sheep-grower are num-
bersd, &c far as California is concerned.
The int lligent farmer OF the future will
have hi sheep in the high Sierras dur
ing the hot weather; and on their re-
turn to the valleys in the autumn, he
Will b ready to fatten them in pens
suppl cd with alfalfa hay, Egyptian
corn nd ruts baga turnips. This NUT
ton W i'll be thrown on the market, fat
and uscious, during the winter months,
at pr Ices ranging from 8 to II cents per
pour I'd on the hoof and when you stop
to CT 'nsider the cost of freight, storage,
exc mango. interest and other charges
ths accrue upon shipments OF wool, it
vii soon be apparent that it pays better
to breed for the block than ior the loom.
The steamship Arawa, which arrived
at Vancouver last Monday from New
u salRnd, brought 900 csrcases OF NUT
t. IN and 2200 carcRses of beef in her cold
E forage chambers. This is designed for
I shipment 10 Montreal, Toronto. Ottawa
and other Canadian cities, and if this
nhipmeut should bring good prices there
will be a constant outflow OF colonial
beef and mutton in this direction. If
the New Zealand farmers can make it
pay to grow turnips as winter eheep
pasturage, why not California and the
| other Pacific ptQtpe9
In word, then, the man who doesn't
want to get left" in the sheep-growing
business will have to breed for the
slaughter house as well as the factory
and by diversifying bis work, he will
find out that he is not wholly at the
mercy OF the buyer. The trouble is
with the most of the wool.growers that
they pay too much attention to the men
who breed rams for sale and not enough
to the general condition OF the market.
The condition OF the wool market is
something in which there are more men
frightened than hurt.