Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1898-06-30
SHEEP MARKET.
Good Prospects For FlOckmasters In the
E1fura

Good Prospects For FlOckmasters In the
Immediate Future.
IF we make an inspection of the sheep
brought i'll for sale in some of our lar
gest stoclzyards, as have done in the
past few days, one cannot but ask,
"What kind of beasts are these?'
Eighty-eight per cent of them are UNI
worthy of the name of sheep; they are
not even fit for guano, for flesh they
have not, bones they are not, wool is
not. While this sort of nondescript
trash is supplied to our markets sheep
husbandry should not lay claim to a
place. In our day of advanced agricul-
tural and modern civilization they are
not what is wanted either at home or
abroad. Even today men who ought to
know better are making experiments
with breeds that if followed by many
will keep us back in the business anoth-
er decade. Put up two questions where
you can always see them, then work to
them. They are these: What kind of
mutton does the market demand? What
kind of wool does the market WANT
Remember always that it means today
not what the demand was 80 years ago,
not last year or yesterday, but today
and the future.
The highest priced sheep sold in our
markets today are those that are suited
for the clubs and hotels III our largest
cities. For such sheep ready market is
found at 90 and 30 CENTS per pound.
When you can get $37 to $42 for the
carcass of lamb or wether, you are en-
titled to distinction as sheep grower.
In the large stockyards of our country
the highest price is paid for export NUT
ton. Such sheep must be well matured
at an early age, large and uniform,
with good solid flesh, not too fat and
not at all lean.
Ordinary common sheep put in pens
and gorged on rich feed Or swill from
lighthouses will not meet the demand,
for such sheep are too fat and the meat
will never harden Sheep must be OF
good blood, capable of maturing early,
of good constitution by heredity, so that
they can attain size and weight with
exercise and ON dry feed. The exercise
makes muscle and that is lean meat.
Such sheep stand shipping and do not
shrink or soften. Our export sheep come
in competition in the foreign markets
with those from many other countries,
and we should take national pride in
having our product compare favorably
with any others We have greater
range, better feed and more favorable
conditions to grow perfect animals than
almost any other country, and all ii
needs to give us the credit abroad OF
producing the best and securing the
maximum price and maintaining q
steady trade is for our growers to use
their brains and couple their work with
intelligent reasoning
The kind of wool in demand on both
sides of the Atlantic is of exactly the
same character-a medium delaine, not
too fine and not too coarse. But we need
not expect to ship any wool from oul
countries for many years to come as all
the wool we grow does not amount tc
more than 60 per cent of the home con-
sumption. The total amount of wool
produced in the United States during
1896 was 272, 474, 708 pounds, while the
amount imported in 1897 was $50, S52,
026 pounds. During the past ten years
our production of wool has steadily de.
creased from 302, 600, 900 to 272, 900, 00C
pounds, while our imports have increas-
ed from lib, 900, 600 to $50, 600, 0OC
pounds in 1897. The same ratio will
apply to Canada i'll proportion to the
population. The chief reason why SC
much wool is imported is that the man
ufacturers demand a certain quality
commonly known as "'Capes, and oul
countries do not grow but small por-
ton of this kind, SO that large per-
centage of what we do grow brings a
lower price
The value of sheep in this country
was highest i'll 1898 and has decreased
each year since until 1897, when it has
reached the minimum in 80 years Tt is
not speculative, therefore, for us to say
that we are on the threshold of an I'M
precedented boom in sheep husbandry
Let us be prepared TO meet it not blind
ly, wildly or recklessly; let us rid our
farms of scrubs and Indifferent sheep;
have fewer but better ones; determine
to send to market only sheep of the best
quality of wool and mutton. Address
of Mortimer lowering.