Fergus County Democrat., 1910-01-18
Five Million Head Craze On the
Ranges of Treasure State-Value
of Wool Is Enormous.
INCREASE over 1908
Price for Secured Wool of Montana
for Past Year Exceeds That of
Previous Year by Good Margin.

/
issued the annual wool review and
census Of sheep in the United States
Tor 1909 which the association pre-
"ares for its members and the wool
trade in general and which is looked
upon as the authority in the wool
trade, at least insofar as its figures
are concerned.
The number of sheep in the country
fit for shearing is placed at 42,2o3,2O5,
an increase Of 1881 ,657 over the 1908
figures. This increase is made up
chiefly Of additions to the estimated
number in Montana, 100000, Wyom-
ing and Idaho, 100000 each, and New
Mexico 100000.
TIE wool season oi 1909 witnessed
a full recovery in prices and volume
OF business from the disastrous year
OF the financial panic that came in
with October, 1907. The strain on the
wool industry was severe one, and
1t came perilously near sending into
bankruptcy some of the largest and
strongest wool houses in the United
States.
Total Clip for Year.
Excluding pulled woods, the total
clip for last year was 2S7,1lO,740
pounds, an increase Of 1922, ,428
pounds over the previous year. The
secured equivalent was l13,523,785
pounds, an increase of 6893,137 pounds
over the previous year, due to the
lighter sihrinkage of the woods. The
amount of pulled wool is estimated at
Al 100000 pounds, the same as the year
before. Shrinkage continued at 80
per cent, making the net yield equal
I28,7OO,OOO pounds of clean wool Total
production of the country was there
fore 328,ll0,74o pounds, equal to 142,-
Z33,7SO pounds of secured wool
Reports from widely-separated To-
calities manifest notable movement
toward the production of finer wools
Arizona, Montana and Ohio particu-
larly report this the case
According to the associations
! 4AgusAs,sS taae ssUlaite Stateys ssf1r1fistfes
about one-eighth of the total worlds
wool supply. Estimated production
of wool in the world in 1895 was D.
o92,8So,773 pounds, while the wool
using population at that time was esti-
mated at 57S,S3o,225 people At the
present time the wool-using popula-
tion is shown to be 6lO.3o1 sos, an
increase of more than S0,50O,OOO The
worlds wool production in the same
period has increased by 111,14o773
pounds. 1t will be seen that the in
crease OF production has not kept pace
with the increase of population Per
capita production in 1895 was 4.8S
pounds, while at present it has been
reduced to AT pounds. To maintain
the same relation as in 1895 would
require production OF nearly g.
0OO,OOO,00O pounds yearly. There are
estimated to be 492,884500 sheep in
the world
Montana Flock Is Largest.
Montana has the largest flock of any
state in the Union, round 100000.
Their f1eeces averaged seven pounds
each and the clip was 35OO0,OOO
pounds, worth 68 cents per pound, or
a total of $9,O44OOO for the year. The
price increased from 81 cents in 1908.
Wyoming stands second, with a.
100000 in her flock, producing eight
pound feeces, worth 81 cents per
pound or total of $8232,o6O, against
40 cents per pound in 1908 Montana
1eeces averaged in shrinkage 63 per
cent, and Wyoming heeces 81 per
cent, so that the net secured product
in the former case was l3,3OOOOO1
bounds and in the latter l2,2S8OO0
pounds. New Mexico stands third,
with 100000 sheep, shearing six
pound feeces, shrinking IS per cent,
making the wool in the grease de-
crease from 100000 pounds to g.
10000 pounds secured. The value was
$4,3oS, 600, Or 65 cents per pound as
compared with As cents the year be,
fore Idaho comes fourth with D.
100000 in her flock. Fleeces averaged
rs pounds each and the clip totaled
q 100000 pounds, worth S7S3,S00, or
81 cents per pound as compared with
81 cents in 1908 The sf1rinkage was
66 per cent, making the secured
amount 100000 pounds Next comes
Ohio with 2,5O0O0O sheep, shearine
six and one-half pound heeces, with
l65O0.000 pounds of WOOL shrinking
| 81 per cent, to 100000 pounds OF
secured wool, valued at 81 1,326,75O, or
So cents per pound The price OBJ
tanned in 1908 was As cents.
Utah Is Sixth.
Utah is sixth with 100000 in her
flock and a clip of 14,S5O,OOO pounds,
valued at S3,2Sl $50; California sew
enth, with 100000 sheep, clip OF
l3,3000O0 pounds of wool, worth S.
$4,000. Michigan stands ninth, with
100000 sheep and l0,l25.OOO pounds
of wool. sold for $2,877,525. Colorado
is tenth with l,450,000 sheep, produc-
ing o,S60,00O pounds of wool, worth
$2,346,68O Texas is eleventh. She
has flock of l,325O0O with a clip of
8,o43,75O pounds, which brought ST.
o46, 100. Pennsylvania is twelfth,
with an even million. Her clip last
year was 100000 pounds, tleeces
averaging six pounds each. The
value was 81 ,840,8OO. Although hav-
ing flocks under million each, New
York. West Virginia, Kentucky, Wis