The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1917-04-05
"NORE SHEEP, MORE WOOL"

advocated the raising of sheep in Maine,
not only for their wool but for meat.
There are many farms that have land
suitable for sheep, and good for nothing
else, Mr. S. G. Norton, noted as sue
cessful farmer, has always kept sheep,
and certainly would not have continued to
keep them if they had not proved profit
able. He kept them on his farm in Pa
lermo, and since retiring from the office
of Sheriff of Waldo county has kept
small flock on his farm in South Belfast
and is the first TO market spring lambs,
which bring an extra price. In the very
early days the wool from the Maine
farmers sheep was carded, spun and
made into clothing by the farmers wife.
In later years many sheep were kept,
but with an adverse tariff this industry
declined here and elsewhere in the couu-
try until not enough wool was produced
for home consumption. Alfred Decker
of Alfred Decker & Cohn, Chicago, in
an address before the annual convention
of the Ohio Retail Closhiers convention,
Feb'y ID, 1917, presented some interest
ing and important facts and figures in
support of his plea that the clothing
manufacturers and retailers should get
behind the more sheep, more WOOL
campaign recently started and which has
eliminated in the National Sheep and
Wool is one of the few every day es-
sentials that we do not raise in sufficient
quantity to meet our wants: Virtually
all other raw products required for our
daily wants are produced in excess of
our needs, and we have surplus to sell
to foreign countries. But while our
decreasing. We consume in this coun-
try approximately five hundred and fifty
TO six hundred million pounds year.
We raised last year two hundred and
eighty eight million pounds, which means
that we were obliged to import about
three hundred million pounds. While in
1900 one million farmers kept sheep. and
in 1910 three quarters of a million, to-
Gay, judging from good sources of in
formation, only about one-h half million are
engaged in raising wool. There are to-
day thirteen million less sheep in the
United States than in 1900. In seven
years our crop diminished over thirty and
one-halt million. Texas has two and
one half million sheep against eight mill
lion in 1883, and the State of Texas
could, if the country was fenced, sup
port enough sheep to supply the whole
nation. The far Western States show
the same ratio of decrease; only two or
three States show slight increase.
The decrease of sheep raising in some
sections is due to industrial and agricul-
tural development along other lines.
Texas is producing oil and growing
onions and other vegetables where form
erly sheep were herded, but there are
thousands of acres as yet uncultivated
and unimproved, suitable for sheep rails
ing, and this is measurably true of other
States. AS Mr.. Decker said in his ad-
dress: 'There is room plenty for more
than $50 million sheep in the United
States. There are many million acres
of cut-over land in the North and South
awaiting the golden hoof that enriches
every good inch Of ground it treads.'
Comparing England with our situation
Mr.. Decker says: "You can put that
whole country in the upper and lower
peninsular of Michigan, and yet they
have thirty million sheep. If they can
raise wool proftably on land valued at
from $500 to $1,000 per acre, why not
here! Sheep have made England the
richest agricultural nation of it's size In
the world. Without sheep, millions of
acres of chalk, so-caled barren land in
England, would be useless for the pro-
duction of farm crops. But sheep are
the greatest fertilizer. Put sheep on
the WORKOUT farms of New England and
you will no longer see her sons move
away"
This mention of England recalls to the
writer notes of trip to England and
Scotland some years ago. We did not
see much of the agricultural sections
and saw but one large sheep ranch Gas it
would be called in this country and that
was in the vicinity of Edinburg. But
we saw sheep everywhere. If the avail
able land would only support half dozen
sheep that number was kept, and with
more land there were more sheep.
Sheep were always found on the estates
of the nobility and of people of wealth,
as much for their meat as for their wool,
and the many small units helped to make
up the grand total of thirty millions.
The same result would be brought about
in this country if every farmer would
follow the example of those across the
water and keep what sheep he could well
care for. Not many would engage in
sheep raising on a large scale although
under present conditions it must be prof.
liable.