El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1918-01-26
Livery <1AcIICH 1\equAeS
Woolfronn 20 Sheep Each Year for Clothing s Frank
Shortage Supply Sheep Industry
100000 Are Needed the United Supply the Demand

head. This vas Samuel McCaughey
! who at that time owned more sheer
than any other man in the world. He
had a round -1iIlion and some of his
flocks cut on the average as much as
p pounds. and at one shearing ne
| sold a million and a quarter pounds
! Of wool. saw one Of his rams at q
] stock show. which had, was told. al
! least IS pounds of wool on il, and al
| the same time saw ewes wearing 50
pound fleeces. When it is remembered
| that eight pounds Is the average estt-
mate of the fleece Of the United States
I as given by our wool experts, II viii
| be seen what these figures mean Nc
I Caughey's $4,000 ram had so much
wool that its ears were entirely hid
den. and the fleece came out three
! inches over its eyes, so that It looked
! out at the world through these two
little holes in its head I stuck my
finger innto the fleece and had to
press my whole fist in berlre I could
reach the skin
During m say IN Australia Mr.. Nc
Caughey gave me some ideas that may
be Of valu~ as TO the increase of our
upbreadinE his flocks. He believed
that tt fleeces of all sheep could be
greatly increased He told me that he
had raised e average output of wool
per sheep in some Of his f1ocEs from
seven pounds to 10. He had as many
easy TO see that an increase of only
two pounds per fleece for that flock
would add 10000 pounds to his clip. Il
we could increase our average fleece
half as much as McCauZhey did, the
new wool created thereby would sup
ply the annual output Of a million SOL
diers and give each OF them every
article mentioned at the first of this
letter.
Urged to Raise More sheep.
The government at Washington IS
urging the farmers TO raise more
sheep and the high prices Of wool and
mutton caused by the war will prob
ably induce many of them 10 go into
this business For ten years before
the war began, wool sold. according to
its character and the market. all the
way from 1s TO 25 cents per pound In
1915 the average price was less than
2S cents, and in midsummer. 1915, II
had risen to % cents. Last year the
average price per pound was just
der % cents and today II is selling
for more than that. Sheep have
trebled in value and there is more
money sheep raising than there
has been at any time in our history
The agricultural experts tell me
that we could easily double our sheep
population They say there should
be more sheep in New England and
that there are millions Of acres OF
SUI AdU4E 4dlu II the y E1N y AECn SlAO4AtA
be occupied by them Moreover, the
present day labor conditions, are such
as 70 encourage the business. as com
paratively few men are needed in con-
nection with il.
Not only the department OF agricul-
ture. but several patriotic wool ssso-
Citations as well. have organized
movement TO increase our product o.
mutton and wool. Among the latter
are the National Sheep and Wool bu-
reau and the More-Sheep-M ore-Wool
association OF the United States.
These are composed Of wool dealers.
textile manufacturers. bankers with
the packers TO give US more wool and
more meat Secretary Houston has
sheep specialists who are travelling
over the country lecturing to the
farmers on sheep husbandry, and he
is planning TO organize boy and girl
sheep clubs as part OF the extension
farm movement Of every state. He is
especially anxious to increase the
flocks in New York and New England
and also in West Virginia, North
Carolina. Texas and Michigan.
Exhibits to Boost Industry.
The wool experts are also sending