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JAMES, Ph.D., Editor. oY Go ee ee OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFE BY WILLIAM DRAPER LEWIS, Fellow of the Wharton School of Finance and Economy, University of Pennsylvania. . / 9 of ) W PHILADELPHIA. 1890. PUBLISHED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF PA. PRESS CO. For Sale by P. S. King and Son, Parliamentary Booksellers, 5 King St., Westminster, S. W. London. on™ Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1891, by | WILLIAM DRAPER LEWIS, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. THE principal object of this work is to investigate the present condition and future possibilities of the wool and mutton industry of the United States, with a view to ascertaining the advisability of continuing our present tariff on raw wool. Asa preliminary to this investiga- tion, I have tried to place before the reader the economic basis on which rests the theory of protection, and also to point out the cause of our present agricultural depres- sion. | It gives me pleasure to take this opportunity to thank Prof. Simon N. Patten, of the University of Pennsyl- vania, for his careful review and judicious criticism of the work. I also desire to thank all who have assisted me in the collection of my facts. ‘Ihe number of those who spent time and pains in answering my very numerous letters and questions prevents me from mentioning individual names. I fully realize, however, that any merit which the last five chapters of this book may possess is due to the kindness shown to me by those who are actually engaged in raising sheep or in handling wool. ( iii ) CONTENTS. PAGE CHAPTER I. Ra ER UE ED ot been a fats) alter ie, iw Aiailiah te ie, Sai tect LW Vow ows wh fan elie tue CHAPTER II. WHEAT AND CLOTHES, OR THE CAUSE OF AGRICULTURAL DE- ra eee Ae Te ee OMI) ok aah wm) hl one ce tel ay we Se CHAPTER III. eee ae EEE RU UNOMIS Lay cd Hw wie) at Mal wie ali aloe Gas ealmanan Mee CHAPTER IV. SHEEP RAISING IN THE UNITED STATES « . 20 os oe we ew oe OF CHAPTER V. THE DuTyY ON RAW WOOL, AND OUR IMPORTS FROM FOREIGN RaEMEES che sos wate be. <.'e stein ars mb riat te Ler a4 wd at he Soak he Adel . CHAPTER VI. THE Cost AND PRoFIT oF RAISING SHEEP IN THE DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE UNITED STATES AND IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES. IOI CHAPTER VII. ere OO OF THE TRUSTE VY 6a a ois ee se 08a! oe) o's! 'o E29 APPENDIX. ee See IRs OF VANS TRALIA ws) als eos ets a ole 6 yeh as ESI (v) QUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. CHAPTER. I. THE TARIFF. FREE-TRADE or protection? ‘This is the present Alpha and Omega of political controversy. ‘'rue, the word ‘‘free-trade’’ is more or less avoided by many of its disciples. They prefer to be called ‘‘ Tariff Reform- ers,’’? or announce themselves in favor of a ‘‘tariff for revenue only.’’ But the rival principles of free-trade and protection lie at the bottom of every argument. ‘‘Revenue Reformers’’ regard the Tariff as only a tem- porary expedient—a nursery for ‘‘infant industries;”’ while none of those who advocate ‘‘a tariff for revenue only,’’ at heart regard a tax on imports as an economi- cal method of defraying the expenses of the govern- ment. . It is not my purpose to discuss the general subject of import duties. Sydney Smith said of Bishop Berkeley, that he had “.. . . . destroyed the world in one volume octavo;’’ but it would have required, even from a Ber- keley, a far greater expenditure of pen and ink to thor- oughly discuss the tariff. I shall therefore confine myself to one portion of the field, namely: Zhe Tariff on Wool. It is necessary, however, to first dispose of a prelimi- nary question. If the theory of free-trade is correct, all impost duties are necessarily bad; and it will be useless to investigate the actual conditions of any industry, ex- (7) ¢ 8 OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. cept to furnish an example of the truth of our conclu- sions. On the other hand, if there are circumstances in which a tariff will be beneficial to a nation, it will be necessary to determine, by an examination of facts, whether our present situation warrants us in protecting the wool-grower. A purely theoretic study of economic questions is of doubtful ultility, but, nevertheless, the practical must be preceded and combined with the theo- retical, before we can expect useful results. In the present case this combination is unusually easy; for though the theoretical part of many tariff discussions has been confused by much useless disputation, the two lines of argument, one taken by the free trader and the other by the protectionist, are in reality very simple. Basiat, in his entertaining little work on ‘‘Sophism of Protection,’’ has placed the theoretic basis of free- trade in its clearest and best light. The idea which lies at the foundation of his argument, as at the foundation of free-trade thought generally, is that a reduction in the price of any commodity is always beneficial to a people. No one will care to dispute that a general reduction in prices would be advantageous, provided wages remained the same; but it is the idea that a fall in the price of any single commodity is necessarily a good to the whole country which is pe- culiar to the free-trader. He thus makes cheapness the criterion of efficient production. To defend this posi- tion each commodity is taken up in turn. Man is re- garded as first demanding article A. As a consumer of A it is desirable that he should buy A as cheaply as possible. Then some other commodity is taken, and the same line of reasoning is adopted with a similar re- sult; while from the whole, it is concluded that a tariff on any article, which tends, temporarily at least, to raise its selling price, is always and necessarily bad. To be of any value in this connection the proposition OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. 9 ‘‘cheapness is always desirable,’? must be universal. It must not simply hold under certain conditions; for then the doctrine of free-trade, which rests on it, will cease to be applicable to all countries at all times. The proposition itself rests, as we have shown, on a method of reasoning which separates each commodity, and the desire for it, from all other desires and commodities; treating each in turn as if it alone existed, and apply- ing the law deduced from such an examination to a world where men seek simultaneously a great variety of organic and inorganic substances. Let us on our part turn to the world as actually con- stituted. We find the laborers, apart from those doing purely intellectual work, engaged either in agriculture or manufacturing. I use these terms in their broadest sense. By ‘‘agriculture’’ I mean any industry in which land is a necessary element of production; and under the term ‘‘manufacture’’ include all other occupations. * An increase in the demand for manufactured articles has no permanent effect in raising the price. Four men can attend to twice as many looms as two. If twenty men can turn out forty yards of cloth in a day, forty men, with twice as much machinery, can make eighty yards, or even more, if the increase in numbers makes possible more efficient organization of labor. But whether any slight increase in the return per man will take place or not, the point I wish to emphasize is this, that an increase in the demand for manufactured com- * The reader may find a full discussion of land and its rent, which forms the basis of this discussion, in the following works: Ricardo, Principles of Pol. Econ. and Taxation, Chap. II; James Mill, Ele- ments of Pol. Econ., p. 17; McCulloch, Principles of Pol. Econ., Part III., Sect. V.; J. S. Mill, Principles of Pol. Econ., Book II., Chap. XVI.; Fawcett, Mariual of Pol. Econ., Book II., Chap. III.; Jevons, Theory of Pol. Econ., Chap. VI.; Walker, Pol. Econ., Part IV., Chap. II.; Patten, Premises of Pol. Econ., Chaps. I. and IL. ; George, Progress and Poverty, Book II., Chap. II. Io OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. modities will not be followed by a permanent rise in prices. In agriculture it is different. Each acre of land has its limit of productive capacity. Skill and labor can add to the total product, but there is a point beyond which no more can be produced. You may grow a stalk of wheat on every square inch of ground, but you cannot grow two stalks in the same place. Again, if you double the amount of labor on an acre, while you may and probably will increase your product, you may not double it. Ttwo men working in a field may raise more than if one man worked alone, but the proportion that each receives may be less than the amount he could raise working by himself. What is true of each field taken separately is true of the country, as a whole. When there is only a small amount of a commodity raised, then an increase in the demand for it, attracting capital towards the industry, may open new sections of the country, and ultimately increase, not only the amount produced, but the propor- tional return per man, z. e., the return measured by the total labor expended, and the total result. On the other hand, if much land is already devoted to the production of some one product, an increase in the demand will cause lands less favorable for its cultivation to be util- ized. Production becoming more difficult, the ‘‘ propor- tional return’’ will be less than before. ‘The increased labor will not meet with a like increase in reward. When the cultivation of any commodity in the country has been carried to this extent, then it is said that the point of diminishing returns for that commodity has been reached. If after this more of the commodity is produced in response toa greater demand, the average effort required to produce a unit quantity of the com- modity is greater than before. Such an increase would naturally lead us to expect an increase inits price. But OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. II the actual effect on the price is even greater than we might at first anticipate. Thus suppose it takes 2,000,- ooo laborers working for two months to raise 200,000,000 Ibs! of tobacco. The demand increases. If the point of diminishing returns for tobacco has been passed, the increase in the product has to be secured by growing tobacco on land less suited to its cultivation. The differ- ence between the average cost of production on the old and new tobacco lands will depend in each case on the physical conditions of the country. We may suppose that it will now take 2,500,000 men, working for two months to raise 240,000,000 lbs. of tobacco; the 40,000,000 lbs. representing the increase in the amount of the demand. If tobacco were grown by a co-operative association, each worker would receive 96 pounds of tobacco, instead of the 100 lbs. which he received before the increase in the demand necessitated a resort to poorer tobacco soils. But tobacco, or any other commodity, is not grown on a co-operative plan. Each man cultivates his own land, or the land he has rented, and no two acres are exactly alike. Every pound of tobacco is thus grown under different conditions, and has a different cost of produc- tion. At any one time, however, for similar grades, there is but one price; and this price which rules each single article of the product must be high enough to repay the labor expended on that portion raised under the most unfavorable conditions. Men will not long continue to produce any commodity at a loss. If prices do not warrant growing a certain product on some of the land now utilized for its cultivation, those lands will cease to be used. Agricultural prices then are not gov- erned by the total effort required to raise the entire pro- duct; but by the cost of production of that portion of each commodity grown on the poorest land. The poor- est land used for the cultivation of each commodity is often spoken of as the present margin for its cultiva- I2 OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. tion. In our illustration the increase in price per pound of tobacco may be much more than four per cent., which represents the average decrease in the return for each man’s labor, if tobacco was raised on the cooperative plan. ‘The rise in price is represented by the difference between the poorest tobacco lands utilized for tobacco, before the increase in the demand and that used after such increase. ‘The difference depends upon the change in the amount of the demand and the physical condi- tions of the country. It may be five, ten, or, if all the lands in any degree suitable for tobacco have already been utilized for the production of that commodity, even twenty or thirty in exceptional cases. Not only does the increase in the demand for an agricultural product, if the point of diminishing returns for its cultivation has been passed, raise the cost of the product to the consumer; but it has a bad effect on the distribution of wealth. ‘That portion of the wealth of the community which goes to the owner of land for the use of the natural properties of the soil, is called rent. I use the term in a restricted sense, and do not include the return from the price paid for houses and barns, but simply the price which is paid for the fertility of the soil, or on account of the land’s desirable position. Let us see how the excessive demand for some one product affects this kind of rent. ‘The price for any commodity being regulated by the cost of that portion which is grown under the most unfavorable conditions, or in other words on the margin for its cultivation, the differ- ence between the price and cost of production of the commodity on lands well suited for its cultivation is often very great. If the poorest land ultilized for wheat yielded ten bushels to the acre, one who happened to own land which could produce fifteen bushels per acre could de- mand five bushels of each crop from the person who OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. 13 desired to lease it from him. Any increase in the price of wheat would not benefit the tenant; it would simply compel him to pay the owner so much morerent. ‘That part of the-rent which is due to the land’s capacity for growing wheat, would be equal to the price of wheat per bushel multiplied by the difference between the average number of bushels produced on that land, and the average number of bushels raised on land at the present time on the margin of cultivation for wheat. Thus, with every increase in the demand for wheat, after the point of diminishing returns has been passed, two factors tend to increase the money-rent of wheat lands. The margin for the cultivation of wheat falls; therefore the difference between the amount of wheat which can be raised on any old wheat lands and the lands on the margin for the cultivation of wheat isincreased. But at the same time the price of wheat per bushel has risen; for price is regulated by the cost of production on the margin of cultivation for wheat, and that margin having fallen, the cost of production has become greater. The farmer who rents his land from the owner is not bene- fited, nor is he injured, by a rise in rents. Practically he is always laboring on the margin of cultivation. If he happens to use better soil than his neighbor, he pays a higher rent for the privilege. Thus we perceive that the increase in the price of any agricultural commodity owing to an increase in the de- mand, while it may injure the consumers, does not benefit the farmer as a farmer, but rather tends to create a landed gentry who live not on their own labor or savings, but on those of others; and whose incomes are not due to the efforts of themselves, or their ancestors, but to the fact that they own a piece of ground, which has become a natural monopoly because it is peculiarly adapted to the growing of a certain commodity. Our short investigation has shown us this much con- 14 OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. cerning production: There is a marked contrast between manufactured and agricultural commodities. With the former an increase in the demand has no effect on the price or the distribution of wealth; while with the latter, such an increase may, under certain circumstances, not only have a great and permanent effect on the price, but, by increasing rent, may tend to cause an unequal distri- bution of wealth. The key to the problems which surround the subject of foreign trade, as also the refuta- tion of the proposition that the cheapness of any com- modity is always beneficial, lies in a recognition of the fundamental distinction between the effects of increased demand on the prices of agricultural and manufactured commodities. Remembering this distinction, let us take the follow- ing illustration of the possible effect of a tariff on all clothing. | Suppose we have two countries ‘‘A”’ and “B.”? In ‘A? the money rate of wages is one dollar per day; in ‘“B for the same work, eighty cents. The high rate of money wages in the first country we may suppose to be the result of social or political causes. We can look upon ‘‘A’’ as a young country where many new pro- jects are being constantly started, and consequently, where the demand for labor is greater than the supply. In ‘‘A?’ we may imagine that wheat and agricultural products are one dollar per bushel. In the second country, in spite of the lower rate of wages, on account of the poorer quality or limited quantity and therefore higher price of the land, the price of wheat is one dollar and ten cents per bushel.* * The land actually planted in wheat or other agricultural products in the country where the wages are comparatively low, need not necessarily be poorer in order to make the price higher than in the country where the money rate of wages is high. The wages in the United States, for example, are higher than in England, although the OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. I5 If trade is unrestricted, the industries of country ‘‘A’’ will be mainly agricultural. Breadstuffs will be ex- ported, and in exchange manufactured products will be imported. Manufacturing in this country will be ata serious disadvantage, for the same work is performed for twenty-five cents less in country ‘‘B.’’ A protective policy is adopted, a duty of thirty per cent. being laid on all cloths. It soon becomes cheaper to manufacture than to import. Clothes will now be made at home. Many laborers will leave agriculture and drift toward manufacturing pursuits. The production of food will fall off by the amount of agricultural commodities form- etly exported; for those who formerly labored to produce the agricultural commodities desired by the foreign nation, in order to pay for the imported manufactured articles, will themselves be employed in manufacturing those articles. If now money wages remain the same, and the purchasing power of a dollar is increased, then certainly the tariff.is beneficial. By the purchasing power of a dollar I mean its power to buy the things we want in the relative proportion in which we desire them. The price of silk, for instance, has no effect on the pur- chasing power of a dollar to the day laborer. In order to see whether a certain course is beneficial, we must not only know its effect upon prices, but also the ways in which persons of average means spend their money. The way in which the American living on less than one thousand dollars per year spends his income is as fol- lows:* average yield of wheat per acre in the counties of England is from 24 to 28 bushels; while in our States it is only from 12 to 16 bushels. The price of wheat is higher in London, however, than in New York, because England cannot raise all the wheat she demands, and there- fore must import from us and from other countries. * Wright, Comparative Wages and Prices. The Sixteenth Annual Report of the Massachusetts Bureau of Statistics and Labor. 16 OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. Bubsistence ¢ w «ss. de era eet 8 OR Ae oe 51.76 per cent. fee A en a ee mee ae nie ee eee pe WAL Gee a 12.32 Mire eS. Tee ie |: fa Cale oat le kt Mwee ook er a a 16.20 . ES co cs ue 0.28 8 a eel Weta cate ede a oe ek 5.10 “i Bieteetes ok aa Bela Ceca e et ere le ee me 15.57 ts 100.00 Taking these figures for country ‘‘A’’ and assuming that the duty raises the cost of clothing 30 per cent., then the tariff has increased the cost of living 30 per cent. of 12.32 per cent. or 4.896 per cent. But the same laborers spend 51.76 per cent. of their income for food. ‘The tariff, however, has decreased the demand for the agricultural products, formerly exported. If the country has previously passed the point of diminishing returns for these products, the poorest lands utilized for their cultivation after the adoption of the protective policy, will be much better than the poorest land for- merly used for their production. As before stated, the poorest land in ‘“‘A’’ used for the production of agri- cultural commodities regulates their selling price. Therefore the extent of the reduction in the cost of food in country ‘A,’ owing to the duty on manufactured articles, will depend upon the difference between the poorest lands used for the production of the agricultural commodities exported while the free-trade policy con- tinued, and the poorest land used for the production of the same commodities after the adoption of the policy of protection. "The physical conditions of the country may be such that there is no difference. Then, as far as our argument has gone, there would be no compen- sation for the increase in the cost of manufactured arti- cles. But can we say a priorz that the physical condi- tions of any country are necessarily such that the result will not be a great fall in the price of agricultural pro- ducts? If meat, bread, etc., fall ten per cent., the cost of living would be reduced 5.17 percent. Then in spite OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. 17 of the increase of 30 per cent. in clothing, a dollar will buy more than before the adoption of the protective policy. By supposing an alteration in the conditions, we can increase or diminish the benefits of protection. I do not claim that the foregoing illustration proves that protection to manufactured articles is a good thing for all countries at all times, or that protection is the proper policy for the United States. But I do contend that it shows we cannot say with the free-trader, ‘‘ Pro- tection is always and necessarily bad.’’. The advisa- bility of impost duties depends upon circumstances. The foregoing idea might be formulated somewhat as follows: Prop. 1, A. Under certain circumstances a system of protection to a large class of manufactured commod- ates, by decreasing the number of agricultural laborers, raising the margin of cultivation, and reducing the cost of agricultural produce, will increase the purchasing power of a dollar. This argument, which supports, under certain cir- cumstances, a general system of protection to manufac- tures, can also be used to show the evil, under similar conditions, of a general system of protection to agricul- tural products. ‘To force a portion of the population into manufactories, will not raise the cost of manufac- tured commodities, and may greatly diminish the cost of food. But if the point of diminishing returns for many agricultural products has already been passed, to drive numbers from manufacturing into agriculture, by placing duties on all farm products, will certainly fa 1 to reduce the price of manufactured articles, and will greatly increase the cost of food. and raw material. Thus, Prop. 1, A, when applied to agriculture will read: Prop. 1, B. Under certain circumstances, a general system of protection to agricultural produce, by decreasing the number of laborers in the maniufactories, may lower 2 18 OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. the margin of cultivation, and thereby increase the cost of food and raw material, while the cost of manufactured commoadrites will not be reduced. The ‘‘circumstances’’ which will make a general pro- tection to manufactured articles result in an increase of the productive power of a nation, and the purchasing power of a dollar, are not confined to cases where the nation has passed the point of diminishing returns for nearly all the products of agriculture. In fact, if a nation must wait until the points of diminishing returns have been passed for nearly all the possible products of the land, before laying duties on manufactured articles, a protective policy will never be adopted. It is rather the wrong use of land, than the excess of agricultural labor, that is prevented by a judicious tariff. The high price that foreign nations are willing to pay for some one product, causes it to be cultivated to the exclusion of others better adapted to a large portion of the soil. We doubt if there is a country in the world where one can say there are too many agricultural laborers; but if we had free-trade in the United States, there probably would be too many farmers producing wheat. Generally the reduction of the number of workers in agriculture is beneficial, only because the reduction takes place along those lines where foreign demand will cause excessive production. Prop. 1, B, deals with a general tariff on agricultural products. Such a tariff would be unwise, as the old corn laws of England abundantly testify. But, unfer some conditions, the same argument might be used to defend protection to a single agricultural commodity. Take a country which exports one agricultural product, such as corn, to pay a large part of her international debt. Suppose that the point of diminishing returns for corn has been passed, but in spite of this fact, the country can sell corn much cheaper than its foreign OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. 19 rival. The foreign country, however, can produce potatoes at so low a cost, on account of its social condi- tions, or because of the peculiar adaptability of the land to potatoes, that it is impossible to raise them profitably in the corn-growing country. The point of diminishing returns for potatoes in the home country has not been reached, for there are practically no potatoes grown. The only reason why potatoes are not raised, is because they can be produced more cheaply in the foreign coun- try. ise we 4 4 ’ By ya!) Hn ae Some = A mile her Aw role cinigtihes mh Pw yg ow th A ae Va r wat * v wy) Ys i 2 ie ' | TABLE IL—PART I. SHOWING THE NUMBER OF SHEEP IN EACH STATE AND TERRITORY OF THE UNITED STATES FROM 1840 TO 1890 INCLUSIVE. | ) 138 — ScaLe: I inch = 400,000. | Aver- Aver- | ie age 1890. Number of| #8© | Number of! num- | g 3 Sh Ibs. en é ber of ep. i | g 3 3 3 8 jeep. Wool | s. of wool Westy g 8 3 3 1890. | per | in the dirt. | wool | = = oa Ga) + | fleece, | | per | fess ol ee eomeet 2) 3, 4) 5 6 7 8 9 nA a eS GB Tzmesnd ls OUR SiG) | fiSee2 IF 7 =) | §20,000) 5.5 2,860,000} 190,000) 6, | = == —SS SSS = SS —— at 2 6.25 | 5. | = 75 5 | 5 500,000] 7 eS = ————— 3,605,097) 6.275 SS SS 950,000) 5 663,723) 5-5 2,000,000) 5 SSS 1,000,000} 6, | — = 700,000) 6.5 } ——————— — 1,000,000! 6. —— 425,000) 6 a 1,200,000} 6,25 =s* 1,000,000} 5.5 = = - — — = 2,256,226) 5 \, a = — == = = 4,000,000) 2.5 —— ——— — 4,000,00 5 = = — : 4,000,000] 6.25 105,000) 3.5 | 225,000) 3.5 400,000) 3.5 | $1 3.5 5 ) 1.9 485,000) 2.5 3,500,000} 2.4 22,982,493} 4,750,000] 2.72 | 650,476) 2.72 10,500,000) » 6,000,000) 2.7 1,350,000] 2. 1,250,000) 2.7 1,560,000) 2.4 5,180,000) 2.54 | 5,000,000) 2.8 2.8 J00,000) 2.8 6,000,000] 3 2,550,000) 3: | 75 2.4 5,500,000) 2.4 11,845,186] 2.1 4,000,000] 2.1 2,025,000] 1.4 10,000,000] 1 | 297 1.25 | | 341,000] 1.45 | £,452,500| 1.45 | >-400,000| 1.6 | 2,4 1 | 2 2304] 2,681,544) 2 60,000} 1.25 Number of Ibs. of Scoured Wool. 148,500 60,000 137,500 4,200,000 2,400,000 55,000 540,000 624,000 2,540,00C 1,960,000 7,560,000 3,000,000 945,000 9,000,000 12,600,000 100,161,430 OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. 67 The bulk of the clip of the United States is shipped to Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, New York, St. Louis, and San Francisco. ‘These cities rank as wool centres in the order named. Whenever it is possible to obtain what he considers a good price, the grower sells on his farm or ranch to the buyers from the wool centres. In this way most of the wool of the Eastern States is sold on the farm. In the West, however, it is usually shipped East by the raiser. In New England the large majority of the wool is sold directly to local manufac- turers. The wool grown in the old Southern States is also mainly consumed by local mills. Except in the West the market for mutton is not con- fined to the large cities. In New England, New York and Pennsylvania more sheep are taken by the local markets than are shipped to the centres of population. The same is true of the States of the Ohio Valley. The sheep of Virginia and Maryland are sent to Baltimore and Philadelphia. The sheep of the South are also largely taken by local markets, except in southern South Carolina and in southern Mississippi, where they are shipped to the markets of Savannah and New Orleans respectively. East of the Mississippi the proportion of sheep killed for mutton now includes nearly all the wethers and about thirty to fifty per cent. of the ewes, a rate which, if no contagious disease prevails, keeps the numbers of the flock about stationary. In the far West the mortality among sheep is greater, and the desire being to increase the size of the flocks, few of the ewes are killed before they are five years old. Wool is the chief object, so the wethers are also kept as long as the ewes. Every spring in Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Idaho, and Eastern Oregon, large numbers of these old sheep are brought up and driven into Kansas and Nebraska, where they are fattened on cheap corn, and in the winter and spring shipped by rail to St. 68 OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. Louis, Chicago and eastern markets. It is calculated by Mr. Prince, of Idaho, that one hundred and fifty thou- sand sheep on their way from Oregon to Nebraska, yearly pass over the trail which runs near Boise City. A few sheep are shipped all the way by rail, but the rates are very high. From Boise City to Chicago the rate amounts to about 87 cents per head, and from Colorado about 50 cents. From Austin, Texas, and Helena, Montana, to Chicago, the rate is also 87 cents. ‘These statements are the results of calculations based on the authority of the tariffs published for double-deck cars, as from points west of Kansas the rates per head are not given. Single-deck cars are forty per cent. less per car, or about twenty per cent. more per sheep. The railroads, it is charged, re- fuse to supply double-deck cars, or permit shippers to put in the decks. Therefore it has been found that the practice of driving sheep into Kansas and Nebraska is more profitable, though the long distance the animals have to travel, and the uncertainty of the climate and rainfall of the latter states, introduces a very large ele- ment of risk. When the wool reaches the market it comes in com- petition with foreign importations. It is argued that Americans and foreigners do not produce under similar circumstances, and that the American wool-grower labors under great disadvantages. ‘These disadvantages are ustially classed under two heads: our climate, and the dearness of our labor. Before dealing with climate and cost, and in order to give us a better idea of the present conditions under which sheep are raised, I desire to speak of some other drawbacks to the industry in our country which are not generally known. The first of these difficulties is the lack of uniform and standard grades of wool. ‘The grading in the Philadel- phia market, for instance, is a territorial division rather than one based on any intrinsic distinctions. ‘The wools STATES Maine New Ham Vermont . Massachu: Rhode Islz Connectic1 New York New Jerse Pennsylva Delaware Maryland West Virg HIG.) Indiana. Illinois . Michigan Wisconsit Minnesot: Iowa .. North an Missouri Montana Washingt Oregon. Kansas . Nebraska Wyoming Colorado Vink .. Nevada . Arizona New Mex Texas. . Californiz Louisiané Mississip Alabama Georgia. Florida . South Ca North Ca Virginia Kentucky ‘Tennesse Idaho. . Arkansas another method of grading wool. “Lne wool from the tee noo ote ~~ ay &: —- : 1S as Ut ct iA eB m6 ee ee ae TATES AND TERRITORIES. ewe ip a eee ‘Hampshire HONG . 2 ss sachusetts . je Island. . iecticut .. 2/40) Jersey... yinnis. mee “el a ee aS hoe Par ee Ue a es ae re A ee a ee «a 6 wve @ '@ Cin)» ene es « v6 (> oF et ene OY aS wae oe le ee en As ge ee ay OS th Carolina th Carolina finia *. . * No sheep before this date. TABLE III.—Parrt II. + Indicates that much of the wool is either a very low grade of clothing wool or carpe D yy A y x cs) y a 3 E Ho et 3 Ee ape se oe q |The Ravages of Dogs: be = e 5 cg | af | ef joe] 6 |8ee| Ne) Reifel aa). 4 * Be Eo | ar z par |See|oes| 28 | ES | bs £ & ae, RS ral exo] S80] Sole ll : ES 3 E 5 Be ae 1k e SRS) ER) SRS a. | Be | Be g = a A z B Sac): Fel eae] A go] B - a BG a3 le 2 eo le atl eel et ke poe 2, 2. es we - (es Ps >Bol! Qnl: Fal: || > Se -@ 5 5 Rg 9 i x le = eae ie | = | : 8 2 28 a are 3 ary ao ar pe ‘3 5 “2 aa: } S "FO/}' SO]: Sols di - = ‘ g& P . = . 5 . ey . 33 . oR 5 z 33 © 8 t Aad f ‘al S ° a Say See : -§2)°9R)-5a)/- 21 . eB .B ° A “7 * 99 e fe . oS a "aa a g . % 2 BQ ‘ & 649,264—'40| _ 434,666 % .40 #50 #.25 % blood. #.30 | #.35 | #.30 | #0 0 15, 611,490—'40| Present. 40 50, | a0 Full blood. "50 | S| eee ne ae 1,681,819—’40| Present. -40 +50 -I8 | Southdown cross, 40 | .40 “35 | 08 .03 11,105 378,226—'40| Present: -95 -95 .O1 « os aS i -_ 58 15 | .05 L037 1,900 90,146—'40|_ Present. .60 -75 +05 “sy 25 “55 15 | .05 04 480 403,462—’40| Present. .60 -75 -O1 Mixed. +25 55 15 .05 .05 2,919 5,118,777—’40| 1,440,000—’75 -25 -40 ae % blood. SS | +32 .06 :07 0 40,000 219,285—’40| Present. All mixed.! All mixed.| .25 Mixed. 25 .50 20 | .05 ‘10 9,700 1,822,357—’50| Present. -10 +25 15 ¥% blood. | .60 27 06 07 02 20,000 39,247—'40 18,856—’60| All mixed.| All mixed.| .30 Mixed. 25 .50 +20 .05 .05 1,100 227,922—’40| 129,697—'70 -90 «90 > ane a +25 .50 .20 05 04 6,000 684,925—’53| Present. -I0 -20 ‘ i: Se 60 2s +10 05 | 02 10,000 5,050,541—’83| 2,028,401—’4o 15 +20 : ¥% to full blood. .60 25 05 0 | 016 58,232 1,300,000—'75| 675,982—’40 20 .40 % blood. .25 .40 15 .20 || 0463 57,700 568,286—’70| 395,672—’40 -20 +50 y a | «55 10 15 | .20 | 04 26,548 3,450,000—’ 76 99,000—’ 40 10 “15 ake. | whe 37 32 14 15 or 20,000 1,363,677—’83 80,—'50* 125 -50 Tas ae »* .20 55 .05 .20 or 10,000 313,650—’ 81) 80,—’50*! 15 .50 ats - ie 20, 55 05 .20 or 2,700 1,697,900—’75) 15,354—'40) 15 -50 i ee ow 20 55 .05 .20 0078 1,595 Present 31,595—,80 25 .50 ~—- 2 Shropshire 30 il) — ae .10 .20 ese a 1,619,931—’81| 348,048—’ 40 15 30 ane \% blood 40-1". eae .30 10 80,000 Present. TRAM etext eae 05 a %m 50 | .30 10 | 10 rer fee Present. 10,157—"60|. . . ... 15 es os .50 35 | 05 | 10 |}. i eye Present. 15,382—’70). ..... 15 vptt Coe -50 35 05 | IO |I. CaN) ds ede 4 1,206,297—’84 17;569—'60|'. . . + 2 @ .10 aynl (We | .25 .60 15 eel es 448,673—’ 86 2,355—60|. . ..s - 10 ae % * | +35, | .60 IS” Veeeawiees a ee Present. BGR Ss My ee ruitsl s here JNehs % | .33%4| .33%| .33K]-- -|/- ' a da Present or ’83 ARR hie geet orenas (feveitay. se ta .12 ae War aa .40 27 |e ee a slit) COR Mee Present. A | Wain cate Med eke arn scar ail a5 «Ae | 35 “55 a ee | a Pers eer cr Present. ley Peed opal [aaa ee LAist LAr 40 me | 25 | 55 -20 selle ood € pang Present. $04,—I7awl Pa, sah eile ote a mene eee i foes. .40 y CM es | ee 5,410,944—'S85, Td Ray Bee ae lice eee 75 Scrub | 5 | 35. | «$0 “)epe wile ei ase f 7;877,500—'83| 100,530—so" . ee \ Tad i) eS % blood. 40 oe AS 0 se i = oa , 7,646,800—’80| _17,574—'50*}. . ..- -[- 2 ee »| .20 y to ‘4 blood. .40 35 25 |e eile Pee ; ‘8,400 181,253—'60! 62, Mga int Seetee eld eheta ae kee Scrub. en 25 | .75t|-+- ; 92,500 352\632—"60) 128,367—’40|. . . ss eles ss .90 e ae .20 Sot |... — 000 371,880—’50 16, 243— "400 6 2 os] oe ee -95 | a .20 | Bot |... - a 8,000 §60,435—'50| 267,107—’40|}. . . . . w]e 2 ee ee .96 | De .20 Sof |. +- - 21.250 102, 100—'83 9193—"A0] wa, '2 scauesliee oe 80 . «| 220° | GSOpianeee - 7/840 285,551—’s50' Present. ‘ha vee te. eee .66 rs ea” .30 JOT | + @ ‘oT 29,050 595:249—'50|. 275,000—75): 2. 2 2 w]e eke we 66 ae .05 .30 65t 1+ ++ “ 24,000 1,310,004—'50) — 356,400—'76 .95 .95 80 | Low gtadeCross.' 20 40 ya Ce | ee 85,000 1,020,996—'’S1|_ 683,600—’76. . . 2... Sra Me lee %, blood. EM) Me SOF les ei ee 50,000 858,500—'81] 326,500—'75|. . 2. 5 a ee Scrub. é i= rill Cates || ee Present Th (gene, ai tee Pee y blood. yaad By / 26 ese i a 19,390 296,435—'St! 42, 15I—"g0). - 2 Pe ec ae Scrub. | .t0 -65 25f Ia ee 716, t wool. Paro td onl or) oe MB Ch ee 1 { é pa k r « a gt OR » ~~ spt @>- ss = - seas pe a rn ae . * * al a4 , - . ’ ser an : or +: 2 ie = : ae Letina par a he eta : <= A “_- iti ALN a a ‘= ‘ “- a pak > i ‘ ad Saat SY a: fs het Baa ye BE ie OO ek i } y ¥. Lead x ; ‘ - ; ' Fags SS = ; eT kote vt LS iach aren & “i W rane Pict Sass Seth moult atin ==" ee a A - : * os « - . 2 ie ~ ee etch arenas ee ee] x ae oe $5 ad ‘eS * ee . astetad is —at ar va f yr ‘ oes ee ety a . ; r i { “Th 4 ‘ , ie i) 7 * ity. rhea eaten is) ae Ae *® * ; 1% “ke we" | ~ : ‘ : <. hay de.) oer fre Pilly sats % ty ; ‘ 44 ala ie te, 5 el - 7 “¥ ¢ yy ’ oo we he af - s4 E Tits. F ay “ar eoe wy, | os = , ie r ene) a hud ; swted aoe fara im a8 oihg Lge ut & { PE de Ary fe hy ie . ‘yd , as ores, < i ‘ - < ’ 7 * Se ee ee ae ee 4 ee Bias ’ 3 ¥ “ 5 ue - , 1 . “4 ) eA 2 ' ee a | . Ser ay, ig e an’ Sh EPs : has one y = et a i a bet j ti, Ca ea itn et 2 u ¥ y ee eee OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. 69 from Ohio, Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia, are first distinguished by the States in which they are grown. ‘They are also divided into clothing and comb- ing wools. The latter, about one-fourth of the entire clip, has nothing in common with the long-combing wool of the Lincoln and Cotswold, but is the Delaine combing wool, grown, as before explained, on the De- ' laine merino sheep. ‘The grades above medium clothing, or delaine wools, are known as fine, fine X, XX, etc.; those below as coarse one-fourth blood. ‘The majority of the wool from the States nientioned reaches the mar- .ket in the dirt, or unwashed state. A larger proportion of the wool from this section, however, is washed than from any other part of the country. In Pennsylvania and Ohio the wool is sometimes washed on the sheep’s back. ‘This operation is usually performed by dipping the animal into a running stream—a barbarous practice, as nothing is more injurious to sheep than to become thoroughly wet; besides, the wool when it reaches the market is frequently known as unmerchantable, z. e., poorly washed, and brings but little higher than un- washed wool. The wools west of the Mississippi river are usually called Territories. ‘There is no Delaine, and now very little carpet wool from this section. The greater part is medium clothing. ‘Ihe wool from each State and Ter- ritory is graded as fine, fine X, XX, and above; fine, med- ium, common, and coarse. ‘The ram’s wool in which there is a large quantity of dirt and grease is known by the further appellation of heavy. ‘The proportion of the fleeces from the different States which would be graded above and below medium, is given in Table III. There are no statistics on the subject, and the figures must not be regarded as more than the expression of opinions of experienced dealers and breeders. In Boston there ‘s another method of grading wool. The wool from the 70 OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. Middle States, Ohio and Michigan, is graded as XX Picklock, XX, X, No. 1, No. 2, and Common. X and above is supposed to mean wool of full Merino blood. No. x denotes three-fourths Merino; No. 2, half Merino; and coarse, one-fourth blood and below. ‘The clip of California is sold largely in Boston. As the sheep in that State and Texas are usually shorn twice a year, the clips are known by the further designation of Fall and Spring. ‘The wool from California, especially that from the southern counties, is apt to contain a good many burrs. When not in this condition it is spoken of as een In Chicago the grades are similar to those in the Phil- adelphia markets, except that there are no quotations for wool grown east of Indiana. On the other hand, the wool from the States immediately west and south of Chicago, is sent exclusively to that city. This territorial division of wools makes anything ap- proaching standard grades an impossibility. The wool from Colorado, for instance, is twenty per cent. better to-day than a few years ago. The change in Utah has been even more marked. Arguments from a compari- son of price-lists are thus rendered useless. The repu- tation which a State or Territory has had in the past affects the value of the wool, and discourages attempts to improve the fleece. In Texas, if one ranchman im- proves the character of his sheep, he will obtain little more than the price received by his neighbors, though the buyer will sell the wool at an advance to the manu- facturers. But failure to reward an attempt to improve the fleece is not always the fault of the middle-men. Even the commission merchant cannot sell a consign- ment of wool from Texas as high as a consignment from Pennsylvania or Ohio, though there should be no differ- ence in the quality, character or condition of the fleeces. Thus the old proverb of giving a dog a bad name holds OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. rp good in the wool trade. ‘The more ignorant the popula- tion, and the smaller the scale on which sheep-raising is carried on, the more unequal is the competition between breeder and dealer. In the South, for instance, ask one who still raises sheep in spite of the ravages of curs and blacks, why he does not try to improve the character of the wool, and he will probably point to an instance where such an attempt was made, and the single buyer, who passes yearly through the country purchasing for local mills, refused to pay more for the clip. ven when the clip is sold at auction in the county town, the farm- ers, being ignorant of the value of their product, do not always drive a good bargain. The wool of all ranch sheep varies yearly in the strength and elasticity of the fibre, in the proportion of sand and dirt with which it is mixed, and in the num- ber of kemps or dead hairs it contains. This is due to variations in the climate from year to year. Change in the food, provided the sheep has sufficient nourishment, contrary to the common impression, will have litle or no effect on the quantity or quality of the wool. It has been contended that the fact that Australian sheep were fed on natural grasses all the year round, lent an even- ness to the fibre which could not be obtained where the animals were placed on dry fodder during the winter months. But the careful experiments of Wm. McMur- trie, Ph. D., given in his report on ‘‘ Wool and other Animal Fibre’? published by our Government (1886), indicate that there is no difference in respect to the evenness of the fibre, between the Australian and well- fed Vermont Merino. On the other hand, the slightest diminution in the quantity of nutriment, when the ani- mal has had barely sufficient to keep him in good con- dition, immediately affects the character of the fleece. If the winter is short and mild, and if the spring rains make the summer grasses on the prairie thicker than 72 OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. usua:, the wool will be twenty per cent. above the aver- age, the fibre comparatively strong, and the fleece free from dirt. On the other hand, a hard winter and a dry, . hot summer will render the fibre, however fine, useless for any purpose where strength is required. To illus- trate the effect of climate. When the snow is deep, the half-starved animals find with difficulty the white sage bush which forms their main, and in many cases their sole winter diet. The rate of the fibre’s growth is greatly lessened, while the small portion grown is very weak, and at the same time, that which was grown the previous summer and fall, when the animal was better fed, is also affected. The whole fleece is thus filled with kemp. If the summer is hot and dry, the quan- tity of the finely powdered sand, which weights the fleece and cuts the wool, is greatly increased. The weakness of the wool from the Territories is not confined to years when the winter has been severe or the summer dry. West of the ninety-ninth parallel, except possibly in Western Oregon and parts of Montana and California, sheep in the best of years never receive suffic- ient nourishment for twelve months together. The way in which sheep are kept in Utah, and the effect of the insufficient nourishment on the fibre, is well brought out in the following, taken from a letter written by Mr. Charles Crane, President of the Utah Wool Growers’ Association, and the largest owner in that Territory: ‘“The sheep when shorn in June have usually an abundance of nutrition, feed, grasses, etc. (This must be taken from a western ranchman’s standpoint.) Hot days, and the sheep being fat, makes the oil or yolk come to the surface of the wool. This continues until the fall, when the feed is dry and the sheep ‘commence to get poor. Cold comes on, and no shelter is afforded them. Snow, rain, sleet, etc., pourdownon them. The sheep get poorer, the wool stops growing, and grows but OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. ke little deiriiig the whole winter. But as soon as green gtass starts up in the spring, up comes the wool, with the nice oil in it to give it life. But the old wool (z e. that which has grown the previous summer), is harsh, brittle, dry and comparatively rotten. Thus when shorn, half of the wool has yolk, while the other half has none. esu/t—a defective staple, weak fibre, etc.” From the above it will be seen that many western fleeces, no matter how fine they may be, could never, unless the sheep receive more care than they do, equal the clips of Australia. The difference in the character of the clip of any State from year to year, renders the necessity for standard grades more imperative than if the quality of the wool was uniform. ‘The manufacturer, not know- ing how much scoured wool he is buying, taking each year the clip of a different ranch, and having to pur- chase with the wool he wants a great deal of wool which he does not need, naturally sees the price is low enough to protect him. On the other hand, the Austra- lian wools have been fine for a number of years. ‘The industry is conducted on such a large scale, that the clip of a station or run is often well known in the London market. ‘Thus the flocks of Sir Samuel Wil- son, or the Ercildown, Mount Bute, Victoria clips, are famous the world over. In England, the agents of manufacturers often buy by the name of the breed or owner, without looking at a sample of the wool. ‘The same thing is true of English wools in this country. One county in England has produced the same wool for years. When the manufacturer buys, he knows as well as any sample could tell him, the character of the pro- duct. To add to the disadvantage under which American wools labor from the lack of standard grades, because of the great variations in the fleeces from year to year, the . 74 OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. wool growers make no attempt to sort the wool. In Southern Africa and Australia the wools are often sorted before shipment. ‘There are always several grades of wool in one fleece. The finest grade is cut from the sides, back and shoulders of the animal; another grade grows on the haunches and breast; a third comes from the belly. Of course, there may be many sub-divisions of the above classification. After sorting, the wool is shipped in sacks or bales, weighing from two hundred toa thousand pounds. ‘Those from Australia are from six to seven hundred pounds in weight, those from Montevideo and other countries of the Rio Plata will run as high as one thousand pounds. ‘The wool from the Cape, having a greater per cent. of yolk, is heavier than the Australian, but the bales are smaller. The average weight last year was between three and four hundred pounds. Bales from the East are very irreg- ular in size, and in the number of pounds of wool. English wool is imported in sacks which will average two hundred and forty pounds a piece. American wool, on the other hand, comes into the market in separate fleeces. Each fleece is rolled into a bundle and tied by a heavy twine. Where foreign wool is imported in separate fleeces, a portion of the animal’s wool is used as a cord, and the fleeces themselves are always placed in sacks. Thus the buyer does not have to pay for twine at its weight in wool. Then too, the fleece is never stuffed, as is almost the invariable practice in this country. Stuffing consists in rolling up in the fleece locks and tags, or broken pieces of wool, together with the soiled buttocks and the fibbs, or short coarse locks from the legs and face. Not infrequently pieces of dirt shaken from the fleeces in clipping are added. The wool growers make a great mistake in thus weighting their wool. Anything which renders the buyer uncer- tain as to the value of what he is purchasing, not only OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. 75, reacts on the selling price, but handicaps the grower in his struggle with foreign competition. Many recognize this. Some have tried to stop the practice, others have attempted to sort their fleeces, but they have met with little success. ‘The dealers refused to pay more for sorted wools. ‘Thus, the few who have tried it, found sorting did not pay. As for stuffing, not to stuff your wool would be like a manufacturer trying to pay his hands twenty per cent. higher than his rivals: unless you have united action on the part of the manufacturers, it cannot be done. Competition, that supposed panacea for all human ills, makes it impossible for a man to be more honest than his neighbor. A bad practice, like bad money, drives out the good. Wool growing is no exception to this rule. ‘To induce the individual wool grower to stop stuffing, one would have to make such a course more profitable. As a matter of fact, it has been found that for one to make a change, results in a loss to him as an individual; for again, as in the case of im- proved wool, the dealer or manufacturer refuses to reward his efforts. This exemplifies a truth uniformly overlooked by the advocates of ‘‘ laissez faire.’’? Competition, it is asserted, causing every one to seek his own interest, will natur- ally produce the least expensive and therefore the best methods of production. Unfortunately, as in the case of stuffing, often an improvement which might be better for all, if all undertook it, would be the ruin of one who singly attempted it. After the fleeces reach the market they are sorted. This may, at first glance, seem to make the grades of wool as quoted more stable than they might appear from — the foregoing discussion. The sorter has in his mind what XX Ohio, or one-half blood Ohio, should be like; and when a fleece from that State is brought to him, he sorts the wool according to his own idea, regardless of 76 OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. the animal from which the wool is clipped. Thusa single fleece may pass into two or more grades. ‘This explains what sometimes puzzles the Western ranchman. He has a flock of sheep which he knows to be one-half blood or medium. He ships the clip to market, and it is graded as one-quarter coarse and two-thirds fine. Now, of course, this would greatly lessen the force of some of my remarks on the variations in the condition of the fleece, if it were not customary for brokers and commission merchants to change the fineness of a par- ticular grade from year to year. Thus ‘fine X and above’’ is said to be graded twenty per cent. higher in Philadelphia this winter (1890) than last year. Dealing in ‘‘futures’’ is therefore an impossibility. If I con- tract to deliver to ‘‘ A’ on the first of June ten thousand pounds of fine X Ohio, and when the date comes I should desire to avoid my bargain, I can practically offer him any wool I choose. He may say that the fleece is not what he ordered. I may reply, it is what I call fine X. Or, if he desires to withdraw, he can refuse to take the wool which I send him, no matter how fine it may be. Hence there never has-been a contract, ‘‘fine woo'”’ being a term varying with every year, in every market, and almost with every dealer. With us then there is an imperative necessity for standard grades. These grades must necessarily be of scoured wool. ‘The difference in the shrinkage, and the variations from year to year of even fleeces from the same ranches, render anything like standard grades of wool in the dirt impossible. A wool exchange has been suggested as a means whereby standard grades could be established. Its practicability the author does not feel himself in a posi- tion to discuss, but every scheme whose object is to bring the wool grower nearer -the manufacturer and which enables the former to appreciate the wants of the latter should be carefully considered. ‘Theoretically OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. 77 there is much to be said in favor of such a project. The present competition between the grower and the middle- man is avery unequal one. The former, shut up on his lonely ranch, knows little of the needs of the market or the prospect of next year’s crop outside of his own State. His sole means of judging of the fairness of the ptice bid for wool is the price he has received in pre- vious years. He knows not when to accept, nor when to refuse an offer. A price one cent higher than in former years may be low, or, on the other hand, a price one cent lower may be high; yet in all probability he will accept the first and refuse the last. ‘The ranchmen now lose all the little advantages of trade which spring from the knowledge of future demand. ‘The cotton ex- change has obviated these difficulties in that industry. A wool exchange, both on account of the smallness and varied nature of the product, will be a much more diffi- cult undertaking ; yet, with our genius for organization, there seems to be little reason why it could not be ac- complished. However, whether a wool exchange, sim- ilar to our cotton exchange, will be beneficial or not, certain it is that the wool growers need a strong, intelli- gent National Association, which will, by united effort, render impossible all such practices as stuffing. The other drawbacks to the success of the industry in America, touch more nearly the actual raising of the sheep themselves. One of these is the ignorance of the average farmer. I do not inclue ranchmen in the term. It seems to be the universal testimony, that those who are at present in the business, for the most part, under- stand it. *This could not have been said a few years ago. Of late, the inexperienced ranchmen have lost capital, and gained experience. At the same time, I do not wish to imply that the American farmer of the Middle and New England States is not far more intelligent than the peasants of Europe, who seem to 78 OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. understand the raising of sheep; but simply that sixty per cent. of our farmers do not know how to keep these animals. To a query addressed to persons in each State, who undoubtedly understand the business, asking whether the farmers in that State used proper care, the answers received stated that forty, fifty, or in Western Pennsylvania, Ohio, and parts of New York, sixty per cent. take good care of their stock; the rest are slovenly. In New Jersey and Southern New England a man who can raise sheep is regarded as having a peculiar gift; just as before the people of Illinois learned how to raise hogs, the neighbors would say of one who was success- ful, ‘‘So-and-so has a knack of raising hogs.’’? In New England, in 1840 and 1850, people knew how to care for sheep. But as the price of land rose and the price of wool fell, raising sheep for wool became unprofitable. Then would have been the time to introduce the mutton breeds. But there were no Federal or State stock farms to sell, at low cost, rams suited to the condition of the people. The fine-wool animal was killed off, and no breed arose to take his place. It is only within the last ten or twelve years that- there has been an effort to in- troduce the Shropshire, Southdown, and other English rams. What took place in Southern New England, Eastern New York, New Jersey and Eastern Pennsyl- vania, thirty-five to forty years ago, is taking place to- day in Western Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan. Now we have Agricultural Experiment Stations in all of these States. The wool growers ask Congress for higher duties, but not a word is said, nor appropriation asked, to conduct stock farms or to carry on experiments in breeding. Small farmers cannot pay high prices for their rams, and good Cotswold or Shrop- shire rams command anywhere from one hundred to five hundred dollars. The number of mutton sheep in the country has largely increased, but they are not, even in OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. 79 New York, Indiana and Illinois, dispersed among small growers as they should be. These, seeing no immediate profit in fine wool, are rapidly killing off their sheep. Thus, the possibility of establishing a great industry, and of adding to the food supply of the nation, is being lost, not because raising sheep for mutton is unprofit- able, but because we are bound down to an a prior? theory, which seems to exclude all breeding experiments within the province of government. It may be objected that without the aid of government we have succeeded in producing remarkably fine horses and the finest hogs in the world. ‘his is true, and an explanation of the reasons why we have succeeded in these two cases, while we have partly failed in the case of sheep, will show the necessity for the State providing fine rams at a moderate cost. ‘Take the case of horses. In the first place, a good horse is easily selected by those who are accustomed to them. Few farmers, it is true, own their own stallions. But a farmer who owns one, seldom has a sufficient number of mares to keep the animal exclusively for his own use. ‘Thus he will make a business of renting him to his neighbors. What would our race of horses be to-day if every farmer had to own his own stallion? But we seldom find one who can afford to own a good ram, who has not sufficient use for him in his own flock. On the other hand, where ou account of the rapidity of multiplication the male is cheap, as in the case of the hog, the intelligence of our farmers has been sufficient to produce wonderful results. Every farmer who raises pigs can afford to possess the best boars. We now have marvellous uniformity in kind, and excellence in quality. A picture of one pig in the Chicago market would do for any other. ‘The ram, however, is not only expensive, but difficult to select. One who knows little of the wool market cannot from the appearance of the animal, as in the case of horses 80 OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. and pigs, or even by weighing the fleece, select the best animal. /Thus in order to diffuse among small farmers a breed of sheep especially fitted for the climatic and economic conditions of the country, two things appear to be necessary: first, long-continued and patient ex- periments, involving a considerable outlay of time and money ; second, willingness to sell rams at a very low cost. ‘This combination is never found outside the gov- ernment Experiment Stations, or government Stock Farms. Concerning the South, and the interest in that section of our country, I shall have more to say later. ‘Those who raise sheep, if allowing them to roam in the pine woods can be called raising, thoroughly understand the animal with which they deal. Intelligent Northerners who have gone South to teach the natives how to raise sheep, have uniformly failed, not only to instruct, but to succeed themselves. But, though the Southerner under- stands his sheep as they are, he has not the remotest idea how to improve either the mutton or the wool. Like the Armenian or Persian, he can handle profitably the sheep which his father and grandfather raised before him; but give him an animal which requires a different treatment, and he will invariably fail. The sheep of Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama are absolutely unimproved, and in spite of prohibitory tariffs, they will so remain until immigration or education changes the character of the inhabitants. To turn to another drawback. ‘The chief ‘glory of a Vermont ram is the unparalleled weight of his fleece. As before mentioned, fleeces have been clipped which weighed over thirty pounds. This increase of weight is not entirely due to the increase in the amount of wool. Prizes at State Fairs and by Breeders’ Association have been uniformly given for the heaviest clip. Weight then, not the fineness or evenness of the fleece, has been OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. SI the principal object. Yolk bears down the scales as well as wool. ‘Thus the proportion of this animal grease has been so increased that the shrinkage of the heavier fleeces is sometimes over seventy percent. The prizes, if ever given solely for weight, should be distributed on a scoured and not an unwashed basis. A certain amount of yolk is indispensable, but too much only serves to chill the animal in cold weather. Weight, however, should not be the only object. The increase in the amount of wool is certainly desirable, but to sacrifice everything to that end is to erect a false standard. The success of wrinkly Merinos is a proof of how with us the scales preponderate over all other considerations. The object in Australia has been to put upon the market a fleece, every part of which shall be as near as may be similar in length and in fineness to every other part. Sheep growing fibres side by side which differ in length, diameter and strength, are not used for breeding pur- poses. ‘The evenness of the fibre from those colonies adds greatly to the value of the clip. On the other hand, in our desire for weight, we have produced breeds whose wrinkly skin causes the wool to lie in folds upon the animal’s back, neck, and throat. The fibre which grows between the folds is both finer and more elastic than that which comes from the top of the wrinkles. I make this assertion on the authority of Mr. McMurttrie. He found the fibres taken from between the folds meas- ured .0008385 of an inch in diameter, while those from the tops of the wrinkles measured .0009751 of an inch. The fibres from the tops were also longer in staple. And here it may be remarked that the fineness of the fibres growing between the folds would seem to indicate that the custom practiced by the Romans, of covering their sheep, in order to increase the softness and fineness of the wool, was not so useless as is generally supposed. It is also asserted that in making the weight of the 6 82 OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. wool practically our only object, we have paid too little regard to the strength of the animal’s constitution. Cer- tain it is that after eighty years of experience, we have failed to produce a fine-wool sheep as strong as our native scrub. It is fair to state, however, that the sheep of our Middle and Eastern States are peculiarly free from all kinds of contagious diseases. Grub in the head and paper skin carry off some of the lambs, while among full-grown sheep, indigestion, liver complaint, and in damp locations foot rot, are the most serious disorders. Nevertheless, the mortality is not large. In Indiana, for example, only 36,764 sheep died in 1889, out of a total of 950,000, showing that the State was free from con- tagious disease. Ohio, out of a sheep population of 3,500,000, lost 178,873. In the South, the sheep are very hea thy, though loss is sometimes occasioned by diarrhcea, brought on by eating the flowers of the partridge pea. In all States west of the Mississippi River, however, and especially in Texas, Arizona and New Mexico, the scab is one of the ranchman’s worst enemies. Like mange in horses and dogs, or the itch in men, the scab is a cutaneous disease. It is propagated by a minute insect, the acarus. The sheep rub, bite and tear the affected parts. The disease is always accompanied by great loss in the quantity and quality of the wool, and if not attended to, will shortly result in the animal’s death. It first appeared in Texas just before the break- ing out of the late war. Though not directly contag- ious, scabby sheep leave the acari on all objects with which they come in contact. ‘These animalculae remain alive for a long time, ready to fasten themselves on other sheep. A pasture which has lately been inhabited by animals troubled with the scab, is therefore, unfit to use. The scab is kept in check in the West by dipping the animals in a solution of turpentine immediately after OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. 83 shearing. ‘The disease has been greatly increased on our Western rariches by the low state of the sheep’s vitality, owing to exposure and poor feeding. In fact, scab is often resisted by sheep in a perfectly sound con- dition, and no better proof could be given of poor nourishment than the presence of that disease. Our State and National Governments have done little to help the grower in his efforts to eradicate this serious obstacle to successful wool growing. Sheep affected with the malady are not always separated from the rest of the herd, and whole bands of more or less scabby sheep, distributing as they go, the fatal parasite, are allowed to be driven across lands to which other flocks have access. In Australia, on the other hand, the strictest regulations are enforced. All sheep shipped into the country are quarantined and clipped, while sheep on the runs suffering from this or any other con- tagious disease, must be immediately killed. By such means, except in western Australia, all contagious dis- eases have been stamped out of those colonies, while with us the trouble is only temporarily kept in check by the application of ‘‘dips.”? The next, and we believe hitherto the greatest draw- back to the success of the industry in the West, are the Scrubs themselves. The fact that we have what we may call a native American breed of sheep, thoroughly acclimated, has been looked upon as one of our national blessings. None can deny that advantages have resulted from finding in the South and West a hardy race of animals. But aside from their constitution, the Scrubs are wretched beasts. In the first place, they are not fit to eat. As a consequence, the people who raise them have as a rule a positive distaste for mutton. ‘The pound and a half of wool which they bear, while it might be coarser, is very far from fine. Where the scrub has been, or is, there the industry is on the wane or in a stationary 84 OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. condition. ‘Those States which never saw the Scrub, but only his improved descendant, are to-day increasing their flocks. ‘Thus the wool from New Mexico, southern and even northern and central Texas, does not equal that of Montana, either in fineness or weight of fleece. Yet ten years ago there was scarcely a pound of wool grown in the latter state. Only the best Grade animals have been imported, and the industry has made rapid strides, in spite of cold, and the expense attendant on winter feeding. ‘The number of sheep in Mexico and Texas, on the other hand, has either remained stationary or decreased. Scrub sheep were not found in Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, or the Dakotas, and to-day the character of the clip of all these states is excellent. If we had had no sheep in the country, or rather no Scrub sheep, it would have taken at first somewhat longer for the industry to have spread over the West; yet the history of the wonderful increase of the sheep in Australia, where both ewes and rams were imported, shows that success of the industry depends upon favorable con- ditions, not native breeds. As for the advantages of the strong constitution possessed by the Scrub, it is a question if flocks of Merinos imported into the country and allowed to increase would not be as strong as crosses of indigenous and hardy ewes with imported and unacclimated rams. But, even if our supposed importation of Merinos could not have withstood the effects of exposure in such a climate as that of Colorado and Wyoming, or the wretched living of Utah and Arizona, the fact would not have been an unmixed evil. It might, for instance, have confined our endeav- ors to raise large flocks of sheep to those parts of the country where climate and pasturage were suitable. The “‘hustling’’ qualities of the Scrub have led us to waste our energies in trying to herd these animals on every tract of cheap land from the borders of Canada to the Rio Grande. OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. 85 The Scrub is the greatest enemy to the industry in the West, but the East and the South have a far worse foe. As will be seen later, part of tennessee and South Kentucky is an ideal sheep country. Equable climate, cheap, good land, and nearness to the markets, combine to make this section the home of the fine-wool industry. Yet there is no part of the United States where sheep are fewer or more worthless. "The causes which make that part of our country, where physical conditions are most favorable for raising sheep, one of the worst in which the industry can be undertaken, are ex- clusively social. The old South is kept from being the greatest wool and mutton producing section of the United States; not because the climate is severe or the land poor, for both are eminently favorable, but because of ignorance, indolence, darkeys and dogs. The cur is the bane of sheep-raising in the South, but the cur is the result of the character of the people. We must not sup- pose, however, that this dog nuisance is confined to the South. Inthe Eastern States, in New England, and the old West, large numbers of sheep are annually killed by the canine. At the same time there is no better criterion of the intelligence of the agricultural population of a State, than the proportion of the sheep which are annu- ally sacrificed on the altar of a desire to keep a number of worthless curs. A population which will disregard their material prosperity for the sake of an occasional hunt, is not many steps removed from barbarism. Is it any wonder that amongst the most illiterate portion of our population, the desire for the possession of a large number of nondescript dogs is developed to the highest degree? Every darkey, and the majority of the white trash of Tennessee, the Gulf and South Atlantic States, keep from one to six hounds—long, lean, lank, hungry beasts. The dog must live, and he certainly can never do so off the ‘‘crumbs which fall from his master’s 86 OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. table.’? Ergo, he supplements his own scanty meal by a taste of mutton. One-fourth of the sheep of Florida, Georgia and Alabama disappear annually to satisfy the appetite of the cur and his hardly less de- structive master. ‘This does not only mean that the cost of raising sheep is increased; it makes sheep- raising, except in a desultory half-hearted way, an im- possibility, and renders the increase and improvement of the flocks an impracticable dream. Even to have three per cent. of the sheep of the State killed, as in Massachu- setts, implies a great deal more than one might suppose. It denotes that sheep have to be more or less watched or strong fences provided. The barrier that will keep a sheep in, will by no means keep a dog out. Thus the liability of flocks to be annoyed by dogs, even if none are killed, will increase the cost of raising sheep from ten to fifty per cent. The effect on the farmer is worse than the increase in the expense. When one, after years of painstaking, collects a flock of nice Meri- nos or Southdowns, to have half of them mangled by dogs, and the rest ruined as the result of fright, is some- thing which damages will never repay. ‘The farmer _may start to keep sheep again, but two visitations end all idea of sheep raising. The success of those who are not troubled with the cur, is an indication of the magnitude of the evil. One of the most energetic sheep-raisers south of the Ohio is Mr. Polk Prince, of Guthrie, Kentucky. He gives one dollar to his men for every dog they kill. The plan works admirably. He is seldom troubled with dogs, and as his sheep cost but little to raise, he naturally finds the business exceedingly profitable. The raising of wool and mutton is successfully carried on in some counties of Southwestern Virginia, because from this section of the State the negro and his dog have emi- grated. Craig county, for example, has only a score of OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. 87 negroes and practically no dogs. Asa result, sheep pay better than any other stock. We must not blame everything, however, on the negro. ‘The dogs and the blacks are certainly a most formidable evil, but if the white population wished to eliminate the former, they could easily do so. Con- trolling the legislatures of the States, they could pass laws taxing the cur out of existence. But unfortunately it is not the darkey alone who loves to possess a large number of curs. Many of the poorer sort of whites would rather kill all the sheep in the United States than lose their tobacco, their whiskey and their hunt. When we realize that the comparatively intelligent farmers of the Northern States seem to be utterly incapable of uniting in any determined effort to eradicate the evil, one almost feels that he cannot blame the people of the South for their negligence, when he remembers that their an- cestors were cursed by social conditions which induced habits of indolence, and that they themselves are sur- rounded by an ignorant, inferior race, struggling for political supremacy; conditions as unfavorable to social progress as can well be imagined. We cannot, there- fore, be surprised if the dog question is the one subject on which the whites and blacks are united, the former falling to the intelligence of the latter. Industries may languish, land lie idle, but the cur must remain. Where the evil resulting from his presence is most form- idable, as in Florida, there we find the least chance for any remedial legislation. He will bea brave legislator who will propose a dog law, and a rapid return to private life will be the sure reward of his temerity. The follow- ing extract from a letter written by one holding an ‘official position in Florida, well illustrates the temper of the people: ‘“As long as there are coons (four and two-legged), deer, bears, possums, rabbits and partridges in Florida, 88 OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. just so long the sheep will be kept down, that worthless dogs, and equally worthless darkeys, may exist. Laws are passed to protect partridges and mockers. This is all right, but the man who would hint that a dog law could be passed would be a fit subject for Barnum. Dozens of men in Florida live by hunting and fishing. The women and children pick cotton to buy tobacco. If a dog law was passed, what a howl would be set up at once! ‘The wretched legislator would be relegated to private life with a rapidity that would lead him to in- quire, ‘who struck Billy Patterson?’ For once there is no color line, no political boundary. On the question of dogs, Black Republican, Radical Democrat, Prohibi- tionist and Conservative can rally round the standard of one dog rampant, or one slut couchant, sable; six pups levant, regardant, sable or argent. Reverse, sheep being devoured, argent. But joking aside, the temperature will be decidedly frigid when a dog law will be estab- lished in the South.’’ In some instances we have been retrogading on the subject of dog legislation. In Kentucky and Missouri the dog tax has been repealed. ‘The rest of the South- ern States have never had sucha tax. In all the North- ern States we find either State or local taxation of dogs. The money collected forms a fund which is paid to those whose sheep have been attacked and killed or ‘n- jured. This, while it compensates the farmer for his pecuniary loss, does little to encourage the industry. The farmer rarely re-invests the money so paid in sheep. As to the number actually destroyed, the official returns from Massachusetts place the loss in that State at 1,900, or 3 per cent. of the entire sheep population; from Connecticut 2,119, or 5.84 per cent. In the other Northern States the proportion varies from I per cent. in Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan, to 4.63 per cent. in Indiana. "These figures are given in Table III. OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. 89 Where official returns could not be had, the numbers are averaged from the opinions of farmers. ‘The pro- portion in the South is much larger; still it is fair to these States to say that the figures given practically includes the stealings by two-legged animals. ‘The figures speak for themselves. A total of 716,678 sheep annually destroyed by dogs, is not a good showing for a nation confessedly believing in progress. Yet in Massachusetts, when it was proposed to muzzle all dogs in the State, ladies attended the sitting of the Senate Chamber with poodles in their laps, and an eloquent speaker made such a moving address on cruelty to animals that members were observed to weep. I donot wish to be understood as advocating any law enforcing the muzzling of dogs, but the incident shows how ignor- ance in one section and sentimentality in another clog the wheels of intelligent legislation. As will be seen when we speak of cost and profit, a fair return could be had from the right kind of sheep, not only in the South, but in all the southern New England and in the Middle States. Not, however, where the cur is in the majority as in Delaware, New Jersey, Massachu- setts and Rhode Island. Whenever this is the case it is only a question of time when sheep raising will be abandoned. A tax of ten dollars a year, strictly en- forced, would, we believe, be a practical remedy for the dog nuisance. This tax need not be levied on the thorough-bred dog, which seldom chases sheep. Collies, for instance, when properly trained, are their best pro- tectors; but if we are ever to have small flocks of sheep distributed among our farmers, we must destroy the mongrel hound by heavy taxation. In the far West, as in all thinly settled countries, there is little or no trouble with the dog, but the coyote, pan- ther, wolf and fox take his place and cause almost as much trouble. In New Mexico, indeed, there is little go OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. annoyance from coyotes; but in Texas they cause the ranchmen a great deal of annoyance and considerable loss. ‘The chief result of the presence of a number of coyotes, as in the case of dogs, is not so much the actual destruction of the sheep, but the great increase in the expense necessary to prevent such destruction. If it were not for these wild animals, a herder could take charge of a flock one-third larger than it is possi- ble for him to guard at present. On ranches labor is practically the only item in the cost, therefore wild animals must add fully one-third. ‘There is also an actual loss annually of three to five per cent. Worse than this, the presence of wild animals renders all other methods of raising sheep impossible. In Aus- tralia, for instance, sheep are never herded, but are kept in large paddocks or enclosed fields. ‘This method has, as will be seen, many advantages, and if practiced in parts of our country would greatly reduce the cost of growing wool and mutton. Yet it would be idle to leave sheep unprotected in regions infested with wild beasts. After building the paddock, you would have to hire almost as maty men as before to guard the flock. This has been the actual experience in southern California, where sheep often run in large fields sur- rounded by stone fences which were built by the Span- iards. Of late the number of wild animals has increased, and it has been found impossible to leave sheep without a guard. The legislation on the subject of coyotes, panthers and foxes has been practically unproductive. It consists in giving bounties for the heads of the animals killed. In Texas the bounty is one dollar for panthers and fifty cents for coyotes, but as the proof of death in- volves a notary fee almost equal to the bounty paid, the law is well nigh useless. In Iowa, where the farm- ers are overrun with wolves, a law granting a bounty * OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. gI of ten dollars on every female wolf killed, was intro- duced into the Legislature last year. That body, how- ever, adjourned without action on the matter. If passed it is hoped that the law will prove efficacious, as at. present these animals make sheep-raising in the State practically impossible. It is a waste of time to de- scribe to a farmer the profits on sheep, when he knows : that if he purchases a flock he will have to spend a life of constant vigilance to protect them from wild beasts. A gentleman who has had some experience says: ‘Any time in the night I may be called upon to chase wolves, and twenty-four hours will seldom pass without my discharging my gun several times in order to frighten these animals.’? Under such conditions, the highest prices and the greatest demand, will not make the State a great wool or mutton producing country. The extent of the drawback to successful sheep-raising resulting from the presence of wild animals, is well shown by the following extract from a letter written by Wm. L. Black, Esq., of Fort McKavitt, Texas. I take pleasure in copying this portion of Mr. Black’s letter 2% extenso, as it deals with the subject from the standpoint of a practical wool grower: ‘(Wild animals and scab are the only drawbacks to producing wool at a very much reduced rate, and it therefore calls for the most. careful consideration in treating of the subject of sheep husbandry in the United States. While the immediate cost of producing wool is equivalent to fifteen cents per pound under the most favorable conditions, it can just as well be produced at five cents, and afford the grower a larger profit. To reach this end, however, it is necessary to remove and destroy wild animals that are now the direct cause of probably two-thirds of this expense, in the wages of shepherds and incidental losses from flocks by frequent attacks of prowling coyotes and wolves, resulting not 92 OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. only in the loss of the sheep actually killed, but some- times the loss of several hundred at a time that are cut off from the main flock and scattered on the prairies. The simple expense of land rent, shearing and lambing would be trifling, if sheep could be run loose in pastures, as they now do in Australia. That it is practicable to do this has been clearly demonstrated by our formidable foreign competitor, who had the same experience in early days as we are now having; and it would be very easy to pattern after her methods.”’ Concerning the last suggestion thrown out by Mr. Black, I shall have more to say in a later chapter. To exterminate the wild animals, he proposes an increase in the bounties. These, he thinks, should be paid by the United States government, and be sufficiently high to attract large numbers of hunters and trappers. With- out discussing the merits of the plan, we agree with Mr. Black, that State action in many instances will prove useless. One State may destroy the wild animals within her borders, but unless her neighbors have sim- ilar laws, there will be a constant migration of animals into the-more enterprising State. She will not only be required to kill all her own foxes, coyotes, panthers and wolves, but also a considerable portion of those belong- ing to her neighbors. We may not want a national, but we certainly want a uniform law on this subject. In treating of certain drawbacks to the sheep in- dustry in the past and present, I have not lent ammuni- tion to those who assert that we cannot raise wool in this country. Of all the drawbacks I have mentioned, there are none which are of a necessary and permanent nature. So far as we have seen, there is no reason why we should not try to establish the industry in the United States. Many urge that it is too expensive. The force of the argument can only be intelligently estimated when we know the cost of raising sheep in our own and OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. 93 other countries. We now know something of the in- dustry and its distribution among the different foreign countries and the States of the United States. In the next chapter we shall examine the protection which our government has given to wool in the past, and also the rates of duty established by our present tariff. CHAPTER V. THE DUTY ON RAW WOOL AND OUR IMPORTS FROM FOREIGN COUNTRIES. THE present division of wools into Class I, Class II, and Class III, embracing clothing, combing and carpet wool respectively, was first adopted in the tariff of 1867. The object was to make the wool used in woolen yarn or the clothing wool, the wool used in worsted yarn or the combing wool, and the wool used in carpets, pay differ- ent rates of duty. As we are at present capable of combing short-staple wool, it is impossible to make any distinction between combing and carding wool based on the different uses to which they are adapted. ‘The cus- tom house officials do not attempt to discover the use to which the imported article is to be put. The name combing is still exclusively confined to the long-staple wool of the Leicester, Cotswold, etc. As far as wool in the dirt is concerned, the classification of clothing and combing is of little moment, as there is only a differ- ence of one cent per pound in the duty; but scoured . combing wools pay only double duty, while treble. duty is paid on all scoured wools of the first class. The definition and classification of carpet wool has caused a great deal of trouble. Not more than ten million pounds of wool suitable for. carpets is grown in the United States. ‘There is a firm in the city of Philadelphia who use that much carpet wool an- nually. In order that our carpet manufactories can continue, over 85 per cent. of the wool employed in carpets must be imported. The duty should be much lower than on clothing wool, as the proportion of raw (94) : } ‘ Bd as ‘i, _ < ap) ; PA Lind ts nae eae vs a - A a 3 ee ae RAL eh eh Sw hs STP =e seas? sath i eal CD eral Be ih . ; t ‘ a ie, ait, a a a eee a salen fi ee 7 */ ¥ ey Me ms 2 re e Wh ' eh Fs i 1 af » > , a Onan , F BOrless. 9... s 5 s to 24 cents (inclu. ,cents.. sor less s to 24 cents (inclu. s to 32 cents (inclu, “sep vely hh 5 Sorensen Clothing Wools . OIIESH rise). os BECCUUS aerials s) « BIOTMLGHS in? ames 6 IGEUCAT ott lutet osm Combing Wools . HOTPIESS Is. cnet se 32cents . sor less _ DIGEUCS star SPs corns fre [. Carpet Wools.. 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PON ee) A ee es Pel re oe oe pete Oy aun 12 cents, oe ol be Ti te a Lo) * Ce) Bild k 2 twa) a * CSIC ot ‘a ee ee ow 6) un oe ec oh es © 6 © Cee Pi gee Nare | nance es | axis cn sue | Bl] w | ga] we o > | & 24 > o ma} ea | Fe | 2a | iq BR | 68h ap | Sa) age | vn | om | tg] 0 2 | sien ga} Sy Bl | a8] gt 8 |) OR Si | 2a Sat F = | oo > 4 | 2 3 ; | 9 a 3 | 5 8 | 2 +2} || mete 2 | | > a) ~RQ | ret AallWierect 2 ol) is | | | be} ) og | ° g .o a A ec | D $.27 | $ .27 90 sig | wl br | td | 24 5 | eo | | « | 6 | so | uw | | 74 26 ef mt “ | 26 195 | 1.6534 fe 1.364 | “ ‘ J «| 1.20 50 913% | 45 1.02 | 84% | 40] 2 "| M74 sgt 1.14 50 | Bo || ana r12% | 50 | 1.40 55 | 1.30 9 | 1.25 1.60 | | | ; | | 1 1 120 ei is added to the other items of © ost, * [OOM jo punog sad aoug apesy, 9944 M. 4 | s >| | | 8 is Bos] >3 | oe | oe | = Za5| a 3 ag iD 638| 23 | @ | aa | &y IH Qm| = 7 a 2 Tee) BB | o | #8 | 72] & ae > tes Berl 2 Ran a | Seva Ss Ci a fe Bae] s 2 5 > E Exe] 2 = | 2A eva | ee BSB) 2 = 3 & t 5) 5 3 a] og B24 rs SI | 4 oe) az 3 K =) Re Fa . Ee 8 65 ey ON 5 ee Pe eo n D e 5 D 4 > 3 | i=] > D a 2 5 z g | se a 2 | & 2 =) 2 e | 9 | } 73 8 ° | | G iy i} ws || | 60 37 336 | 50. | 30 Fe * bo. | 375 ; 3% 65 39. 3 60, 1 , 33% | 50. 30 «| 1 5 65 35 | 1.75 | 3.31% | 55 32, | .05 1.60 2.Bg! as See | aa. 1.28 266 | bo. 33% | 045 | 1-50 | 2.12 me) || vas 80 | i | | =i | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 0. 22 11 03 33 | 15 40. | eoiee| 03 27 | 1.183 Gel a etra9) 8 9 16 1.004 5. 186. a1 | 15 57 40 7 16 535 50. i 0 33. | 34 40. ° 160. | eos 11} 34% 1.47 ; EGA etl 7} tr i 33 1.63 I | | | | 1, | 44 52.2 0s 2.61 3.7314 Yi en | 72 | we ae | a6 RoN oS | 2 oe a BL Ck | BE] if & | of $1 25 114 99 18h 1,08 42} 1.2K 99% 114 90 rial | 3 | Cr) 45 373 ~ 69 78 61h ¢ iy Py Pee, we CHAPTER VI. THE COST AND PROFIT OF RAISING SHEEP IN THE DIF- FERENT PARTS OF THE UNITED STATES AND IN FOR- EIGN COUNTRIES. LIKE the ‘‘'X”’ of Algebra, cost and profit stand for uncertain quantities in most industries. The raising of sheep is no exception to the rule. One makes a profit where another fails. The return being based on the prices of wool and mutton, though these may vary from year to year, is more easily ascertained than the cost. All men in one State or section of the country sell in the same market, but in production the personal ele- ment confuses our calculations. In Table V, I have tried to set forth the cost and return from raising sheep in each State and Territory, and also the cost of raising sheep and return from wool in Australia and other foreign countries. The table also shows the decline in prices in America since 1882. This decline seems to have reached low-water mark in 1886-7. The increase in the price in some of the west- ern States, such as Utah and New Mexico, is mislead- ing, being due to the improvement in the fleece. The average price which one will receive for his wool is not difficult to ascertain. ‘The price of mutton, how- ever, is more uncertain, and the figures given in the table must not be taken for more than an outline. There is probably nothing which varies so greatly as the price of meat, not only with the season of the year, but also with the age and condition of the animal. Old ewes or wethers may not bring three dollars per hun- dred pounds, when at the same time and place three- ( 101 ) 102 OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. months-old lainbs, weighing from forty to fifty pounds, will demand seven and nine dollars per head. In dealing with the cost of sheep raising, I have at- tempted to illustrate in the diagram, not only the total cost, but the per cent. which should be assigned to food, interest, labor and land. ‘To give the average propor- tion of the cost of keeping a sheep for one year, which is due to interest or to wages in a State the size of Pennsylvania would be impossible. Even if practi- cable, such an average would be useless. A general statement or average is only valuable when individual instances will not in all likelihood vary from that aver- age in any considerable degree. In dealing with cost and profit, I was therefore obliged to confine myself in many instances to parts of States, such as Western Mas- sachusetts and Southern Wisconsin, etc. THE RETURN FROM FIELD SHEEP. Under this head, we shall first look at the return for Merinos, and then compare the result with the return for the English breeds. The annual increase of the field Merino when kept under the present conditions is about 75 per cent. ‘The loss of lambs and sheep is about 15 percent. If you own one hundred ewes, sixty sheep can annually be sent to market without reducing the number of your flock. But to calculate the average return per sheep from the sale of mutton, we must remember that a flock is never composed entirely of ewes. The number of ewes and wethers born is about equal. Unless killed as lambs, these wethers are usually kept until they are two years old. Suppose a farmer has one hundred ewes, and does not care to increase or reduce his flock. At the end of each year he will have a flock of 220 ani- mals, distributed as follows:.One hundred ewes over two years old, thirty ewes and thirty wethers two years old, THE COST OF RAISING SHEEP IN DIFFERENT PARTS OF TIE UNITED STATES AND FOREIGN COUNTRIES; AND THE PROPORTION OF FROM THE SALE OF THE WOO! THAT COST WHICH 15 DUE AND FROM THE SALE OF TO FOOD, TO INTEREST, TO LALOR, THE MUTTON AND TO LAND; ALSO THE RETURN 90 1,00 1.10 1.20 1.30 1.40 1.50 1.60 1.70 1.80 1.90 2,00 2.10 = —— = — === —= SS ———$—— == === ——+ =a | So tee = = = j-_——---- 23 ==: = = ae “= ~ —_—— ~ -x— ——________ GN EN bees = = = — ~ = a = = ——— =. ( apart y are * ee ete hen card 2 : : ahs ‘ 4 . . ee Gyo keto : Ra a Se ~ Pee ok id 2 ied » <= ' Sate te tah ge - z i ‘ b + pian : gutta ~ a ar ao « ad 1 ~ Bo “J . 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Seal FOP aide aa = Soke OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. 103 and sixty lambs twelve months old. He can then send thirty of his old ewes and thirty wethers to the market. Not counting the lambs under a year old, his flock would always consist of 160 sheep, sixty of which, or 3714 per cent., are annually sold for mutton. The net return for mutton, over the expense of killing and ship- ping to the nearest market, will average about five cents per pound (live weight). The live weight of the Me- rino is about ninety pounds. Thus the annual return from the sale of mutton averages for every sheep in the flock $1.6834. To this we must add 7% pounds of wool at 26 cents per pound, or $1.95, which makes a gross total of $3.6334. It may be interesting to compare this re- sult with the probable result under free trade prices. Under free trade, the price of wool grown on fine Me- rinos would probably fall to 19 cents, the average price for such wool in London. ‘This would reduce the gross return to $3.31%. ‘The gross profit of Southdown sheep to the average Eastern farmer is now somewhat more than from pure Merinos. The returns from the English animals may be estimated as follows: 4% pounds of wool at 25 cents per pound... ...++-. $x 12% 52.8 pounds of mutton at 5 cents per pound (44 per cent. of 120). 2 64 ital (OM SOULNMOWN . 6 ewe et te ele we ws $3 7612 Rey fiest EETIUOS . bk ae ee kl ee ee kee we 3 64 PE ae a ial s oh es a Maile pp ee le wee, 12% In explanation of the large return from the sale of mutton, we must remember that the Down breeds are noted for their fecundity. An annual increase of 120 per cent. is not unusual. 44 per cent. of the flock annually sent to market is therefore rather an under than an over estimate. It may be asked why in com- paring the gross profits of the two breeds, merino and Southdown, I have made a difference of only three 104 OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. pounds in the weight of the wool, while in Table I the difference is given as four and one-half pounds? ‘There I was comparing sheep kept by experienced breeders. In estimating the actual returns received by farmers, we must remember that it is much easier to raise an animal bearing a large quantity of good mutton than one bearing a large amount of fine wool. It is true that many merinos carry fleeces weighing fifteen pounds. These, however, are not owned by even ‘‘good average farmers,’’ but by breeders. In discussing the present relative advantages of the different breeds of stock, we must deal with the ordinary man and the profit to him, not with the specialist. RETURN FROM RANCH SHEEP. The best ranch sheep, those of Montana, Oregon, etc., will clip 61% pounds of wool, which at 20 cents per pound is $1.25 per sheep. ‘The poorest ranch sheep, those of New Mexico, 2% pounds of wool, which will sell at the rate of 15 cents per pound. ‘The return from the wool in New Mexico will therefore be 37% cents. The calculation of the return from mutton is, as in the case of field sheep, somewhat more difficult. The an- nual increase over the death rate for both lambs and sheep is about fifty per cent. of the number of ewes, in Montana, and forty per cent. in New Mexico. The profit per pound of mutton over the cost of transporta- tion, is three and two cents, respectively. The average weight of the Montana sheep is fifty pounds; the weight of the sheep of New Mexico, forty pounds. Suppose we start with a flock of 1,000 ewes, and we do not desire to increase our flock; but, as wool is the chief object, we intend to keep our wethers until they are five years old; what proportion of our flock could we send annually to market, estimating the increase as in Montana at 50 per cent.? At the end of the first year we will have 1,000 OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. 105 ewes, and we will also have 500 lambs; at the end of the second year, 1500 sheep and 500 lambs. Fully one- half of the increase are wethers. "T'wo hundred and fifty, or one-half the annual increase, are therefore all the ewes which can be killed in any one year. At the end of the fifth and each succeeding year, the flock will number 2,250, and 500 lambs. Of the sheep, 1,250 are ewes, and 1,000 are wethers; 250 of these lat- ter, being five years old, are ready for the shambles. Each year, therefore, 500 sheep can be sent to market. This is 22 per cent. of the flock. As the average weight of a Montana sheep is fifty pounds, to calculate the average return per head, we can assume that each sheep yields 22 per cent. of fifty pounds, or eleven pounds of mutton annually. At three cents per pound, this makes the return from mutton thirty-three cents per year. Asa result of the above, in ‘Montana, the steele side of the account would stand thus: Wool, 6% pounds per sheep, at 20 centsper pound..... $I 25 II pounds of mutton per sheep (22 per cent of 50 lbs.) at 3 cents perpound.. .... « EOE nA ale er ar ERY bog a 33 ‘ $1 58 In New Mexico: 2% pounds of wool per sheep at 15 cents per pound... . 3714 8 pounds of mutton per sheep (20 per cent. of 40 Ibs. ) at 2 SECO MMOMENL hess 6 me eas ees se, 80 16 53/4 These figures represent the gross profits on the best and meanest ranch animals, when no increase in num- bers is desired. The duty on wool coming in competi- tion with that from Montana is 10 cents; that on the clip of New Mexico, either five or ten cents, according to whether it would be classed as carpet or clothing 106 OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. wool. But the fall in the prices of Montana and similar wool under free trade cannot be measured by the amount of the present duty. It would not be likely that the wool from Montana, for instance, would fall below fif- teen cents, the average price for similar Australian and South American wools, and that grown in New Mexico would not fall below twelve cents, the price now paid for similar wools in the London markets. The gross- profit under free trade in wool therefore stands as follows: Montana: 64% pounds of wool at 15 cents perpound ........-. 9354 Return from mutton (unchanged). . . 2. + s+ ee ee eee 33 $1 2634 New Mexico: 2% pounds of wool at twelve cents per pound... .....-. 30 Return for mutton (unchanged). . . 2... 222+ ese es 16 46 RETURN FROM ROAMING OR SOUTHERN SHEEP. To calculate the return from these sheep is very simple: There are 2% pounds of wool, which will sell at 22 cents per pound. This makes 55 cents. The wool, though little better than carpet, sells at a good figure on account of the slight shrinkage in scouring. ‘This shrinkage is seldom more than 35 per cent. The return from mutton is so uncertain that it cannot be estimated with any pretension to accuracy. In Table V. we have placed it at 25 cents. "The sheep belonging to the poor whites, however, are seldom sold for mutton. COST OF RAISING FIELD SHEEP. As before stated, a farmer in Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York or the East, seldom devotes himself exclu- OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. 107 sively to sheep raising. ‘This is due to the cost of land. Land in Pennsylvania, for instance, which will support six sheep to the acre, will cost about $55. Calculating the rent at 10 per cent., the usual rent for land where the landlord pays the taxes and keeps the fences in repair, this is already 92 cents, which is as much as the entire cost of raising sheep in Australia or South America. In New York, land which will support five and one-half sheep to an acre will cost $40. This is at the rate of 75 cents per sheep a year. The section of country comprising Southeastern Ohio, Washington county, Pennsylvania, and Northwestern West Virginia, is the centre of the fine-wool industry in the United States. Indeed, the finest wool in the world comes from this district. Even here, however, the farmer seldom devotes himself exclusively to raising sheep. Where no more sheep are kept on a farm than the land which must be allowed to lie fallow every year will support, or, to be more accurate, where the number of sheep is not sufficient to affect the production of agriculture, the item of land does not enter into the cost. On the other hand, where sheep raising is the sole pursuit, the entire cost of the land all falls on this industry. In this case its value will be regulated, as in Australia, by the number of sheep it can support. Be- tween these two extremes are the cases where more land is left in pasturage than is necessary to rest the soil, yet the farmer by no means confines himself to stock-raising. Thus the item of land, in the cost of sheep, not only varies with the cost of the land and the number of sheep per acre, but also with the extent to which the ' raising of sheep interferes with the farmer’s production in other directions. In the section of country above men- tioned, and the same may be said of Central New York and Southern Wisconsin, many of the farmers keep a greater number of sheep than is sufficient to utilize 108 OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. their waste and fallow lands. At the same time they do not confine themselves to sheep-raising. In all the other portions of our country, however, where field sheep are raised, we seldom find a farmer keeping enough sheep to interfere with his production of other crops and breeds of stock. The last fact will explain what the reader has prob- ably noticed, that sheep can still be raised in New Hampshire and Vermont, where the total cost appears to be greater than the return. If only a very few animals are kept the item of land need not be taken into consideration, But if the farmer increase his flock to such an extent that he is obliged to restrict his cultiva- tion of other things, then the item of land begins to enter into the cost; while if he devotes himself exclu- sively to sheep-raising, the cost of land falls entirely on that industry, and the total cost of keeping sheep would equal the amount indicated in the diagram. In the following table we have taken the average cost of land used for sheep-raising in the section indicated. In most of the States where field sheep are raised, the rental value of land appreciates much more rapidly than its value for grazing purposes. ‘That is to say, the item of land in the cost of each sheep is much larger where the animals are placed on very fertile soil, than where they are run on poorer and cheaper land. ‘The figures given below demonstrate the truth of this statement. Whatever may regulate the value of land in these States, it is certainly not the relative capacity for carry- ing sheep. OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. 109 Will STATE. Land that will| support | Which is ata bring to an cost of acre Vermont .. +6 «4 . » « |$20.00 peracre.|3 sheep. |$o0.67 per sheep. New Hampshire ......|15.00 “ ae ie a Way Massachusetts, West... .| 10.00 ‘* iss As hike “6 ‘6 rp ea" 8.00 ‘6 1% ‘6 46 “6 “ Orne es, 6 Le “ 5 “ oO “ a Wy late ae ROO ed Meee a.“ Mee Wark siteele 0 0 «.2) 4000 5% “ Fs MOM Delaware... +++. ei wow" ae Dy dads ra Sand phe a)’ d.e) COR, ary see Pennsylvania, West... ..| 55.00 Ns 2 Pen iT Ser » «| 75.00 “ 7 “ 1.20 “6 West Virgina, North-western.) 40.00 “ 6 iit aE Ohio, South-eastern.. ...| 40.00 ‘“ 5% * 7a. Illinois and Indiana ....| 50.00 “ im Tet oe FF Michigan, South. ..... 40,00 * ge oo tee Michigan, North. ..... Aco. ° 1 hes sat. = Wisconsin, South...... 40.00 oh ies ae: SR Eee a ae 35.00 * Se > Tad Missouri, North...... | 10.00 “ 7. A lade The cost of raising field sheep depends on two other factors besides the cost of land, namely: the cost of feed and the cost of labor. An investigation into the first must necessarily be more accurate, and therefore more satisfactory, than any investigation into the cost of land. Every sheep requires three pounds of clover hay, or its equivalent, perday; or, to be more accurate, three pounds of clover hay for every one hundred pounds of live weight. Three pounds of clover hay is equivalent to four and one-half pounds of millet, ten and one-half pounds of sorghum, and fifteen pounds of prairie hay. To obtain the best results this dry fodder should be mixed with oats or corn, ensilage, beets, etc. It is prac- tically impossible to give the equivalent of clover hay in oats or corn. Much depends upon the character of the result required. The price of the hay, however, forms a very fair basis for judging the cost of feeding. On the calculation of three pounds of clover hay per day, IIo OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. hay being at ten dollars per ton of 2,000 pounds, the cost per sheep will be 45 cents per month. At nine dollars the cost per month will be 40% cents, at seven dollars 31% cents, at five dollars 22% cents, and so on. The actual cost of clover hay, or its equivalent, varies from nine to ten dollars in Massachusetts to five and six dollars in Illinois, Wisconsin and Iowa. Prairie hay in Kansas is about two dollars per ton. The cost of food is the most important element in the question of the profitableness of field sheep. The cost of land can be eliminated by restricting the number of the sheep to those the farmer can raise on the land without affecting his production of other things; but the sheep must be fed. The item of labor only enters into the cost of field sheep when enough are kept, say over one hundred, to necessitate the employment of an extra hand, either all the year, or at the lambing season. While the ani- mals.are in ‘the field. they require little of no care. In winter, when the sheep are housed, one man can attend to about five hundred. During the lambing season there should be one man to every one hundred ewes. Where sheep are kept on good-sized farms in connection with other stock, one man for two months to every one hundred sheep, will cover the cost of labor and shearing. Where flocks of less than a hundred are kept, no extra hands will have to be employed. In the East, when shearers are hired, shearing costs from six to ten cents per sheep. The proportion which the cost of labor bears to the total cost, as shown in the diagram, is based on the assumption that sheep are kept in con- nection with other stock, with but one extra hand to every hundred animals, for two months in the Spring. Where the number of the flock is under one hundred, the labor of caring for them is usually said to be more than compensated by the value of the manure. Except OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. LESa in Ohio and Western Pennsylvania, the flocks rarely exceed fifty sheep, and even in this last section the aver- age 1s below a hundred. In order to estimate the total cost of keeping field sheep, to the items already discussed one must add interest on the investment. This has been calculated at six pet cent. on three dollars per head, or eighteen cents per sheep a year. Three dollars is a low price for sheep in the East, if the animal is sold separately and is in good condition; but is probably all that could be obtained for an average flock if soldin one lot. The cost of the buildings is insignificant, and the interest on all permanent improvements, even when the most approved folds are built, will never amount to over five cents per sheep a year. When small flocks are kept they are housed in the main part of the barn, or ina shed which leans against a larger building. As will be inferred from the above, the cost of keep- ing sheep per head varies with the proportion of the number of the sheep to the size of the farm. Flocks numbering less than one hundred, conducted in con- nection with other agricultural pursuits, are decidedly more profitable per sheep than when the industry is conducted on a larger scale. Thus in western Massa- chusetts if sheep-raising was made the sole industry, the cost per sheep would stand as follows: Peed tor sour mouths anda half 0s). 65. 6 8 ew we ee we $2 02 Labor. One man at $17 per month for every Ioo ewes. Board for two months at $6.00 per month... . 2. se ee eee 46 Land (2 sheep to an acre at the rent of $1.00 per acre)... .. 50 Interest on the cost of buildings and other permanent improve- PEIRCE one te Real ta com aie Cita lays. Veo we eal en Sam hee ees wee 05 Interest on value of the stock, calculated at six per cent. on $3 er pean. ok Boe 9 Ne, 0 re te 18 II2 OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. The cost per sheep for flocks under one hundred sheep is: PG BE I a eg lew eR ee ee, pe ek re ea $2 02 Interest on value of sheep, as above... . +e e+ see es 13 Oe ee tenet) eee) Woks Se ce mw PR Me 8) a Oenie eeetaee $2 20 The cost where more sheep are raised than the farm- er’s waste and fallow land will support, raising sheep not being his sole occupation, varies between these two extremes. As a matterof fact, the farmer in all the Eastern, and even in States of the Ohio valley, except in a few localities, raises so few sheep that the items of land and labor seldom enter into the cost. The diagram also indicates the effect of climate. In Vermont sheep have to be fed for six months and a half. The item of food amounts to $2.34 per sheep. In Ken- tucky, except possibly for one month in the year, the animals can find sufficient grass, and the cost of food seldom exceeds 36 cents. COST OF RANCH SHEEP. Ranch sheep raising is conducted by men who are ~ devoting their whole energy to solving the problem of cheap wool. ‘The estimates of the cost of raising sheep in Pennsylvania often vary from fifty to one hundred per cent., but in Montana and Texas the extreme estt- mates of ranchmen, in reply to my circular on the sub- ject, did not differ twenty-five per cent. The item of land in many sections can be disregarded. The owner- ship of a small tract or water right will give the posses- sor a free range on Government lands. Of course, it cannot be laid down as a universal proposition that the item of land never enters into the cost. In Texas, for instance, many own or rent their land. The rent or cost, however, is still very low. OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. 113 In the New England States food forms the bulk of the expense; among ranch sheep, except in the extreme Northwest, food does not enter into the cost at all. For instance, even in Colorado, in spite of the cold of the wiuter, the little hay which is given seldom amounts to more than three cents a head. JLabor, therefore, and interest on the investment, are the chief items. The latter remains practically constant, but the former varies according to the character of the population. It may astonish one who imagines that labor in a new country is particularly mobile, to learn that for a herds- man in Montana the wages are from thirty to thirty-five dollars a month; in New Mexico, fifteen dollars; yet we do not observe a great exodus from the Territory to the State. The cost of labor per sheep, exclusive of the cost of shearing and burring, varies from 15.42 cents in New Mexico, to 44.4 cents in Utah and Nevada. ‘The small cost in the first-named Territory is due to the great size of the herds, and the low wages. With five thousand sheep in a band, two men to watch the band, and an overseer, for every four bands, who is only paid forty dollars a month, we have that combination of con- ditions under which sheep can be herded at the lowest cost. Roughly speaking, there may be said to be two methods of herding sheep. First, you may divide your flock into bands, numbering fifteen hundred or two thousand each. Every two bands will require at least. three men. You then superintend the business your- self, or hire a manager at fifteen hundred or three thousand dollars per year. Where you have 50,000 sheep, if you pay your manager $2,000, and his expenses are $500 more; he will only cost you at the rate of five cents asheep. The wages and expenses of the herds- _men will average about $25 per month; $18 for wages, 8 114 OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. and $7 for provisions. ‘There will be about a thousand sheep toeach man. ‘This makes the item of labor 30 cents plus five cents, or thirty-five cents. The other method is to have one man, sometimes called an overseer, for every two, three, or four bands. The overseer is paid about as much again as the ordinary herdsmen. There are also one or two herdsmen to each band. If there is an overseer for every three bands, at the cost of fifty dollars per month, then on the basis of two thou- sand sheep to a band, our overseer will cost ten cents per head, or five cents more than by the other method. In Texas there is usually an overseer for every two bands, and fifteen or eighteen hundred sheep in a_ band. Larger herds when frightened become unmanageable. In fact, after one has improved the quality of his flock, he usually reduces the number to twelve hundred ora thousand. The coyote and other wild animals alone prevent sheep being run in much larger herds. If the danger from this source were removed, there is no reason why we should not have double the number in a band, thereby reducing the cost by almost as great an amount as the tariff enhances the price. In Utah, on the ranch of Charles Crane, there is an overseer for every three bands, together with two men to each band of a thousand or fifteen hundred sheep. This makes the cost of labor forty-four cents, but the success of Mr. Crane proves that it is not always the cheapest methods of herding which are the most profit- able. In Oregon and Washington, during the summer months, the sheep are taken on the ranch in bands numbering about two thousand. It is usual to have two men accompany a band. On the large ranches in Colorado, storemen, and also captains, are employed, or men who pass between the various bands and hunt for stray sheep, scattered by the storms or the coyote. As before stated, south of Colorado sheep are not fed. OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. 1 G9 Even in that State and Wyoming the cost of feeding amounts to little, though ranchmen are now consid- ering the advisability of providing a greater quantity of fodder. The severe winter of Montana necessitates an outlay of twenty to fifty cents per head; the amount varying greatly with the severity of the season. The item of interest on permanent improvements and on the value of sheep themselves forms an important part of the cost. A gentleman who has one hundred and twenty thousand sheep on a ranch in Colorado, claims that one hundred thousand: dollars will cover the total cost of all improvements, such as wells, store-houses, houses, sheds and corrals. At 10 per cent. interest, this is at the rate of 8% cents per sheep a year. ‘The inter- est on the value of the sheep themselves I have taken as 6 per cent. on 60 per cent. of the nominal value of sound animals. As in the case of the field sheep, I ‘ consider that interest should be calculated on the price of an average flock, and not on the selling price of ani- mals carefully selected and sold separately. Average sheep in good condition, sold in small lots, are worth $2.00 apiece in Utah, Arizona and New Mexico; $2.50 in Northern and Eastern Texas, and $3.00 in Oregon, Washington and Montana. ‘The Interest, therefore, will be 71, 9 and gis cents per sheep respectively. In calculating the total cost of ranch sheep, we must add to the items already discussed from 5 to 7 cents per sheep for shearing, and also from 5 to Io cents more to cover all extras. Thus, in Montana the shearing will cost six cents, and the extras amount to about ten cents, while in Arizona shearing will be done for five cents, and the extras wlll not exceed eight cents. In the diagram we have included the cost of shearing and the extras in the item of labor. One of the significant facts in connection with the cost of ranch sheep is the great difference between the 116 OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. Northwest and the Southwest. Take Montana and New Mexico, for instance. Everything seems to be in favor of the wool grower in New Mexico. ‘The wages are almost half, and the climate of Montana necessitates the employment of a larger number of men. As a result the item of labor amounts to twenty-six cents more in Montana. In New Mexico the sheep need never be fed; in Montana feed costs twenty- five cents, and should amount to one dollar if the animals were properly kept. In New Mexico shelter is not needed, in Montana shelter must be provided. In New Mexico the total cost is not over forty-five cents, in Montana it is between eighty cents and a dollar. One might imagine that men would never at- tempt to raise sheep in the latter State, or if they did, that the competition of such States as New Mexico would render any such attempt fruitless. Yet what are the facts? In 1883 there was scarcely a sheep in Montana. Now there are eight hundred thousand, and the number is constantly increasing. In New Mexico the number is the same now (1890) as in 1883. Besides this, it is claimed that the average New Mex- ican has not made money, while the efforts of the ranchmen of Montana have been almost uniformly suc- cessful. As was previously stated, one of the causes for this unlooked-for result is the difference in the character of the sheep; the fact that New Mexico has been the home of the Scrub, while Montana started with an improved animal. But the Scrub is not re- sponsible for all the difference. The character of the people must also be taken into consideration. In New Mexico the care of sheep is left largely in the hands of half-breeds, and more or less degenerated Mexicans, Then,’as in T’exas, New Mexico has been over-run with inexperienced persons from other parts of the country, | having a little capital and great expectations. On the OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. EL7 other hand, the success of the Montanians is due to their enterprise rather than to any favorable natural condi- tions. THE COST OF SOUTHERN OR ROAMING SHEEP. As before explained, the majority of the sheep in this section roam unattended over the waste lands. ‘The total expense is in the catching, shearing and marking. To this we might possibly add the interest on the value of the animals themselves. The regular price is two dollars per head, whether the animals are sold separ- ately or in lots; and one might almost add, whether in good or bad condition. With interest at seven per cent. this is only fourteen cents per sheep, which makes the total cost thirty-nine cents per year. No Southern farmer, however, would think of estimating interest as part of the cost, as the proceeds of the sale of his few sheep would not be sufficient to invest. If he parts with any of his flock, it is simply to eke out the slender living of the year. Those sheep which are kept in enclosed fields in the South are but little more expensive than those which tun on the free or waste lands. ‘The sheep are never numerous enough to occupy fields which would other- wise be used for raising tobacco or cotton, and therefore the cost of land, as likewise the little cotton-seed meal which is occasionally fed to them, can be disregarded. COST OF RAISING SHEEP IN AUSTRALIA. Let us now turn from the conditions and cost of rais- ing sheep in the United States to those in foreign coun- tries. And especially let us look at the cost and condi- tions of raising sheep in Australia. This is the country in which the industry has made its greatest triumphs. What is the secret of its success? In order to answer this question or to appreciate any fact connected with 118 OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. the industry in Australia, we must not only have a knowledge of the method of raising sheep, but also some insight into the land system.* Sheep in Aus- tralia, except in a few unimportant instances, are not herded. Ask a colonist how many attendants he re- quires, and he will reply that sheep have no attend- ants in our sense of the word. ‘They are allowed to run in large fields or paddocks. The fences are usually of wire. There is great variety in the size of these paddocks. In some places they contain as many as thirty square miles, in others not more than two thousand acres. The larger paddocks are usually found where the grass is sparse. Near the coast the grasses being much heavier, on account of the more frequent rains, the paddocks are smaller, the best sheep being frequently changed from one to the other. Sheep farms are known as stations, or runs, though if one man owns a large run he may have two or more farms or sta- tions, where the men live and where the supplies are kept. Thus the word station means either the build- ings on a run, or the run itself. Though the govern- ments of the colonies have made some attempt to limit the size and number of runs which may be owned by one person, nevertheless those who were early in the field have built up immense estates. Thus, S. Mc- Caughey, of New South Wales, owns one million two hundred thousand sheep, which graze on three and one- half million acres of land. It is not unusual to finda man owning a flock of twenty thousand. The rate of farm wages in Australia, $292 to $365 per annum, is not very different from thie rate for similar labor in the United States, being somewhat more than in the southern or southeastern States, and somewhat less than in Montana and on the North Pacific coast. The secret of the low cost of sheep in Australia, there- * See Appendix. OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. 119g fore, is not the difference in the rate of wages; for that, as far as the employer is concerned, is often in favor of the United States. Is it then in their method of enclosing sheep in large fields? ‘To answer this, let us investigate the outlay necessary to keep a definite number of sheep in Australia, under the paddock system, and compare the result with the cost of herding the same number of sheep in the United States. For this purpose we will take a flock of 20,000 fine Merinos. With us, these sheep would be divided into bands of twelve hundred each. I make the number twelve hundred instead of the usual fifteen hundred or two thousand, because I am comparing the finest sheep in both countries, and am supposing that the best care possible under a herding system is being given to the flock. For these twenty thousand sheep there will be twenty-five men, or an average of one man and a half to each band. Wages in northeast Texas, where the climate is not unlike Australia, are fifteen to eighteen dollars a month and board, which latter is calculated at from six to eight dollars. This makes the labor twenty-five dollars per month a man, or three hundred dollars a year. Seven thousand five hundred dollars is therefore the total cost of labor per annum for twenty thousand sheep; in other words, thirty-seven and one-half cents per head. The cost in Victoria, as elsewhere in Australia, or in this country, will vary greatly with the character of the run, and the carrying capacity of the land. Near the coast, on imported grasses, there will be as many as six or seven sheep toan acre. In the interior the number of sheep per acre rapidly decreases, while in the Mallee country, of which we shall have something to say in the Appendix, six, seven, and even ten or twelve acres, will be required to rear one sheep. For our comparison, let us take an average of one sheep to every two acres. I may state that, though in Victoria this average would be 120 OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. considered as only fair land, in Western Australia it would be regarded as very good pasturage. In Queens- land the average is somewhat higher than the figures we have taken.* To support twenty thousand sheep, forty thousand acres will be required. This we can divide into ten square paddocks of four thousand acres each. ‘This enables the sheep to be changed from one paddock to another, thus utilizing the land to the best advantage. These paddocks will require upwards of sixty-seven and a half miles of fence, even when the boundaries are arranged in the most economical manner. Of course, a run owner can seldom build his paddocks so as to enclose the greatest number of acres with the least amount of wire. ‘The land is usually surveyed by the government before purchase ; though in some instances the boun- daries of the run are selected by the purchaser. Even in this latter case, its general character is defined by certain rules. In New South Wales, for instance, the distance between the sides of the parallelograms and rectangles into which the land may be divided, must never be less than one-half the length of the longest side. Of course, the lessee or owner can always cut up the interior of his run into paddocks of the size and character he may prefer. The ten subdivisions into which we have divided the land are perhaps more than would be usual where only one sheep could be run to every two acres, and would indicate that the owner de- sired to improve the bearing capacity of the land. *U. S. Consular Reports, No. 121, Oct., 1890, p. 256. Colony. No. of acres Palen. No. of acres per sheep. per sheep. New South Wales. . 2.92 || West Australia. . . 176.70 WMICKORI SD coi a el nc 2-01 ||) Tasmania aoe. a ee 5.23 Queensland... . . 6.75 || New Zealand .. . 2.21 South Australia... 42.86 OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. 121 For these sixty-seven and one-half miles of fence we must have three men known as boundary riders. A boundary rider is one whose duty it is to see that the fence is in order. In a flat country one man can take care of twenty-five to thirty miles of fence. The land in Australia, except near the southern and eastern coasts, is almost level, or only slightly un- dulatory. The boundary riders receive $291.99 per annum, and also their board. The board may be calculated, as indicated above, at seven dollars per month. Besides the boundary riders, four shepherds must be employed. The shepherds being men of more experience, are paid at the rate of $364.97 per annum. A cook, a storekeeper, and two general laborers, will complete the permanent force at the station. A super- intendent, of course, will be necessary. ‘The salaries of superintendents, however, ranging all the way from $1,000 per annum to an interest in the business, are as impossible to estimate as in America. In our compari- son we have therefore omitted this item. The above is an over-estimate of the number of hands, for all colonies ex- cept Western Australia and Victoria. In the former some sheep are herded, the Chinese and aboriginal inhabitants being employed as laborers at very low rates of wages. In Victoria greater care is given to sheep than in any other colony, and consequently a greater number of hands are employed. In Queensland the average is one man to eight thousand sheep, or three men to twenty-four thou- sand sheep, excluding cooks, storekeepers and general laborers. The cost of labor in Australia for twenty thousand sheep will, as a result of the above, amount to $3667.07. This is 18.3 cents per sheep, against 37% cents in the United States as a result of the herd- ing process. ‘The advantage of running sheep in large enclosed tracts is obvions. But the difference is even more striking if we reduce the calculation to Texas I22 OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. wages. Ten men at a cost of $300 per year is only $3,000, or 15 cents per sheep. ‘The true difference in favor of the Australian system is therefore $22.5 cents. Of course, this advantage is somewhat modified, when we take into consideration the interest on the cost of the fences. The cost of fencing per sheep depends on the carrying capacity of the land. The expense which attends the erection of a three-strand barb wire fence in the United States is 51% cents per rod, divided as follows: 334 pounds of barb wire at 6 cents per pound. ....... 22.5 T DOGE-AC Ze) CONE Gi:6 Tes Bowne ew) a ew) Si ey leh we ne Raye 20.0 .5625 pounds of fence staples at 5 cents. . 2... se see 2.8125 BGT See ies Seat kite ERED Pe eh aera ie eae ae, tee 5.9375 SAE Sane a om Oe, al eiaw ie cen AIR! en Sake Car Sohne ter i ee 51.2500 The cost in Australia will not vary materially from these figures. ; For sixty-seven and a half miles, the cost will amount to $11,070. Interest on all improvements on land should be calculated at 10 per cent., where the or- dinary rate of interest is 6 to 8 per cent. The 10 per cent. covers the cost of repairing or the loss from deteri- oration. ‘Ten per cent. on $11,070 makes $1,107 as the annual cost of a fence large enough to enclose twenty thousand sheep. This is at the rate of 5.535 cents per sheep. Adding the cost of fencing to the cost of labor, we have 20.535 cents as the cost of doing in Australia what it takes 37% cents in the United States to accom- plish. And remember, this is not due to the perennial climate of these colonies, nor to the low rate of wages, but simply to a difference in method. The next two items of cost are strictly Australian. Unsettled land can rarely be bought outright for pas- toral purposes. New land suitable for sheep-raising is usually leased from the government. In Victoria the OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. 123 rent is based on the carrying capacity of the land. ‘The price is one shilling per annum for each sheep which the land is capable of sustaining. This it somewhat higher than in the rest of Australia. Besides the rent of one shilling, permanent improvements to the value of Is. 6d. or 39 cents per acre on land that will bear two sheep to the acre, have to be made by the lessee within three years from the commencement of the lease. ‘These improvements consist in buildings, wells, etc. They also include fences, but as I desire to compare the paddock system with our own method of herding, I have treated the cost of fencing as a separate item. To the interest on improvements which is calculated at ten per cent.,.must be added the interest on the value of the stock itself. The value of sheep in Australia varies considerably. In periods of drought they have been known to be practically given away. The normal price is about two dollars per head. When the frozen meat trade is once firmly established, as it is in New Zealand, prices for mutton will be much steadier, though probably not a great deal higher than at present. I have placed the price of shearing as 4% cents per sheep. This covers the wages of the shearers, which are from 20 to 25 shillings per hundred, but a fraction more might possibly be added for board. As a result of the above, the total expense per annum is found to be 71.2683 cents per sheep, or $14,254.37 for a flock of twenty thousand. ‘There are many incidentals which are not included in this calculation, but it is believed that enough margin has been allowed on the different items, especially on the interest on permanent improvements, to cover all extras. The larger the flock the smaller the cost per sheep. It must also be remembered that we have based our calculations on sheep which receive the best possible care. On the other hand we have not included the cost of trans- 124 OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. portation of the wool, which of course varies with the distance from the seaboard; and we have also omitted the cost of fine wool rams. Many of these latter are imported from Tasmania, California, or Vermont. On the whole, seventy-five cents will probably cover all the expense of raising the best sheep in Australia. . As the estimate includes interest on all money in- vested, it indicates a rather higher cost than is often quoted by those who, when they speak of cost, mean simply the cost of labor. ‘The statements I have made are based on the statistics of our Consuls, of the gov- ernment officials in the colonies and of large owners and dealers. I fave the satisfaction to know that the conclusion to which I have come concerning the total cost of Australian sheep is similar to that of Mr. W. G. Markham, who has spent some time in Australia in- vestigating this subject. On the opposite page is a condensed statement of the foregoing discussion. * * Since these statistics were compiled, I have received the following from J. D. Connolly, our Consul in Auckland : “‘T have endeavored to procure some reliable information in regard to the cost of wool-growing in New Zealand, which, I hope, may prove interesting to those engaged in similar occupations in the’ United States. ‘ ‘““THe average cost per sheep a year to the breeders (all expenses ) is about 60 cents. The average proportion of sheep to attendants is one attendant to every 5,000 sheep. The average wages paid to at- tendants is $4.86 per week and found. The average weight of a fleece . is: Merinos, 5 pounds; cross-breds, 8 pounds. The average price that the breeders receive per pound of wool is from Io to 23 cents in the grease—average, 17 cents per pound. The average size of a flock on stations is from 30,000 to 80,000, and in paddock farming ( inclosed in fields ) 200 to 3,000 sheep. Owing to the mildness of the climate, shelter beyond that which is furnished by hedges is not necessary. The character of their food is principally grass, except where sheep are being prepared for freezing and export to England, when they are fed on grass and turnips. The proportion of sheep and lambs lost annually from exposure is about 5 per cent. It is found that sheep OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. 125 SUMMARY OF COST OF RAISING 20,000 SHEEP IN AUSTRALIA. 3 S San | Be wo Ll 42) m0 ® One sheep to every two acres. oo9 ® " g2e | be eee ia S 3 boundary riders at $291.99 perannum. .... $875 97| % 4.3798 4 shepherds at $364.97 perannum........ 1459 88) 7:2994 eae At eA SO Per AMIE 6). 5) alee es 243 30| 1.2165 I store-keeper at $194.64 perannum. ...... 194 64 -9732 2 laborers at $194.64 a year perman...... 389 28| 1.9464 Food for 7 men at $6 permonth.. ....... K 504 00] 2.5200 Cost of shearing 4.2 cents perhead. ..... 2 840 00| 4.2000 EO SURR OE as! GUST. 1 aN a ee $4507 O7| 22.5353 Interest on permanent improvements (io per cent. CeO Ae OEMS ier BREE) oe echo aha Veo Ride e re 1440 00] 7.2000 Interest on value of sheep (6 per cent, on $2.00 1 Sa ON Aa rc aii ota tel 2400 00] I2.0000 Interest on cost IE OIOE: 5 \a Woe alice PU ht een IIO7 OO] 5.5350 Motel miter@se ys 0 s+. oe Ohta ck ale 08 les $47) OO) 24.7350 oe ee A ae aa Pe Ae Ne ih een 4800 00} 24.0000 OESIETRCE yy erin essa. 8 vale Py ea ce gene e «| $14254 07| 71.2683 COMPARISON OF OUR OWN AND AUSTRALIAN METHODS. For | For 1 20,000. |sheep. The total cost per annum of labor in Texas of herd- ing fine sheep, on the basis of one man and a half to : OE ee en ee $7500 00]37.5 Total cost of labor per annum in Australia for the same character of sheep at the same rate of wages.| 3000 OO|I5. Cost of fencing per annum in Australia....... IIO7 OO} 5.535 Difference in favor of the Australian system . ... .| 3912 37|16.965 imported into New Zealand improve very much, both in constitution and in quality. It is generally attributed to the uniform mildness of the climate. No other satisfactory answer to this question is obtain-. able, although I have made numerous inquiries amongst those who 126 OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. As a result of this low cost and the great weight of the fleece, together with the fine character of the wool, the profits of a successful sheepman, or squatter, as he is usually called when he leases government lands, are not unfrequently very great. The weight of the Vic- torian fleece is something wonderful. A station, such as we have described, will average eight pounds per fleece. The price in London for fine Victorian wool is now 22 to 22% cents per pound. ‘This is higher than it has been for some time. A price of 23 cents means 20 cents on board a vessel in Australia, for from London quotations one must deduct freight and sale charges, which amount to over 1% cents, and also interest on the value of the wool during the voyage. ‘Twenty cents per pound on an average of eight pounds is $1.60 are familiar with the subject, than that the land, grass, and climate are peculiarly adapted to sheep raising. ‘“The number of sheep exported last year with and without wool amounted to 1,964,281, valued at $553.040. Thirty-seven thousand eight hundred and twenty-six of the above number were shipped to the west coast of America (San Francisco ) of the value of $5,055. ‘“The total value of wool exported from 1880 to 1889, inclusive, was $207,622,565. The wool export for 1880 was 66,860,150 pounds, valued at $17,473,450, whilst the returns for 1889 show the wool shipments to be 102,227,354 pounds ( $28,037,005 ), an increase during the ten years of $10,563.550. ‘‘T still entertain the opinion expressed in my report to the Depart- ment of January 27, 1890, viz, that American wool buyers could buy in this market and ship direct to New York or Boston much cheaper than they could buyin London. It is reasonable to presume that the London or middle-man’s commission, together with the cost of trans- shipment from London to New York, would at least be saved. I am forced to this conclusion from the fact that many of the continental buyers find their way to these colonies during the wool season. If wool buyers on the Continent find it profitable to purchase their wool from first hands, then would not American manufacturers find it equally advantageous to pursue a similar course? The experiment seems worthy the consideration of those engaged in woolen manu- factures.’”’ [Appeared in the U. S. Consular Reports, No. 121, Oct., 1890, pp. 347-8. ] OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. 127 per sheep, excluding the value of the increase and the return from the sale of mutton. Even when wool was at 16 cents in London and 14 cents in the colonies, the return from wool alone amounted to $1.12, and the price could probably fall to ten cerits per pound without driving many of the present owners out of the business. Soon the Australians, by the extension of the frozen meat trade, will be able to obtain a steady market for their mutton. ‘They will then turn themselves to solv- ing the problem of breeding an animal which will at once be a good mutton and wool producer. The paddock system is undoubtedly the chief feature in Australian success. But we would commit a grave error did we not recognize the part played by the land laws. Indeed, some knowledge of these laws is essential to an understanding of the present conditions of the in- dustry in those colonies. Their chief object, as will be seen by a perusal of the note at the end of the book, is to force the settler, or squatter, to improve the land be- fore he obtains a grant in fee simple. By this means they have insured the thorough settling of the country, and restricted the growth of that pest of civilization— the man who holds unimproved land, waiting for a rise in its value owing to the improvements of his neighbor. I regret that it was impossible for me toexamine more closely into the cost of sheep raising in other foreign countries. ‘The information given in the table as to the average annual total cost per sheep, and the return from the sale of the clip, was furnished by the United States Consuls residing in the several countries. From the fact that all the questions which I addressed to our Con- suls were answered in the most painstaking manner, I have every reason to believe in the accuracy of their statements. It is curious to note that only in Australia, South America and Natal, does the return for the wool exceed the total cost persheep. This would seem to 128 OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. indicate that the grower in other countries has other sources of revenue from his animals besides the fleece. This is the case. ‘The Armenian, for instance, as I shall have occasion to point out again, turns the milk of his ewes into cheese, and sells as a great delicacy, the fat cut from the animals’ broad flat tail.* *TI have also received the following account of sheep raising in Southern Russia: ‘The average cost per sheep a year to the breeders (all expenses) is 2 rubles ($1.09). ‘The average proportion of sheep to attendants is four attendants to every I,200 sheep, viz., three men and a boy. Each man receives $50 a year, the boy $20. They are furnished with food and shelter and part of their clothes. ‘“The average weight of a fleece is 9 pounds. ‘“The average price which the breeders receive per pound of wool is from Io to 12% cents. ‘“The average size of a flock is about I,200. ‘““The sheep are never placed under shelter for a longer period than three months—December, January and February. ‘‘When under shelter the food consists of hay, straw, and occasion- ally a little salt, otherwise it is grass. ‘“From 5 to ro per cent. of sheep are lost annually through disease, age, and neglect. The proportion of lambs is about 20 per cent. ‘“‘On the importation of sheep into the country the wool grows coarser and loses its grease. “‘The change of climate and the change of nourishment is undoubt- edly the cause of this change of fleece, as foreign sheep are usually fed on hay and barley.’’ [Reported in U. S. Consular Reports, No. 117, p. 255, June, 1890. } CHAPTER VII. THE FUTURE OF THE INDUSTRY. From the result of my investigation into the cost of raising sheep and the distribution of the industry, I am led to believe that the success of sheep raising in any section depends upon three factors: namely, the charac- ter of the people, the climate, and the method employed. The relative importance of these factors varies in differ- ent countries. In the United States at the present time the character of the people is a far more potent factor than climate: If we look on the Diagram in Table V in connection with the number of sheep in each State and Territory shown in Table III, we will see that there is little connection between the cost of raising sheep and the condition of the industry. In Delaware, for instance, the annual return from raising sheep with proper management would be over I90 per cent. on the investment, yet there are only 22,000 sheep in that State, or one to every seven per- sons. We have already compared sheep raising in New Mexico and Montana. Montana is less favored by nature, but the industry is in a far better condition than in New Mexico. The South, however, is by far the most striking example of the effect of the character of the people. Within three hundred miles south of Philadelphia the actual cost of raising sheep is less than in Utah, Arizona, or New Mexico. Central Ken- tucky, ‘Tennessee, western North Carolina, and Vir- ginia, are places which nature seems to have especially prepared to be the home of the fine-wool sheep. These districts are well watered, have an equable climate, unrivalled pasturage, and cheap land. Nothing seems 9 (129) 130 = OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. to be desired; yet there is not any part of the United States where sheep culture is in a more deplorable con- dition. In Tennessee some farmers have a few miser- able Scrub sheep, to which they give little or no thought. In Kentucky and Virginia the industry is only in a slightly better condition. The trouble is with the people, not with nature. Sheep could not be raised in the best portions of Australia, by the pres- ent population of many of the Southern States. I have spoken of the ravages of dogs, and of the impossibility of raising sheep in a country overrun with an ani- mal like the Southern cur; but at the same time we found that the cur is the result of bad social conditions, which foster a spirit of shiftlessness. Energy and thrift must be infused into the people before we can hope that they can deal with the dog problem. Char- acter and social conditions, however, are subject to change, while physical conditions are comparatively permanent. With every improvement in the condition of the South, the energy of the people of the Northern States will be less distinctively characteristic, and the physical differences between these two sections of our country will come more prominently into play. This fact must be borne in mind in any speculation as to the future of the industry. And in comparing the relative influence of social and physical causes on the future de- velopment of wool-growing, we must also remember the differences between raising sheep on a large and on a small scale. ‘The former will always be conducted in the parts of our country which are comparatively thinly settled, and where consequently land can be ob- tained for a moderate sum. When a district is thickly populated, each acre must be put to its best possible use, which usually implies a careful rotation of crops and stock. Under these last conditions more depends on the efficiency of labor, and less on the bounty of OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. 131 nature. Thus physical conditions play a more import- ant part when large bodies of sheep are raised, than when there is a dispersion of small flocks among a farming population. For instance, if we wish to estab- lish sheep raising in the South it will be much easier for northern companies to buy large farms and clear the country of dogs, than directly to disperse among the present population good breeds of sheep. If we are ever to have large flocks of fine-wool ani- mals in this country, or produce the wool necessary for our own consumption, it must be by developing the industry in those sections where the physical conditions make it possible to raise sheep in large bodies at a low cost. In seeking the parts of our country where, if once established, the industry would have the greatest de- velopment, we must look more at the climate and soil, than at the present social condition of the people. For all that has been said concerning the fineness of the clip of the Northwest, does not render any less true the proposition that the sections of our country possessing an equable climate must ultimately contain the ma- jority of the large flocks of fine-wool sheep. The climate is the true test of what the expense of feeding ought to be. Thus in Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, and Nevada, the cost of feeding sheep, though practically nothing, is so only at the expense of a heavy annual loss, sometimes amounting to fifty per cent., of lambs and sheep, and a great deteriation in the quantity and quality of the fleece. The mean annual temperatures given below, together with the mean temperatures of the coldest months, and the average number of sheep and lambs annually lost from exposure, will give usa general idea of the climate in the different States of the West. 132 OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. Average) Average per cent./per cent. Mean of lambs of sheep temp. of lost | lost the Mean /|through |jthrough coldest |temp. in| expos- | expos- month | 1887. | ure and/ure and in 1887. poor poor Fort Randall, South Dakota... .| —8.6°| 37.2° 10% 2% Fort A. Lincoln, North Dakota .| —ro. 45. 15 10 Fort Keogh, Montana ..... 8.6] 42.9 15 Io Fort Hays, West Kansas .... Pee 51.4 20 se) Fort Sidney, West Nebraska .. 23.4) B96 20 Io Colorado Springs, Colorado... PEST ie bial chine 30 20 Laramie Fort, Wyoming .... 24:4} ATS 30 25 woke City, THaho iu.) se. 36. 53.1 20 8 Reed, SINGIPENE Maca 56) 3) 0s 6h) 8 34. Ee Wea Gees, 8 Carlin: North Nevada (0°. 3.6 38.4 | 48.9 50 8 Maricopa, South Arizona. ... 51.2| 74.2 20 5 Shelden Fort, New Mexico... ASc% |) 62.5 25 Io Modesto, KAlitormia is) Yt 4s te: il a 6 20 5 Gala, Oregon (Valley) ..... 46.6.) 63.5.4: Je, 22 5 Pott Kalinath, "Oreron oo. aie. AI. 50. 15 5 Walla Walla Fort, Washington . 41.5| 52.8 | 20 5 The uncertainty of the climate in a great part of the West, not its severity, is the principal drawback. ‘This is true of places as far south as Northern Texas, for in- stance. Usually the temperature of the Willamette Val- ley, Oregon, is one almost perfect for producing fine wool; but even here there are occasioual storms, and some food and shelter ought to be provided. In many parts of the West a blizzard may carry off half of the flock on one night, while the rest of the year, or for many years, shelter may be entirely unnecessary. ‘The aver- age annual loss of lambs and sheep taken from esti- mates of ranchmen near the places whose temperature is given in the table is a good illustration of what I mean. The coldest climate does not coincide with the greatest death-rate from exposure. In Montana the ranchman, counting on bitterly cold weather, is prepared for it when it comes; but in sections like Southern Kansas, OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. 133 Colorado and Utah, where the climate is uncertain, only shelter of the most wretched sort, if any, is pro- vided. It is in these last States therefore that the greatest losses from exposure occur. While the climate of the Central Northwest is too cold, the climate of Southern Texas, New Mexico and Arizona is too warm. The fleece tends to grow lighter in weight, for nature throws off that which is superfluous. The soil and the rainfall are other important factors in determining the value of any section as a grazing country. In order that fine wool may be grown success- fully, the soil on which the sheep run must not be of such a character that the wool will be filled with sand, which not only weights the fleece, but cuts the fibre. This fact makes the Gulf coast, which has an excellent climate, unsuited for growing fine wool. In Southern Georgia and Northern Florida, besides the sand _ itself, sand-burrs become entangled in the wool and adversely effect the condition of the fleece. The trouble with sand exists not only on the western Atlantic and Gulf Coast, but wherever there is a sandy soil and a scarcity of vegetation. The grass is sparse throughout the greater part of Southern and Western Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and Nevada. In many districts in these States the approach of a band of sheep is indi- cated by the great cloud of dust. The thinness of the grass, to which is due the prevalence of the sand, also proves that the sheep have insufficient nourishment, which in itself is enough to injure the condition of the fleece. We can never hope to permanently establish the fine-wool industry on a large scale in those parts of our country where the soil or rainfall render the food scarce or uncertain, and where the fleece is filled with sand, though these sections may always pro- duce considerable medium, or even fine-staple wool. The necessity of having soil somewhat more fertile 134 OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. than a desert is seen even more clearly when we con- sider the proper method of raising sheep. In examin- ing wool growing in Australia we found that the true cause of the low cost of production, is not so much the climate of that country, as the land laws and the custom of raising sheep in enclosed fields. It is not practical for us, at this late stage of our national history, to adopt the principal points of their land system. The younger nations have profited by our irretrievable mistakes. It is still, however, easy for us to adopt the paddock. ‘The moment we change our ideas as to the proper method of raising sheep in large flocks—and change we must if we are ever going to make a success of the fine-wool industry in this country—a considerable modification will take place in our ideas as to the best place to run them. It is cheaper to herd sheep where the land it- self costs nothing; for it requires almost as many men to watch the sheep on land carrying two sheep to an acre, as on land which will not carry one sheep to every five acres. Little is gained therefore by herding sheep on expensive land. But with the paddock system, the cost of the fence must be taken into consideration. The cheapest land ceases to be the most profitable land on which sheep can be raised. In Australia the best paying animals are run on land which rents at over fifteen cents a year persheep. There are plenty of desert lands in the interior, but nobody thinks of utilizing them. In Idaho, on the other hand, sheep are often driven one hundred and fifty miles in a year in search of pasturage, anda flock seldom remains more than two days at the same camp. ‘To enclose such a tract would be impossible. If I am right in saying that the adoption of the paddock _ system is essential for the permanent success of wool growing on a large scale in our country, then only those districts which combine an equable climate and good pasturage can hope to become the home of the fine-wool OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. 135 industry. Unfortunately for the interests of wool grow- ing in the United States, on many Western ranches we are attempting to raise sheep in the wrong places, and in the wrong way. Southern California, parts of Texas and Oregon, are practically the only sections where fine wool is raised to any considerable extent, which are adapted to the industry. As before intimated the natural ad- vantages are all in favor of the Old South. Western North Carolina, Tennessee and Kentucky have climates which will rival that of Australia. The mean tempera- ture of Central Tennessee is 60°; that of Melbourne, Victoria, 57.5°; while as in Anstralia there is no time of the year when the sheep require to be fed or housed, and unlike Australia there is no danger of drought. Land is cheaper on the average than in Victoria; grass is plenty and markets for wool lie within hundreds instead of thousands of miles. Social conditions are at present a strong, almost insurmountable, obstacle. But the South is awakening. Its natural resources are being developed, and we believe that if the condition of the wool market remains favorable, its great advantages in respect to sheep raising will be realized, and we shall witness the formation of companies: for the purpose of prosecuting the industry on an extended scale. Cause and effect in the social and economic develop- ment of any country react on one another to such ex- tent that it is often impossible to separate the one from the other. Immigration to the South will lead to the establishment of many industries; but the industries in their turn will transform the character of the people, and make the slovenly and shiftless enterprising and indus- trious. ‘I‘he more successful the industry, the greater is its effect on the moral and social conditions of society, and in agriculture the successful industries will be those for which the soil and climate are especially fitted. We should therefore seek to. develop each section along 136 OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. those lines laid down by nature. The South being es- pecially adapted to sheep raising, no industry has a bet- ter chance of success, and consequently no industry can confer greater benefits on the people. The raising of large flocks in the Southern States is by no means inimical to the increase in the number of small flocks kept by farmers. In examining the cost of keeping field sheep, we saw that the chief differences in the cost of production arose from the number of sheep raised by any farmer in relation to the size of his farm, and from the climate. Where very few sheep are raised, only the cost of feeding and interest on the value of the animals need be taken into consideration. ‘The establishment of sheep farms in the Northern States, and indeed in any portion of our country where the sheep have to be fed, is not the least expensive method of raising these ani- mals, and therefore would not be advisable. By this I do not mean to infer that each farmer should keep only a few sheep, or confine himself to the number which his waste land can support. An industry which is con- ducted solely on land for which there is no other use will never amount to a great deal. Raising sheep to clear land of briars will produce neither good mutton nor fine wool. An industry begins to be truly bencf.- cial to a country and an aid to its development only when a good commodity is produced. In New Jersey the farmers raise sheep to clear the land of briars, and the industry confers but a limited advantage on the com-_ munity. In Ohio they raise sheep for wool and mutton, and the industry adds millions to the wealth of that State. What our farmers want is to add a new industry to those they already possess; not on the one hand to devote themselves exclusively to sheep raising, nor on the other hand to raise in a half-hearted way a few non- descript animals. It would, however, as in the case of any other industry, be worse than useless to encourage rid OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. 137 sheep raising in places totally unfitted for its develop- ment. Feeding so materially affects the cost that we can never hope for any great increase, except possibly on stock farms, in those sections of our country where the animals have to be fed over four months and a half. On the other hand, in the parts of our country where the winters are comparatively short, the feeding, though necessarily expensive, does not add as much to the cost as might be supposed. ‘The farmer must look to the mutton as well as to the wool for his return, and the best mutton returns are only obtained when the sheep are fed to a considerable extent. The belt of country east of the Rockies lying between the thirty-eighth and forty-second parallel is well calculated for raising sheep in small flocks. Southern New England is also suited to this purpose on account of the close proximity of large markets. And here we may point out that the broken undulat- ing country along the Ohio, mentioned in the second chapter, as well as the land in western Massachusetts and northern New York, also sections where agriculture is not in as favorable condition as might be desired, are at the same time excellent sheep districts. Indeed, we will seldom find better grazing country than in southern Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. The climate, though the sheep have to be housed for a short time in the winter, resembles that of northern Kentucky, rather than that of the central and northern portions of the Lower Lake regions. The blue grass is a native of the soil. The sheep being well suited to the higher ground, if they increase in uumbers, will utilize the very land which is now unsuccessfully devoted to wheat. In fact, the whole belt I have spoken of as best suited for the development of the field sheep, coincides very closely with those dis- tricts where there exists the greatest agricultural depres- sion. The district along the Ohio we have already men- ~ 138 OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. tioned; southern central Pennsylvania, southern New England, eastern Kansas, are all places in which the natural possibilities for extending the industry are good, and where at the same time the condition of agriculture is not as favorable as it might be. But there is another advantage which will spring from the general introduction of the industry among the farm- ers. Sheep require a great deal of intelligence on the part of those who raise them. ‘There is no occupation in which farmers can engage where superior intelligence lends such a distinct advantage. At the same time, throughout a large part of our country there exists a marked tendency for the brightest boys to drift toward the large cities. This is due to a variety of complli- cated causes many of which we need not enter into here. But the chief cause will, we believe, be found in the fact that, though in the city the boys will be re- quired to work harder, there is a greater chance for them to acquire a larger income. As a result of this tendency for the brighter boys to drift toward the city, in many sections of our country agricultural production is not carried on by as intelligent a class as it would be if it were possible for the farmer, by producing a greater variety of crops and stock, to make his income greater than it is at-epresent. "Thus an agricultural industry which was especially profitable to the intelligent farmer would lead many a boy who now drifts toward the cities, to remain on the farm and use his intelligence, not only in the production of wool and mutton, but also in the production of other agricultural commodities. We can, therefore, answer in the affirmative the ques- tion whether an increase in the production of wool and mutton will relieve the farmer in those parts of our country where the establishment of a new industry seems to be the only way in which to counteract the depression resulting from the present tendency to the OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. 139 over-production of the staple crops. The natural de- velopment of the industry, by which I mean its in- crease in those sections which by nature have been fitted for it, will confer a great benefit on our country. And in helping to establish it we are conforming to the rule which is the true key of national prosperity; namely, to develop our resources along those lines which nature has prescribed. By this I do not mean to grow tobacco in one section, corn in another, wheat in a third, and sheep in a fourth, but rather to develop all the varied resources of the different parts of our country, without forcing the cultivation of any commo- dity in a district which is unfitted for its production. The benefits of an increase in the industry being manifest, is it necessary for our Government to do any- thing in order to insure this increase? For we must re- cognize that the time for abstract discussion of the proper sphere of government has long passed. At the present day we deal with facts. We want to increase an industry which will be of great advantage to the people. If Government protection and direction are necessary to ‘this end, then protection and direction are legitimate spheres of governmental activity. The cur, though a great obstacle to the successful prosecution of the industry in the East and South, can at present only be directly dealt with by the States. As we have pointed out, the prevalence of the evil is largely the result of the character of the people. In the South the cur can only be exterminated by those who undertake to grow sheep on a large scale. Like Mr. Polk Prince, of Kentucky, having established their sheep farm, they will, in defence of their property, effectually settle the dog nuisance. In the North the dog pest, though a formidable evil, has by no means reached such magnitude as in the Southern States. When we can demonstrate to the farmers as a class that I40 OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. sheep raising can be made to pay, their own interest will lead them individually and through the State Legisla- tures to abolish the evil. The coyotes, foxes, wolves and the panthers of the West, however, are not the result of the character of the population, and yet in many States they form an insurmountable barrier to the adop- tion of the paddock system. ‘The State governments and individual enterprise do not seem able to cope with the evil, and it is therefore proper that the Federal Government should lend its assistance. We have seen that among the farmers of the East the lack of sheep suited to their conditions is the main cause of the decline of the industry. The fu- ture success of the field sheep depends largely on the diffusion of the proper breeds among small farmers. I have shown that the establishment of stock farms to supply our farmers with good rams at moderate prices is necessary to this end. We have already established Agricultural Experiment Stations. This is astepin the right direction, but we should realize that our whole duty toward the agricultural portion of our population is not done when we distribute seeds and analyze manures. : By a suitable breed of sheep for the Eastern farmer, I mean sheep in which mutton will be the first considera- tion. I do not, however, wish to be understood as advocating a total disregard of the character of the wool. ‘Thus the Cotswold, Leicester, and other sheep, bearing long combing wools, for which there is little or no demand, should not be introduced. ‘The Shropshire and Down breeds are more nearly in accord with our conditions; besides yielding the best mutton, they pro- duce wool for which there is asteady demand. Then too, in any improvement in our Eastern sheep, the Delaine Merinos should not be overlooked. As before ex- plained, these sheep grow a fine fibre of three to four OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. I4I inches in length. Owing to improvements in combing, the wool is admirably adapted to making fine worsteds. The varieties of Delaine wool grown in Pennsylvania, New York and Ohio, are peculiar to America. The Delaine sheep is somewhat larger than the ordinary Merino, and takes on fat more easily. Thus the varieties of Delaine Merino, such as the Dickinson and Black-top, are much nearer our American conditions than any other breeds we have produced. On the other hand, an increase of the quantity and quality of mutton is to be desired. It would therefore appear that the suitable sheep for the East lies somewhere between the Delaine and the Down. Both these approach what should be our standard of excellence, the one giving prominence to the wool, and the other to the mutton, while at the same time neither is a poor mutton or wool-bearing animal. Having seen that the introduction of the proper breeds of sheep, as also the extermination of wild ani- mals, are two things which can be said to be practically essential in order to establish the industry in this coun- try on a proper basis, let us now turn to the more im- portant question of the tariff. For though we have shown that the benefits to be derived from the increase in the number of sheep far outweigh any sacrifice which is implied in a tariff on wool, we have yet to decide whether a tariff is necessary to increase such produc- tion. If we look at Table V. the first fact that strikes us is the general profitableness of the industry, even under free trade prices. Our investigation proves that it is possible to raise wool and mutton in the United States as cheaply as in any country in the world. This indicates that permanent protection will be unnecessary, but it does not show that temporary protection is use- less, or even that it may not be indispensable to the future prosperity of the industry. I use the words 142 OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. temporary and permanent in the sense explained in the first chapter. In studying the profits of sheep raising as shown by the table, certain other facts must also be taken into consideration. ‘The column indicating the return from mutton is necessarily based on the assumption that there is a steady demand for that meat. ‘This cannot be said to be strictly the case. The people of the United States have not, as a nation, a strongly developed desire for mutton. ‘The demand is fluctuating. Even after the sheep arrive at the market, they may sometimes have to be disposed of for next to nothing. ‘True, we consume yearly about 325,000,000 pounds of mutton, but then it should be remembered that we also consume about 3,570,000,000 pounds of beef, a proportion of 1:10.94. The English, on the other hand, consume about 875,- 000,000 of mutton and 1,554,000,000 pounds of beef, a proportion of 1:1.8. | In America, outside of the cities, there is no demand for mutton. Farmers, asa rule, prefer pork. Even in the cities it is the testimony of hotel and restaurant keepers, that while they always know about how much beef their patrons are going to eat, the amount of mutton is an uncertain quantity. The taste, too, for beef is universal, but you seldom find a dozen persons who all like mutton. As a consequence, the principal roast of all large dinners must be composed of beef. ‘‘ Peo- ple complain of the eternal fillet,’? remarked one of the most celebrated caterers of the United States, ‘‘but when they are given mutton there is much more dis- satisfaction.’’ The cause for our uncertain and comparatively slight demand for the meat of the sheep is largely due to the fact that the average mutton which comes even into our highest-priced markets is far from being of the best possible quality. As for the cheap western mutton in OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. 143 the Chicago market, it is coarse-grained and stringy. The prejudice which exists against this article of diet is thus, to a certain extent, well founded, and will only be eradicated by the supply of a better quality of meat. The classes of society in our large cities who have now an opportunity of eating good mutton and lamb, are rap- idly losing their exclusive desire for beef. A strong: taste for pork characterizes the great bodies of our farming population. A good example of how a desire for mut- ton, or in fact for any new article of diet, can be intro- duced, is found in Oregon and Washington. I will let one of my correspondents, Mr. V. H. Lamara, of Rits- ville, Washington, tell the story. He says: ‘‘I think I can tell why mutton is much higher here than it used to be. In the years 1877, 1878 and 1879, mutton sheep were very low, from $1.00 to $1.25 per head, and a great many sheep were bought up and driven east to the border States, fed through the winter, and put on the Chicago and other markets in the spring. Beef had been very low for a series of years. People were educated to eat our bunch-grass beef. Every body said it was the finest in the world, and like Johnnie Bull, we became a nation of beef-eaters. There existed a strong prejudice against mutton, which was inherited from the eastern immigrants. But a change came over the spirit of our dreams. Beef commenced going up after the hard winter of 1880-81, and finally culminated in such high figures in 1883-84, that people began to seek cheaper meat, and it was then that mutton gradually came into use. The people found it so much better than they expected, that it has come to be generally eaten, and now the demand is greater than the supply.’ A distinct advantage arising from the increased produc- tion of unimproved sheep, and their distribution among the farmers, is that the people will then be supplied with better mutton, thereby largely increasing the con- 144 OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. sumption of that meat, and consequently increasing the demand for sheep. The benefits of increasing the kinds of meat or vege- tables which a people are willing to consume, can hardly be over-estimated. Not only is it apt to lead to a better use of land, but it minimizes the power for evil which those who gain control of any industry may possess. If with every slight increase in the price of beef, for instance, the people would considerably in- crease their consumption of mutton, no combination of producers or slaughterers of beef, however rich and powerful they might be, could greatly increase the price with profit to themselves. The Standard Oil Compauy is the strongest monopoly we have, yet it has had to decrease the price of oil to the consumer; for, unless the price of oil is low in comparison with gas, the people will greatly reduce their consumption of oil. In other words, when the people can -satisfy a desire for meat or light by any one of several commodities, it is impossible to greatly increase the price of any of them. But whatever the benefits which would result from an increase in our desire for mutton, we must recognize that at present this desire among the mass of our people is to a large extent undeveloped; and to deal with the question of profits on sheep to-day, the uncertain de- mand for the meat must be taken into consideration. We must also remember that the Western ranchman lives in constant fear that his stock will:be swept away by a blizzard or scattered by coyotes. ‘To be sure, not over five per cent. of the sheep in Texas are lost by exposure, but this loss is not distributed equally. If one could calculate on a regular annual loss of twenty per cent. it would not have as bad an effect on the industry as this liability, though comparatively slight, to total ruin. It may be objected to this last statement that I have admitted that sheep should not be raised in dis- OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. 145 tricts subject to blizzards. ‘True, but we shall never establish the industry in the right way by destroying that which we have already accomplished. Even under the most favorable conditions, it will take many years before we can develop the industry on a large scale in those sections suited for its future growth. As such States as Montana become more populous, the inhabi- tants will drift from sheep raising into other pursuits. It will be a natural and therefore an easy transition. It is better to allow the temporary continuation of an industry in places unsuited for its future development than to throw a large class of our fellow-citizens into bankruptcy. Finally, we must also bear in mind that sheep raising with us is virtually in the position of a new industry. Among other things, we want to change the whole method of raising sheep in large flocks, intro- duce new breeds among our farmers, and greatly in- crease the number of sheep. To induce any one to undertake raising wool or mut- ton on a permanent and extensive scale, the prospect of large profits must be held out to them. A person might enter into a well-established industry on the hope of a moderate return, but the return must be consider- ably larger to lead him to experiment in a new field of labor. ‘Then, too, the small Eastern farmer has forgot- ten how to raise sheep. Just as the farmers in South- ern Pennsylvania are possessed with the idea that Dela- ware is the only spot in the United States where peaches can be grown, so many farmers in the East are filled with the notion that sheep cannot be’ raised with a profit; that it was something their fathers did when the country was new, but now, when the land is more or less thickly populated, sheep raising must move farther west. One of the difficulties in starting an industry arises from the fact that the cost to the persons brought up in the business is not the cost to beginners. To the 146 OUR SHEEP AND THE ‘TARIFF, latter it must, from the nature of the case, be more ex- pensive. ‘This is especially true of raising animals re- quiring such intelligent care as sheep. A striking exam- ple of the truth of this is seen by a comparison of the profits of sheep raising in England and in Pennsylvania. In England the sheep cost about $2.25 per annum, while the gross profit from the wool is 90 cents, and from the mutton $1.80. The net profit is therefore 45 cents, as against $1.1334 in Pennsylvania. Yet there are com- paratively few mutton sheep in Pennsylvania, and over twenty million in Great Britain. ‘The Englishman un- derstands sheep. He is sure of a steady though small profit. In America sheep raising to many of our farmers is in the experimental stage. We also want the number of sheep in this country to increase. ‘The profits from the sale of mutton estimated in Table No. V. are based on the assumption that all animals which can be spared, without permanently reducing the number of the flock, are sent to the shambles. If we wish to establish this industry we must not only insure to the beginner a profit when his flock is stationary, but also when there is an annual increase. As is shown in our diagram, in the greater part of our country the return from wool under free trade would not amount to the cost of raising the sheep; but if we are to expect our flocks to increase, we must practically place the wool-grower above the neces- sity of sending any of his ewes to market to make both ends of his account meet. Thus, though the facts concerning the cost of raising sheep in the United States undoubtedly prove that a tariff will be unnecessary when once the industry is firmly established on a proper basis, yet at present the margin of profit under free-trade prices would be too narrow to give sufficient encouragement to the farmers to increase their flocks or to the ranchmen to invest the large amount of capital necessary to buy grazing land OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. 147 and build large paddocks. At the same time, any fur- ther increase in the tariff is unnecessary. It is part of: our present policy to greatly add to the number and ex- tent of our woolen factories. Even the present con- sumption of our mills necessitates an importation of fully 70,000,000 pounds of scoured raw wool annu- ally. It will therefore be a number of years before we can hope to begin to supply the home demand for raw wool. ‘To increase the duty on wool beyond the point necessary to attract investment would be to hurt our manufacturers, without conferring any correspond- ing advantage on the country. The changes in the rates on raw wool introduced by the McKinley bill were the subject of a good deal of criticism, for which there was little foundation. The changes from ten to eleven cents per pound on clothing wool and from ten to twelve cents per pound on combing wool were so small as to be of little moment. The other changes in the tariff of 1890, and those which are of the greatest importance, are in the classification of waste, and the change from specific to ad valorem duties on wools of the third class. As I have shown in Chapter V., these changes were rendered necessary by the evasions practiced under the Act of 1883, and they all tend to insure that wool shall be assessed according to its character. Of course no tariff bill dealing with such a varied product as wool is absolutely perfect. This much, however, I think both free trader and protectionist must admit, that the classification and arrangement of the new duties on raw wool, waste, shoddy and rags, are more scientific than any we have hitherto had from Congress. There is one class of wools which we might have preferred to have seen placed on the free list. As has been stated, we produce but a limited quantity of wool suitable for carpets. To protect this wool seems only to retard the increase of fine-wool sheep. ‘The 148 OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. tariff on the coarse carpet wool is, therefore, a premium on keeping the wool of our own flocks coarse, when fine wool could be grown at no greater expense, except in the first cost of rams. For it is just as cheap to raise sheep bearing medium clothing wool, or fine wool, as to raise those bearing the coarsest fleeces. The coarsest wools in our markets come from Turkey and Russia, yet the sheep of those countries cost their owner as much to raise as the finest animals in Australia. Fine wool is dearer than coarse, first, because those who possess the requisite intelligence to raise sheep bearing fine wool have, in one sense, a monoply. The inhabitants of Asia Minor, for instance, cannot raise fine wool, no matter how high the price held out to them. The wool from the eastern Mediterranean is coarse because the people are ignorant, not because fine wool would be more expensive. Then, the Armenians depend for their return more on the milk of the ewes, which they make into cheese, and on the carcass and pelt, or hide, than on the clip. ‘They can, therefore, afford to sell the wool at a low figure. At the same time it would be inconsistent to tax fine wool at eleven cents per pound, and admit it free of duty when mixed with carpet wool, and as we have seen, nearly all carpet wool when in the dirt is mixed with finer staples. This fine wool is often sorted out before scouring, and used in cloths. The separation of the long and coarse from the short fine staple could be performed in England, or other country of immediate shipment. ‘The coarse wool or carpet wool proper might then be admitted free of duty, while carpet wool mixed with fine fibres could be placed under Class I or II. With this exception, we are happy - to think that the rates of duty in our present tariff are as good as could have been devised. The people, through their federal govennment, have taken one step in the right direction; they have given OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. I49 the industry protection. The trouble is that they now seem to be inclined to do as they have always done; let the industry grow as best it may, without attempting to rid the plains of wild animals, or to diffuse among the farmers a breed of sheep suited to their conditions, and to investigate the cheapest methods of growing wool. Let us continue our policy of protection, and to this policy couple these other aids to the production of fine woel and good mutton, and I see no reason why we cannot make the sheep industry of the United States the ad- miration of the world, and an inestimable benefit, not only to our farmers, but to the whole country. The continuation of our present policy of protection to the industry appears advisable. It is in its nature temporary protection. By this, as before explained, I mean that when once the industry is firmly established along the right lines, a tariff will become unnecessary. How long this will take, however, depends very much on the future action of the government in other direc- tions, and the improvement in the social condition of the South. This brings me to the end of my investigation. When I began I had only a general knowledge of eco- nomic theory. The advisability of protecting wool I believed depended upon circumstances. We have taken the facts connected with the industry, and discussed them in connection with our foreign trade. The result may be stated somewhat as follows: A.—A temporary duty on wool, provided ‘our Gov- ernment assists the farmers to introduce the proper kinds of breeds, and the proper method of raising sheep on a large scale is adopted, will enable us to make a large increase in our production of wool, and ultimately so decrease the cost of raising sheep that a duty wil be no longer be necessary. ; B.—By temporarily paying higher for our wool, we 150 OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. cannot indeed hope for an immediate fall in the price of wheat or corn; but a duty on raw wool, giving the farmer one more agricultural industry, making agricul- ture so much more stable and less likely to be injuri- ously affected by temporary fluctuations in the prices of one or two commodities, will tend to reduce not only the prices of these necessaries, but also of many other agri- cultural commodities. C.—The tariff on wool, putting one more obstacle in the way of our adopting the fashions in dress from coun- tries where the climate and other physical conditions are different from our own, and increasing our desire for mutton, will tend to place our people in a position to adapt themselves with less friction than at present to our own physical and climatic conditions. D.—By increasing the advantage which the intelli- gent farmer has over his less intelligent competitor, the duty will tend to increase the amount and diminish the cost of all agricultural production. In the first chapter four ways were indicated in which we might possibly be benefited by a tariffon wool. An investigation of the facts concerning the industry has shown us that such a tariff can be advocated because it acts not only in one, but in all of these four ways. The compensation we receive for paying higher for our wool comes, and will continue to come, from many and not from one source. Indeed, this statement is likewise true of nearly every economic change such as is implied in the act of imposing or repealing a duty. ‘The result is always complicated. We cannot take one effect and conclude from its examination that the change is ad- visable or the reverse. Its wisdom depends rather on the preponderance of the good. That every consequence of a tariff on raw wool is beneficial no one would care to con- tend. What I have tried to show is that its general ten- dency is to increase the productive power of the nation, and consequently to improve the condition of the people. APPENDIX. ON THE LAND LAWS OF AUSTRALIA. ONE of the best features of the land laws of the Australian colonies, is the almost universal recognition of the principle that the purchaser must improve the land, before he obtains from the Crown a grant in fee simple. The Crown lands are usually divided into town (which also include village and suburban dis- tricts), agricultural, and pastoral lands. Land of the second class, except in New Zealand and Tasmania, is held under conditional lease, until certain prescribed improvements have been made. ‘These improvements include fencing and clearing, and the destruction of rabbits, wallabies, kangaroos, and dingos. It is with the pastoral lands, however, that we are especially interested; as the laws which deal with this class ex- clusively affect the sheep industry. As their name implies, the pastoral lands are all those suitable for grazing purposes. The governments have recognized: that to allow large tracts to be acquired by the squatters, would lead to the foundation of great landed estates. Two classes of measures have been adopted to avoid this real or supposed evil. The colony of Victoria has at- tempted to limit the amount of pastoral land which can be held by one person, to a tract sufficient to graze from four to five thousand sheep. On the other hand, all the other colonies of the Australian continent have limited the minimum, but not the maximum amount of a hold- ing. Experience seems to prove that neither regulation is very effective. (151) 152 OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. The second class of measures, and by far the most im- portant, has had a great influence in the development of the colonies. In all the countries of the continent, pas- toral land, as long as it remains such, can be leased, but not aleniated from the Crown. The length and condi- tions of the lease vary in every colony. In New South Wales we have an example of a system apparently the least favorable to pastoral interests. The lands of that colony, which are rich and mountainous on the coast, become steadily poorer as we pass toward the interior. Much of the central and western portion is little better than a desert. It is a desert, however, which irrigation is capable of turning into a garden. The land divisions are known as the Eastern, Central and Western. The former contains scarcely any pastoral land; the latter is composed of little else. Leases in the former run for only five years, with a possible extension for five years more, if in the meantime the land has not been declared agricultural, and the improvements made by the lessee are satisfactory to the Land Board. In the Western Division leases run for twenty-one years, with a possible extension of seven years more, at the discretion of the local Land Board. The lessee, however, must have made an application for such extension two years and ninety days before the expiration of his original lease. Ten years, with a possibility of five years extension, is the du- ration of a lease in the Central Division. In Victoria, pastoral lands, or pastoral allotments as they are called, can be leased for any number of years. ‘This is coupled with the important proviso, that all leases must expire before December 29, 1898. A similar plan is followed in West Australia, where all leases expire simultaneously on December 31, 1907. ‘The pastoral leases of the other two colonies of the continent, like New South Wales, have fixed terms—thirty-five years for the first lease in South Australia, and fifteen years in Queensland. In OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. 153 these colonies additional leases may be taken out for ten and twenty-one years respectively. In Tasmania and New Zealand the terms of a lease are not fixed by law. As will be seen, in all the colonies of Australia, except some leases in New Zealand, when any tract of land subject to a pastoral lease is terminated, the government is required to give notice to the lessee. It is also usual to issue what is known as an occupation license, which permits the lessee to occupy his old leasehold until the land is actually selected by permanent settlers. The power to declare land open to selection, thereby arbitrarily terminating a lease, is vested in the execu- tive portion of the Government, either in the Land Board or the Governor-in-Council. The term ‘ Gover- nor-in-Council?’’ denotes the Governor by and with the advice and consent of his Executive Council. This council is composed of ministers, who are, with the ex- ception of West Australia, responsible to the legisla- ture. ‘The power to terminate pastoral leases has been much abused by impecunious colonial governments. Often land has been declared open to selection for the simple purpose of forcing the squatter to buy his run. A general feeling prevails among the sheep men that greater security of tenure is needed. As long as the pastoral interests could move back into the interior and find as good land as they had left, the hardship of the sudden termination of the lease was not very great; but now, when much of the good land has been taken up by speculators, and the squatter has often to spend thousands of pounds in sinking artesian wells and building tanks, greater security of tenure is required. Recent legislation has been in this direction. The length of the lease has been. increased, and in New Zea- land, since the act of 1888, pastoral runs can be had for certain definite periods not exceeding twenty-one years. Some of the colonies impose, besides the rent, condi- 154 OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. tions for the improvement of the run. As before inti- mated, New Zealand and Tasmania are exceptions to this rule. In New South Wales and in the Kimberly, and Eucla land divisions of West Australia, though no improvements are required from the lesses of pastoral lands, offers, in the shape of renewals of leases or reduc- tions of rent, are held out to those lessees who increase the carrying capacity of their land. In West Australia there is also a penalty for not stocking within seven years. This penalty does not extend to the Southwest Division, which is an agricultural district. Queensland does not attach any conditions to the lease. In Victoria all vermin must be destroyed within the first three years, and all buildings kept in good repair. In South Australia the land must be stocked within three years, unless a certain amount of money has been expended in machinery or buildings. There seems to be a general impression in the United States that compensation is made in Australia for im- provements. This is true only in three Provinces, namely: in Victoria, Queensland and West Australia. If the pastoral lease is terminated in any way, either by lapse of time, or because the land has been declared open to selection, compensation is given for all im- provements made by the squatter with the approval of the government authorities. In Victoria the amount of this compensation is limited to two shillings (48 cents) an acre. The payment is not made by the gov- ernment, but by the incoming tenant. In the other colonies of Australia, on the termination of the pas- toral lease from whatever cause, all improvements revert absolutely and without compensation to the Crown. ‘The rent of pastoral leases varies greatly. In South Australia the runs are sold at auction at an upset price of two shillings and sixpence, or sixty cents per square mile, for the first lease, and five shillings, or one OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. 155 dollar and twenty cents, for the second lease. /The rent bid is only that for the first fourteen years, the rate of the remainder of the term being fixed by government valuation. ‘The rest of the colonies grant their pastoral leases on fixed terms to the first applicant. ‘The appli- cant, however, must be of the required age, which is seventeen years in New Zealand, and eighteen in the rest of the colonies. Married women, except those who are judicially separated from their husbands, or have their property protected, cannot become lessees. In New South Wales the terms are prescribed by the Minister, after valuation by the local Land Board. In Victoria the rent is based as before stated on the carry- ing capacity of the land, and is at the rate of one shill- ing (24 cents) per sheep. Queensland and West Aus- tralia disregard the carrying capacity, and regulate the reut by the size of the run. In the former colony the land commissioners determine the rent, which is subject to change by them every five years. For the first period the rent cannot be more than ninety shillings ($21.60), or less than ten shillings ($2.40) the square mile. In West Australia the rent varies in each land district. In the Southwest Division, the most thickly settled in the Colony, the rate is $4.87 for three thousand acres. The Eastern Division on the other hand is for the most part a trackless waste. ‘The rent there is only one shilling and six pence (36 cents) for one thousand acres for the first seven years; five shillings ($1.20) for the next, and seven shillings and sixpence ($1.80) for the remainder of the term. ‘The whole population of this colony is only 42,137, or about three to every hun- dred square miles of territory. Eight-tenths of the land is practically uninhabited, much is unexplored, and the greater part is a sandy desert, broken only by salt lakes and dismal marshes. ‘The climate of the northern sec- tion is excessively hot, and even in the capital, Perth, 156 OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. the thermometer, as in other parts of Australia, not infrequently rises several degrees above one hundred Fahrenheit. As before stated, the sheep are not all kept in enclosed paddocks. On account of the sparseness of the grass, and the cheapness of Chinese and ‘aboriginal labor, many flocks are herded. The sheep themselves are the poorest in Australia, being sometimes subject to scab, while the average weight of fleece is less than four pounds of unwashed wool. ‘The greater part of the clip is graded as combing. Mr. Burt, acting Colonial Secre- tary, estimates the annual cost of keeping sheep at thirty- six cents per head. ‘This does not include interest on investment. In Tasmania the rent as well as the sale of all government lands is arranged by private contract between the Commissioners and the would be squatter or settler. New Zealand used to be divided into separate colon- ies. Since their union the land laws of the once dis- tinct colonies, and of the still. smaller districts into which the islands have always been divided, have re- tained many of their distinctive features, some selling leases at auction, some leasing to the first applicant. In accordance with the policy of the colony, all the land districts sell and lease government land on the easiest possible terms. Besides pastoral lands proper, some colonies have specially proclaimed areas which rent on distinct terms. ‘Thus we have the Mallee lands of Vic- toria. ‘These are infested with rabbits and lie at a dis- tance from any railway. ‘They are let in blocks of ten and three-fourths to five hundred and eighty-three square miles in extent. The upset price at the auction is four cents per head on the carrying capacity. All vermin must be destroyed within three years. Similar to the Mallee lands of Victoria, are the scrub lands of New South Wales. These are covered by the short OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. 157 Australian scrub bush, and are almost unfit for grazing purposes. On the recommendation of the local Land Board, land may be declared ‘‘scrub.’’ ‘These tracts are then rented in the same manner as other pastoral runs, but at reduced rates. ‘The scrub, a noxious under- growth, seems to be gaining ground in parts of New South Wales. Squatters who had rented what they thought fair pasture lands soon found themselves unable to carry the number of sheep they had expected. The scrub clauses of the act of 1889 were inserted to enable squatters so situated to reduce their rent by having part of their land declared scrub. In West Australia much of the land was covered by a poisonous plant. ‘This plant, while at one time a serious evil, can now be easily removed. ands covered with the growth are declared ‘‘ poisonous’’ by the government. If the lessee of such land, having paid a pound rental for each one thousand acres; shall prove to the satisfac- tion of the Governor-in-Council, that for two years sheep have been safely pastured ii ee he is entitled to a grant in fee simple. The colonists aré beginning to recognize that for the development of much of the interior something more than individual effort is required. The coast is, asa rule, cool and well watered, but at a comparatively short dis- tance inland the water supply totally fails, and artesian wells must be resorted to. When irrigation on a large scale, is required the operations must be carried on by the government itself or by large companies. Austra- lians have commenced to adopt the latter plan. Already in South Australia large concessions have been made to the Chaffrey Brothers, who in return are to render habit- able a large section of country. A similar concession will probably soon be made to the Lake Bony Land Company. This review of the land laws of Australia, though 158 OUR SHEEP AND THE TARIFF. cursory, is enough to show that their general tendency, especially in Australia proper, is to improve the land, to increase its carrying capacity, and to rid the soil of troublesome animals and plants. ie oe ant i. ¢ Gh MRE GT A yar Piaatat LIBRARY OF CONGRESS mn MT TTT MUL HT i 0 002 847 743 0