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CONTENTS.

WOOL AND MANUFACTURES OF WOOL.

INTRODUCTION.

The preparation of a report upon wool and manufactures of wool having been committed to the undersigned, it was his original purpose to limit himself to giving the general impressions made at the Universal Exposition of 1867 upon a business man greatly interested in, rather than techni cally informed as to, the woollen manufacture and the raw material supplying it. But in conformity with the views of the Department of State, that a report relating to so important a branch of national industry might take a wider scope with advantage to the public interests, the undersigned has consented to modify his original purpose, by adding to his personal observations more general views as to the present condition of the woollen industry at home and abroad, and such statistical statements, obtained from the most recent and authoritative sources, as would throw light upon its economic and social relations. In the preparation of this work he has been assisted by Mr. John L. Hayes, secretary of the National Association of Wool Manufacturers, to whom the literary execution of the report has been intrusted.

SECTION I.

WOOL AND ITS CULTURE.

VARIETIES OF WOOL IN EUROPEAN MARKETS-NECESSITY OF PROTECTION TO AMERICAN WOOLS-CLOTHING WOOLS-SILESIAN AND PRUSSIAN CLOTHING WOOLS-CULTURE OF FINE CLOTHING WOOLS IN THE UNITED STATES DESIRABLE-AMERICAN CLOTHING WOOLS-VERMONT SHEEP DEMANDED IN AUSTRALIA-MERINO COMBING

WOOLS-SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN FRANCE.-ENGLISH COMBING WOOL-CHEVIOT

SHEEP-PROBLEMS TO BE RESOLVED IN AMERICAN SHEEP HUSBANDRY-VAST SCALE OF SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN RUSSIA-EXEMPTION OF DUTIES ON SHEEP IMPORTED FOR BREEDING.

To commence with the raw material, the first impression made upon an American manufacturer by an observation of the woollen manufactures of Europe, as displayed at the Exposition, is the immeasurable advantage which the woollen manufacturer of Europe has in the command of an unlimited supply of wool, and other raw material of every variety, free of duty. The policy of the modern governments of Europe, unrestrained by any regard for the opinions or prejudices of agriculturists so controlling here, is first and foremost to develop the manufactures of their several countries. Freedom from duties on raw material and breadstuffs is but one mode of protection. The necessity for duties on wool as a measure of encouragement to the wool-grower has passed away. Sheep husbandry in Europe could not be extended by protective duties, as all the land that could be profitably devoted to this purpose is already occupied. England has one sheep to one and three-quarters of an acre of land, while Ohio and Vermont have one to four and a half acres, New York one to six and a half acres, Iowa one to twenty-four acres, and the whole United States one to fifty-seven acres. The perfection to which the leading varieties of European wools has attained removes them from all competion, and renders protective duties unnecessary. No lustrous combing wools can compete with the Lincoln, Leicester, and Cotswold wools of England; no clothing wools with the Saxon and Silesian wools of Germany; no soft combing wools with those of the Rambouillet stock of France. The culture of the latter wools was developed by protection until their excellence relieved them from competition, and even the agriculturists of France assented to the abolition of the duty on wool. The great centre of distribution for the great part of the wool of the world, not consumed at home, is England, the distribution being favored by her warehousing system. All the wool manufacturers of Europe are gathered at the annual sales at London. The European supply of raw material constitutes but an inconsiderable portion of the consumption of Europe. The importations have increased with marvellous rapidity.

The importations of wool into England a little over 30 years ago, viz,

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