Where Does Wool Come From?
We could not write the story of a suit of clothes without dealing
largely with the sheep, for it is only from the wool of the sheep
that the best, warmest and most lasting garment can be made. In order
that we may properly understand the development of the great wool and
clothing industry in America we must supply a brief history of our
sheep industry, for the sheep must always come before the clothing.
Who Brought the First Sheep to America?
The sheep is not a native of America, but it came here with the first
white men. History records that Columbus on his way to this country
stopped at the Canary Islands to take on stores. Among other things
he loaded a number of sheep, some of which were later landed on the
new continent. What became of this early importation history does not
record, but it is probable that most, if not all, of them perished from
the attack of wild animals or at the hands of the natives. However,
when settlers began pouring into the new world many of them brought
along their sheep, so that from the earliest colonial days the sheep
constituted our most numerous domestic animals. This, indeed, was
necessary, for if the colonist was to survive the rigor of our climate
he must have an abundant supply of woolen clothing. In those days
clothing materials were limited to wool, flax and the skins of animals,
and, as may be supposed, wools were in very great demand. England and
most European countries prohibited the exportation of wool, in order to
increase the demand for the clothing which she manufactured. However,
as our new colonist had ample time and but little money, he desired
to make his own clothing rather than send such funds as he had to the
mother country. Therefore, the new settler, as a matter of necessity,
was forced to increase the domestic supply of wools.
Who Started to Make Clothing from Wool in America?
Early records reveal that shortly after the year 1600 many of the
colonies passed laws for the purpose of encouraging the sheep industry.
In fact, some of them went so far as to prohibit the transportation
of sheep or wool from one colony to another. However, our new sheep
industry prospered, and well it should, for it had the backing of every
prominent patriot of the early days. Washington, Jefferson, Madison,
and Franklin all were enthusiastic advocates of sheep husbandry, for
they knew that unless a people had a large domestic supply of wool they
could not long remain independent or hope to gain independence from
foreign countries. In fact, at one time Washington owned as many as one
thousand sheep, and if he lived in the present day he would be regarded
as a sheep baron. Wool, next to food, is the most vital necessity of a
people, for when wars come wool becomes a contraband, and all foreign
supplies are shut off. Thus, in stimulating a domestic wool supply the
great wisdom of our early patriots was vindicated with the coming of
the Revolutionary War. When that great struggle came our foreign wool
supply was shut off, but on account of the foresight of these patriots
in encouraging home production, our colonists had a supply ample for
most of their needs.
We not only had the wool, but the housewife had learned the art of
manufacturing wool into clothing by means of the spinning wheel, so
that when our soldiers went forth in that great struggle, which was to
bring to us independence, they were clad in garments made of American
grown wool and manufactured by the good housewife during her hours of
leisure.
When affairs became tranquil, following the close of the Revolution,
settlement, which had largely been confined to the Atlantic coast,
pushed westward farther and farther into the wilderness. Each of
these settlers took with him his supply of sheep, for the purpose of
furnishing wool for clothing and meat for food. In the early days
wool was not grown for the purpose of sale, but to be used entirely
by the family of the producer. However, when settlement reached the
Mississippi River, conditions changed. Wool manufacturing had then been
established in the land, and it became customary to raise wool to sell
to these manufacturers, who had located along the Atlantic seaboard.
Why Does the Sheep Precede the Plow in Civilizing a Country?
In all countries the sheep has been the pioneer of civilization. They
have settled and developed practically all new lands. In fact, so
firmly established has been this rule that it seems almost necessary
that the sheep should precede the plow, and thus prepare land for
agriculture. The reason for this is that the sheep is a tractable
animal and depends on man to guide its every step. It can endure
hardships that would destroy other forms of animal life. However, the
maintenance of a sheep industry requires an abundance of labor, and in
this way settlement always follows the sheep. So has it been in foreign
countries, and so was it in this country.
Where Does Most of Our Wool Come From?
Sheep came into our western states early in the seventies, at a time
when these states were thinly settled, but following the sheep came the
labor incident to its care, and thus the railroads, stores, cities and
schoolhouses found their way into the land. Originally all of our sheep
industry was east of the Mississippi River. Then for a time it was east
of the Missouri River. To-day west of the Missouri River we have about
23,000,000 aged sheep, or more than one-half of the total in the United
States. In the pioneer days the western sheep skirmished on the range
for most of the food that it obtained. To-day conditions are different,
and, while the sheep is on the range for a short time each year, it
spends its summer in the National Forest, for which grazing a fee is
paid to the Federal Government. Its winters are spent largely around
the hay-stack of the farmer, and about fifty to sixty cents’ worth of
hay is fed to each sheep in the West each winter. With the coming of
spring the western sheep are divided into bands of about 1500, and each
two bands are placed in care of three caretakers, who care for and
protect the sheep either on the deeded land of the owner or on the land
rented from the Federal Government.
[Illustration: SHEEP COMING OUT OF FOREST]
How Much Wool Does America Produce Yearly?
So much for the history of our sheep. A few words now about wool. The
total wool crop of the United States is approximately 300,000,000
pounds per year. The value of this crop is around $60,000,000 annually.
How Do We Get the Wool Off the Sheep?
With the coming of spring our sheep are driven to large central plants,
where they are shorn by the use of machines driven by electricity or
steam power. One man shears about one hundred and fifty sheep per day.
For this he receives eight cents per head. When the wool is taken off
the sheep it is gathered up and carefully tied with string made of
paper. The tied fleece is then dropped into an elevator, and is carried
up about ten feet, where it is dropped into a large sack about three
feet in diameter and seven feet long. In this sack there is always a
wool tramper, who keeps tramping the fleeces down, so that about forty
fleeces are finally put into each sack, making the weight of the sack
approximately three hundred pounds. As these sacks are filled they are
carefully stored in a dry shed, and, when shearing is completed, are
hauled to the railroad station and shipped to the great wool centers of
Boston or Philadelphia. While the bulk of the wool in the United States
is produced west of the Missouri River, that territory manufactures
very little wool. So the western sheepman, who is thus forced to grow
his wool in the western states, pays about two cents a pound freight on
it back to the eastern market, where it is sold and later manufactured
into cloth. A part of this same clothing is then shipped west, to be
sold to the very man, in some instances, who produced the wool out of
which it is made.
American wool, taken as a whole, is the best wool grown in the world.
It is not as soft as some Australian wool, but all of it possesses
a greater strength than foreign wools, and it has long since been
determined that clothing made of American wool will give better service
than that made of foreign wool. Of the wool used in the United States
for the manufacturing of clothing we produce about 70 per cent and
import about 30 per cent.
How Much Does the Wool In a Suit of Clothes Cost?
It is customary for the person who buys clothing made of wool to
believe that the value of the wool in the cloth is what makes the
clothing seem expensive. However, if we take a man’s suit made of
medium-weight cloth, such as is worn in November, we find that it
requires about nine pounds of average wool to make the suit. For this
wool the sheepman receives an average of seventeen cents per pound, so
that out of the entire suit the man who produces the material out of
which the suit is made receives a total of $1.53. A suit such as is
here described would be of all wool and free from shoddy or any wool
substitute. It would be a suit that would be sold by the storekeeper
at $25.00, and if you had it made by the tailor he would charge you
$35.00. Yet the wool-grower furnished all the material out of which
the suit was made, and received as his share but $1.53. Thus it will
be clear to the person who buys clothing and reads these lines that no
longer can the blame for the high cost of clothing be laid at the door
of the wool-grower.
While the wool-using population of the world is increasing very
rapidly, the number of wool-producing sheep in the world is decreasing.
Ordinarily this would mean that a point would be reached where the
supply of wool would be totally inadequate to meet the needs of the
public. However, this unfortunate possibility is being averted by the
energy and thrift of the sheepmen in breeding sheep that produce more
and better wool than was the case in the past. The sheep which Columbus
brought to this country, and, in fact, all the sheep of the world in
that day, produced wool of very coarse, inferior quality, and but very
little of it. One hundred years ago our sheep did not average three
pounds of wool per head, but by careful breeding and better feeding we
have brought the average fleece up to slightly more than seven pounds.
Of course, some sheep produce decidedly more wool than this, but the
fact that in one hundred years we have more than doubled the amount of
wool that a sheep produces and increased its quality very materially
speaks well for the ingenuity and determination of our sheep producers.
Probably as time goes on the average fleece may be still further
increased, so that in the next twenty-five years it is not too much to
hope that our sheep will produce on an average of one pound more wool
than they now do.
Of course, as wool comes from the sheep, it naturally contains much
dirt. The sheep have run on the range or in the open pasture during
much of the year, and dust and dirt has settled into the wool. Then,
besides producing wool, the sheep excrete into the wool a fatty
substance known as wool fat. When the fleece is taken from the sheep
and sent to the market the first thing that the manufacturer does with
the fleece is to wash out all this foreign matter. The foreign matter
is of a considerable quantity, for 60 per cent of wool as it comes from
the sheep is dirt and grease, so that only 40 per cent of the sheep’s
fleece represents wool fibres.
This wool fibre is a very delicate affair, being made up of thousands
of little cells, one laid on top of the other. On the surface of the
fibre are a lot of scales arranged something like the scales on a fish.
In the process of manufacturing the scales on one fibre lock with
scales on another fibre, and in that way the fibres are held together
in the piece of cloth.
When wool is received at the factory it is in fleeces, and each fleece
contains different kinds of fibres--long and short--coarse and fine,
and it is necessary that these should be sorted into different kinds
or grades, as may be desired--perhaps six or eight different kinds,
according to the particular uses to which the different qualities are
to be put.
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