Humboldt County CA Archives History - Books .....Wool 1890 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ca/cafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@gmail.com December 6, 2005, 8:24 pm Book Title: History And Business Directory Of Humboldt County WOOL One of of the Great and Important Products of the County, the Annual Clip, the Superior Quality of Humboldt Wool, the Advantages of the County for Sheep Raising HUMBOLDT County is as noted and famed for its great wool and sheep interests as it is for the vast forests of redwood which clothe its hills and canyons. Almost as much capital is invested and the interests are nearly as large as those involved in the manufacture of redwood timber. According to the Assessor's report made this year the number of head of sheep in the county is given at 155,540, including lambs, but this probably falls short of the real number by about 50,000, or making in all about 200,000. This is the estimate given by the leading men engaged in wool raising. By difference of climate the county is divided into two sections; the coast region, which is that part lying in close proximity or within the direct influences of the ocean, a section swept by the fogs and moisture from the sea, and clothed with dense forests of redwood and fir trees. But a small percentage of the sheep in the county are to be found in this section. To the east and beyond the redwood belt is the great wool raising section of the county. This country is hilly, free to an extent from heavy timber growth and well watered. Thick and nutritious grasses, free from burrs, cover the slopes and sides of the hills, affording the best of pasturage for sheep and cattle. The climate of this section is drier than that within the influence of the ocean and somewhat warmer, .and an equality of temperature is preserved the year round, which dispenses with any necessity of providing shelter for the immense bands of sheep which roam through this part of the county. This is the paradise of sheep raisers, many of whom with nothing but determination and hard work have built up fortunes by this industry. But the days for accumulating immense wealth in this direction have departed and gone. Not that the business of raising wool is not profitable but it requires close management to realize any large amount. The annual clip of the county averages about 2,000,000 pounds. In regard to the tariff we give the conversation we had with a leading wool grower, and his views are the voicings of a great majority of others. "In the first place," said he, "people have a wrong conception of the cost of growing wool. They imagine that all the expense is to hire a man and a dog. They do not consider the cost of clipping, hauling to points for shipment, the freight charges, commissions, wharfage and storage, which when all paid leaves little or nothing to the grower. To simplify the matter, take 2,000 pounds of wool and follow through the expense account: 2,000 pounds of wool at 12 cts, say $240 $ Clipping 30 00 Hauling 15 00 Freight and insurance 7 50 Wharfage 2 00 Storage and hauling 10 00 Commissions, 5 per cent, on $240 12 00 Total $240 $76 50 Leaving a supposed profit of $163.50. Now, it takes on an average of 300 sheep to yield 2,000 pounds of wool in a year. A man will cost $600 per year without his board, which is extra, say altogether, $750. Now, he can care for about 3,000 sheep, so that when it is all taken into consideration the wool grower receives about $60 or $70 per ton, which is very little considering the capital invested and the risks from diseased animals and accidents which are in attendance with this business, so that really a band of 6,000 or 7,000 sheep earns but a small revenue for its owners, and what little benefit is received from the tariff we shoud-have, and any reduction would drive many out of the business." The above statement expressly shows the feeling of those engaged in the wool business, at least a majority. The eastern and southeastern parts of the county, which is so favorable to the raising of sheep, is not less adapted to agriculture and fruit growing. It is also rich in minerals, and the day is not far distant when the farmer and miner will begin to make extensive inroads in this vast and fertile country, as they have already to some degree taken advantage of the cheapness of the lands and settled here. Some of the large land owners are putting their property on the market at reasonable prices and easy terms to settlers. Water is abundant in this section of the county, there being numerous living springs and perennial streams are also to be found near the surface by digging wells. The grasses are very nutritious and abundant, and the wool produced in this county is sold in the market at prices from three to five cents higher than the product from other parts of California. Taking the annual clip of the county at 2,000,000 pounds it is worth at least $300,000, besides mutton and lambs, which altogether would bring the value of the sheep industry of Humboldt county up to $600,000 annually. It is authoritively stated that the total annual production of wool in the world is 16,000,000 cwt, (1,792,000,000 pounds.) The estimated value is £200,000,000, or $968,000,000. The number of sheep in Europe is estimated at 200,000,000, which furnish 4,000,000 cwt of wool; of an estimated value of £36,000,000. Morocco, Algiers and Tunis grow a considerable quantity, while France produces 37 per cent, less than it did forty years ago. The European countries are ranked in the following order: (1) Russia, (2) Great Britain, (3) Germany, (4) France, (5) Austria-Hungary (6) Italy, (7) Spain. The East Indies and China produce about 3,000,000 cwt. of wool per annum. It may be stated in this connection that in 1884 our sheep numbered 50,626,626 head, valued at $119,902,706, producing 300,000,000 pounds of wool. Since that time the sheep of the country have steadily decreased, year by year, until last year we had but 42,999,079 sheep, producing 265,000,000 pounds of wool. Our home grown wools are mostly fine and medium wools. Our import wools are mostly clothing, combing and carpet wools. Our average imports from 1880 to 1889 were, clothing wools, 19,305,070 pounds, combing wools, 5,654,193 pounds, or an average of 88,443,309 pounds a year. Additional Comments: Extracted from: History and Business Directory of HUMBOLDT COUNTY DESCRIPTIVE OF THE NATURAL RESOURCES DELIGHTFUL CLIMATE PICTURESQUE SCENERY BEAUTIFUL HOMES THE ONLY COUNTY IN THE STATE CONTAINING NO CHINAMEN LILLIE E. HAMM, PUBLISHER (COPYRIGHTED) EUREKA, CALA. DAILY HUMBOLDT STANDARD NOVEMBER, 1890. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ca/humboldt/history/1890/historya/wool153ms.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.poppet.org/cafiles/ File size: 7.3 Kb