n in the sixteenth century
the chief article of export was woolen cloth. In 1685 the Huguenots,
who were driven from France, went to England to settle. These people
were noted for their skill in weaving.

Patient effort in care and breeding of sheep showed a steady increase
in the quantity and quality of wool until 1810, and the proportion of
sheep to the population was then greater than at the present time.

Our own climate is highly favorable for sheep breeding, and it is
certain that the American sheep has no superior in any wool growing
country, in constitutional vigor and strength of wool-fiber, and no
wools make more durable or more valuable clothing.

The obstacles to sheep husbandry in certain parts of the United
States, like New England, are mainly climatic. The natural home of the
only races of sheep which can be herded in large flocks is an elevated
tableland, like the steppes of Russia and the great plains of Asia,
Argentina, Montana, Wyoming, and others of our western states where
an open air range is possible for nearly twelve months in the year. In
these elevated lands there are grasses which are more nutritious in
winter than in summer. The climate of New England does not permit the
growth of such grasses. Every grass which will grow in New England
becomes in the cold months frozen wood fiber. Then again there is the
frigid and penetrating atmosphere which necessitates housing the sheep
in winter, and these animals cannot be closely housed without
engendering a variety of parasitic diseases.

=Cotton.= Long before history was written, cotton was used in making
fabrics in India and China. Cotton has been for thousands of years the
leading fabric of the East. The Hindoos have for centuries maintained
almost unapproachable perfection in their cotton fabrics. It was the
Arabian caravans that brought Indian calicoes and muslins into Europe.

Cotton was first cultivated in Europe by the Moors in Spain in the
ninth century. In 1430 it was imported into England in large
quantities. The section of England about Manchester became in time the
seat of the great cotton industry; this was due to the settlement of
spinners and weavers from Flanders.

During the reign of Elizabeth, the East Indies Trading Company was
established. Not only was cotton imported, but also India muslins.
This caused trouble because of the decrease in the demand for woolen
goods manufactured in England. A law was passed prohibiting the