What Does the Sheep-Grower Get for the Wool in a Suit of Clothes?
A man’s ordinary three-piece fall suit has about nine pounds of wool in it. Such a suit might cost somewhere between twenty and forty dollars, depending on whether it was bought ready made or whether it was made to order. If the price was questioned, the retailer would probably explain that it was all wool and that the wool cost was the reason it was expensive, and still the sheep-man who raised the wool only received an average of about eighteen cents a pound, or $1.62, for all the wool used on the suit.
Of course, the largest part of the cost of a suit of clothes is really accounted for by the cost of transportation, weaving, tailoring and selling, but we must all agree that the sheep-man who tends the flock all winter and cuts the wool in the spring is not to blame for high prices.