The Rural Voice, 1986-08, Page 17PHILOSOPHER/FARMER FIGHTS
FOR PROFIT FROM WOOL
Eugene Bourgeois, in Bruce County, believes wool can be a profitable by-
product of raising Ontario sheep for meat
by Phyllis Coulter
Eugene Bourgeois attained his
Masters Degree in
philosophy after years of study.
He is the same man who bought a
bare piece of land in lnverhuron,
built a home and barn, and started
to raise sheep with no previous ex-
perience.
He soon discovered that there is
barely enough profit from wool to
buy a few pair of wool socks.
He has made a commitment to
change that. He believes wool can
be a profitable by-product of rais-
ing Ontario sheep for meat. He is
going to do his best to make wool
profitable from himself and other
farmers.
Bourgeois wants to increase the
price Ontario sheep producers get
for their wool without harming the
industry. There are others who
have had the same goal for years.
However, Bourgeois has a solid
plan that has merit and could be
the answer they too are seeking.
Bourgeois is a tall man wearing a
blue sweater made from his own
wool. The almost three-year old
sweater is famous; he wore it in a
poster that promotes Ontario wool
by saying it is "Good for ewe,
good for us all." This sweater
came from the first batch of wool
he sent to Prince Edward Island to
be scoured, and later spun into
yarn. He was impressed at how
much more the wool is worth after
it has been scoured and spun, but
he didn't know at the time that this
would be the beginning of The
Philosopher's Wool Company,
which now has an outlet on his
farm.
Through his new wool company,
farmers will receive four times
more money for their wool than
they receive today. Farmers who
now sell their wool to the Cana-
dian Wool Growers' Co-operative
or to Bainton's Old Mill and the
Old Mill, both of Blyth, are paid
between 50 and 60 cents per
pound. Bourgeois will buy wool
from farmers for the same price in-
itially, and depending on the quali-
ty and yield of the wool, will be
AttillMatefflftegtomag
Eugene Bourgeois bought a bare piece of land at Inverhuron,
built a home and barn, and started to raise sheep with no
previous experience.
AUGUST 1986 15