62 



WOOL. 



By Aldred F. Barker, M.Sc. (Leeds), 

 Professor of Textile Industries, Bradfoi^d Technical College. 



It is not remarkable that the wool manufacturer should 

 interest himself in sheep breeding only in so far as such 

 directly affects the wool grown ; but it is remarkable that the 

 sheep breeder should concern himself almost entirely with the 

 mutton qualities of his breeds and should study wool qualities 

 so very inadequately. It may be true that in very many cases 

 the mutton factor is absolutely dominant ; yet it must not be 

 forgotten, that so far as the tleece is concerned, both quality 

 and quantity are involved, and again that while the sheep can 

 yield but one carcass, it may yield several clips of wool. In 

 short it must be evident that the sheep breeder who ignores 

 the wool factor is usually failing to take full advantage of the 

 breeding possibilities of his flocks and is not reaping the full 

 monetary advantages which should be his due. 



This lack of interest on the part of the farmer is probably 

 attributable not only to the dominance of the mutton factor, 

 but also to the violent fluctuations in the value of the wool and 

 to the apparent impossibility of gauging the market ; one year 

 the wool will be hardly worth clipping, the following year the 

 farmer may pay his rent with it. 



The present article is designed to bring within the farmer's 

 apprehension the main points respecting wool which influence 

 its manufacturing qualities, in order that he may be inspired to 

 pay closer attention to the wool he produces, to the ultimate 

 advantage of both himself and his customer, the wool manu- 

 facturer. 



Variations of the Wool Fibre. — A very casual inspection of a 

 sheep, even in the open pasture, will serve to show that a fleece 

 of wool is not uniform. At the britch it is evidently long and 

 stringy, and indirectly it suggests coarseness; while the even 

 compactness of the wool on ihe shoulders suggests a level staple 

 and fineness. The difference between staples of wool taken 

 from the haunches and those from the shoulder is well 

 illustrated in Fig. 1, A and B. To the superior manufactur- 

 ing qualities of B as compared with A we shall refer later. 



Roughly speaking, all sheep have a tendency to produce 

 coarse, long, stringy wool on the haunches, and fine even 

 stapled wool on the shoulders, but the exact position and 

 quantity of fine and coarse wool varies in different breeds. In 



