12 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 



find that the reports of the juries recognize the German wools 

 as the finest and longest. Two prize medals of the same 

 grade given to the German exhibitors were awarded to ex- 

 hibitors from the United States. The awards are arranged 

 in the order of merit. The first is given to Mr. Cockerill. 

 It says : " The wool transmitted by the exhibitor from Nash- 

 ville is well got up ; and exhibits, like the preceding specimens 

 (the German), a quality of fibre indicative of care and skill 

 in the development and improvement of the fleece, which 

 calls for the award of the prize medal." The report further 

 says : " One of the able experts, whose valuable aid the jury 

 have already acknowledged, reports, ' Those shown by Amer- 

 ica (United States) as most approximating to the character 

 of German wools.' ' 



Mr. Howard, of Kingston, Georgia, writing to the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, in 1874, says : 



" It is objected that wool degenerates in warm climates, and becomes 

 coarse and valueless. This is an error. The writer, whose flock is 

 of the Cockerill merinos, which took the premium at the World's Fair 

 in London, many years ago, the sheep being reared in Mississippi, after 

 this lapse of time is now ready to compete with any wool in the United 

 States in fineness of staple." 



The quality of extreme fineness in wool is much less re- 

 garded now than formerly, on account of the changes in fashion 

 of fabrics. The great bulk of wools at present consumed is 

 of medium grades. Length of staple, however, has become 

 a very desirable attribute, on account of the increased demand 

 throughout the world for wools for combing purposes, which 

 enter into worsted coatings and a great variety of dress goods. 

 This quality of length of fibre, it is seen, is greatly favored by 

 the propitious climate of the South. As our manufacturers 

 advance to the production of the higher qualities of dress 

 goods, such as the French merinos and the very finest grades 

 of worsted coatings, which are now coming into demand, 

 fineness no less than length of staple would be demanded for 

 merino -combing wools ; and, for both of these qualities, it is 

 shown that the climate of the South is favorable. 



