YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES. 145 



The " felting" property of wool is due to the peculiarly rough 

 or barbed character of its outside, which causes it to adhere 

 together in mass, and a woollen garment to shrink and become 

 thicker when washed. " Fulling" is another name for the same 

 quality ; " fulled cloth" being the name given to the article 

 made by subjecting woollen cloth to the action of water, and 

 pressure in a machine. By aid of the microscope, we see that 

 the fibre of wool is covered with a multitude of leaf-like serra 

 tions (saw-tooth projections), pointing upward like the leaves 

 on a shoot. The curved form of the wool fibre favors its felt 

 ing, but it is to these million invisible hooks that we must look 

 for an explanation of the property. Now, in the finer grades 

 of wool there is the greatest number of these tentatious hooks 

 in a given length, and hence their superiority for close textured 

 and fine goods. This little explanation will give our farmer 

 friends an insight into the subject of breeding sheep for various 

 purposes. The Merino is, above all, the wool-maker of fine 

 quality. Leicester wool is famous in England for combing, or 

 worsted making, but is much coarser than Merino. " Yolk," 

 or " gum," is the name of a glutinous secretion from the skin of 

 the sheep, which coats and adheres to the wool. It is a true 

 potash soap, and if it were not for the presence of free animal 

 oil with which it is mixed, wool might be washed without the 

 use of soap. It is most abundant in fine-woolled sheep, and is 

 more largely secreted in the fat sheep than in a lean one. 



It is very desirable to grow sheep that will have an equal 

 degree of fineness of wool over a large portion of the body, and 

 success in this respect marks the good breeder. " Trueness" 

 is a term used to indicate the evenness of fibre in size through 

 out its whole length. When the sheep, from disease or want 

 of food, becomes poor, the wool fibre is rendered weak and al 

 most ceases to grow. When it starts again, it breaks easily at 

 this weak point, being what is termed " breachy," and the wool 

 is called " unsound." Its value is greatly depreciated by this 

 circumstance. Let those who starve their sheep take the 

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