328 A STUDY OF FARM ANIMALS 



coarser sorts of cloth. To make this subject somewhat 

 clearer, the following is quoted from a well-known authority :* 



"According to their length of staple, wool fibers are graded into 

 two classes: tops and noils. The former includes the longer stapled 

 fibers, which are combed and spun into worsted yarns, to be manufac- 

 tured into trouserings, dress-goods, and such fabrics as are not fulled to 

 any extent in the finishing. The latter class consists of the short-stapled 

 fibers, which are carded and spun into woolen yarns to be used for 

 weft and all classes of goods which are fulled more or less in the finishing 

 operations, where a felting together of the fiber is desired. On compar- 

 ing worsted and woolen yarns, it will be noticed that the former are 

 fairly even in diameter, and the individual fibers lie more or less parallel 

 to each other, whereas in woolen yarns the diameter is very uneven, and 

 the fibers lie in all manner of directions." 



Wools are classified somewhat differently, according to 

 the locality in which they are produced. Domestic wools 

 refer to those of the eastern United States, especially Ohio, 

 Pennsylvania, Michigan, New York, Wisconsin, Missouri, 

 Kentucky, and other states producing similar wools. These 

 are often termed the "fleece wool states." Territory wools 

 originally referred to all wools produced west of the Missouri 

 river, but at present the territory wool states are Montana, 

 Wyoming, Idaho, Washington, Nevada, Utah, and Colorado. 

 The wools of Oregon, California, Arizona, New Mexico, and 

 Texas are now classified separately from the territory 

 grades. Domestic wools are commonly classified as follows: 



Combing wools. Clothing wools. 



Delaine XX and X fine. 



Half-blood combing. Half-blood clothing 



Three-eighths combing. Three-eighths clothing. 



Quarter-blood combing. Quarter-blood clothing. 

 Low quarter-blood combing. 

 Braid. 



The grade XX comes from superior Merino blood of the 

 wrinkly sort, while the X grade is slighly coarser. Delaine 

 wools should usually be from two and one half to four inches 

 long, are of superior quality, and naturally the product of 

 smooth-bodied Merino sheep. The terms half-blood, three- 

 eighths, and quarter-blood, originally were used to indicate 

 that these grades were from sheep showing such percentages 

 of Merino blood, but this distinction no longer applies, for 



*The Textile Fibers. J. Merritt Matthews, 1908. 



