CHAPTER XX. 

 WOOLS AND WOOL GROWING. 



No animal has a covering entirely of wool; even sheep 

 have hair upon the face and lower parts of the legs. Wool 

 served as a necessary protection to sheep in the wild state, the 

 original home having been in the higher parts of mountainous 

 regions. Wool ranks next to cotton as a source of textile fab- 

 rics, the temperate regions universally using woolen products. 

 The per capita consumption of wool has increased very greatly. 

 It was about 3 pounds in early times in the United States when 

 all spinning and weaving was done in the home; in 1850 it was 

 4 pounds; it is now about 6J^ pounds. No other people use as 

 much wool as do Americans, nor as much cotton. The world's 

 clip of wool averages about 2 pounds for each person. 



Fig. 80. Wool Fiber Highly Magnified. 



This drawing shows the scaly surface of the wool fiber; the tips of the 

 overlapping scales project outward and point toward the tip of the fiber. 



As a rule, sheep are shorn only once a year. The coming 

 of mild weather in the spring marks the time of shearing. Both 

 hand and machine shearing are practiced, preferably the latter. 

 As the wool is sheared off it is usually kept in one piece so far 

 as possible, and as soon as the fleece is removed it is spread out, 

 with the flesh or cut side down, any loose pieces are thrown into 

 the center, and the fleece is then rolled up with the flesh side 

 out and is tied with twine. Prior to shipment the fleeces are 

 packed in large sacks, in which condition they arrive at the various 

 wool markets of the country. 



Growth and structure. Wool is modified hair. The term 

 hair is ordinarily used to designate a smooth, straight fiber or 

 filament like horse hair. Wool differs from hair in being more 

 or less crimped and in having a much more serrated or ridged 

 surface. The surface of the fiber is composed of a single layer 



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