258 TYPES AND MARKET CLASSES OF LIVE STOCK 



to keep the fleece clean and free from a cotted or matted con- 

 dition. The wool manufacturer removes the grease from wool 

 by the scouring process. This is the first step in wool manu- 

 facture. 



Woolens and worsteds. When scoured wool is combed, 

 that is, drawn through metal teeth, the fibers are made to lie 

 parallel to each other and foreign matter and short fibers are 

 combed out. This waste is called the "noils," and the remain- 

 ing long fibers are called the "top." Wool used for combing 

 under the Bradford or English system of manufacture must be 

 strong and at least 2J/ inches long in order to give the yarn 

 sufficient strength. Such wool is called combing wool. The 

 yarn made from combed wool (top) is called worsted, and the 

 cloths made of it are known as worsted goods. 



Fig. 82. Woolen and Worsted Yarns. 



In the woolen yarn above the short wool fibers are crossed in every 

 direction, while in the worsted yarn below the fibers are longer and are laid 

 parallel to each other. 



Wools which are short and much crimped and serratured 

 are called clothing or carding wools. They have a high felting 

 quality. In preparation for spinning they are put through card- 

 ing machines which jumble the fibers together in any and every 

 direction, forming a mixed mass from which the yarn is eventually 

 drawn. The cloths made from such yarn are known as woolens. 



The difference between woolens and worsteds is largely 

 due to the way the yarn for each is spun. In worsted yarn the 

 fibers are arranged as parallel as possible by the combing process; 

 in woolen yarn they are crossed in every direction so as to assist 

 the felting or milling of the cloth. Yarn for woolen cloth is 

 very slightly twisted, so as to leave the fibers as free as possible 

 for -the felting process; worsted yarn, on the contrary, is hard 

 spun and made into a much stronger thread. By the process 

 of manufacture, woolens are felted so as to leave little or no 



