150 THE SHEPHERD'S MANUAL. 



finer kinds, as piano and table covers, are made of medium Merino 

 wools. Knitted goods, such as undershirts, vests, drawers, hose, 

 etc., require a great variety of wools from the lowest qualities up 

 to the high grades of Merino ; certain fancy varieties requiring 

 the finer kinds of combing wools. Fancy cassimeres, meltons, 

 beaver cloths, and overcoatings, require chiefly medium grades of 

 Merino wool, a small quantity only of the finer grades being re- 

 quired for the best qualities. For mixing with shoddy, which is 

 an extensive manufacture, the finest and longest Merino wools are 

 found the most profitable, as such wool carries the greatest quan- 

 tity of the short fiber of the substitute. Ladies' cloths, cloakings, 

 and thin dress goods require fine long Merino wool ; the finest 

 and longest Merino wool is used for men's fine worsted coatings. 

 Serges, moreens, alpacas, lastings, mohair lusters, furniture dam- 

 ask, reps, bunting for flags, webbings of all kinds, sashes, 

 picture cords, tassels, and soft goods, such as nubias and shawls, 

 braids and bindings, are all made of the long combing wool 

 of the Lincolns, Leicesters, and Cotswolds, or their grades. 

 For various carpets, coarse Texan or Mexican and California 

 wools are used, and similar grades of foreign wool known as Chili 

 and Cordova carpet wools. This enumeration indicates as closely 

 as need be, what kinds of wool the American farmer may grow 

 with safety and without risk of wanting a market. Considering 

 that the imports of wool of many of the grades mentioned, and of 

 the recapitulated woolen goods, amount every year to fifty mil- 

 lions of dollars or over, there would certainly seem to be no danger 

 that the farmer will lack a profitable market for any kind of wool 

 he may find it convenient to grow. 



PURE AND GRADE MERINO WOOL. 



It will be noticed how large a proportion of the foregoing man- 

 ufactures derive their material from the Merino, either directly in 

 its pure state, or indirectly as grades or cross breeds. Some infor- 

 mation as to the character of the Merino wool, and the tests by 

 which superior breeding animals may be known and selected for 

 the improvement of native sheep, will therefore not be out of 

 place. The character of a Merino fleece may be judged by the 

 following tests, viz : 



Strength of Fiber. This is indicated by the amount of grease in 

 the wool, abundance of oil or yolk indicating a healthy condition 

 of the animal. The first sign of disease is a change in the charac- 

 ter of the secretions, and the skin being the chief secreting organ 

 of the body, it is there that the change may be soonest noticed. 



