154 THE SHEPHERD'S MANUAL. 



great ease at the middle or some portion of its length. There 

 is a weak spot, and if the fiber is examined with a microscope, it 

 will be found very much attenuated at that spot, and of a dull, 

 dead appearance. From what has been already said about the 

 structure and growth of wool, it will be easily understood that 

 when by bad management, neglect, starvation, overfeeding, irreg- 

 ularity in feeding, want of water, or any other evil which affects 

 the condition or health of the sheep, the growth of the wool is 

 temporarily stopped, even for a day, this suspension of growth 

 must inevitably be marked by a weakness in the fiber, which can 

 never be remedied. As the wool grows, this weak spot is carried 

 forward, and if the evil is soon removed and the sheep recovers 

 quickly, it is still there and there it remains. No defect is so fre- 

 quent as this ; to avoid it, the flock must be kept with perfect 

 regularity, and must receive no check for however short a time it 

 may be. This involves the most skillful and careful management, 

 which is unfortunately too rare. Regular poor feed may make an 

 inferior staple, but one worth more than a breachy staple, which 

 may result from one single neglect in the course of a season. Want 

 of water causes more break in wool thr.n any other evil to which 

 sheep are subjected by careless owners or ignorant shepherds. 



Uniformity in the fleece covers many minor defects, and to de- 

 termine the evenness or uniformity of the fleece, the shoulder is 

 first examined. Here the finest and best wool should be found. 

 Taking this as the standard, the wool from the ribs, thigh, 

 rump, and breech, is compared with it ; the nearer the latter ap- 

 proaches this in quality, the better. If it is all equal in fineness, 

 the fleece will be " even " in regard to fineness. If the wool on all 

 the parts mentioned is reasonably regular in length, and near to 

 the standard in this respect, the fleece is " even" as regards length 

 of staple. The density is then tested. The hand is closed upon a 

 portion of the rump and on the loin, and if the fleece is found to 

 be as dense and elastic or springy on those parts as it is at the 

 shoulder, the fleece is " even " as regards density. A perfect fleece 

 will be found of nearly equal fineness from the shoulder to the 

 thigh; of nearly equal length at the shoulder, rib, thigh, and back; 

 of equal density on the shoulder and across the loins, and free 

 from any of the defects before mentioned. 



Most of the points here indicated, both as regards defects and 

 good qualities, refer to other wools as well as to that of the Meri- 

 no; those points which depend on the peculiar character of 

 Merino wool and its excessive yolkiness will be readily understood 

 as necessarily applying to that alone, and those which depend on 



