SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 



135 



ihe American, Rambouillet, and early imported Spanish Merinos, 1 copy 

 the following, from the pen of Ebenezer Emmons, M. D., State Geologist, 

 in the American Quarterly Journal of Agriculture and Science, of which 

 publication Dr. E. is the Editor. 



" Having given you a pretty full report of the farm and stock of Mr. Randall, embracing 

 many details also in the several branches of husbandry, I now propose adding a few wordi 

 as an appendix to that report. I gave some intimation, when speaking of the fineness of 

 .he wool of Mr. R.'s sheep, that on my return home I would furnish something more exact 

 as a test for fineness than the naked eye. In fulfillment of this intimation, I have been efl* 

 gaged since I returned, in measuring the diameter of the different staples which I procured 

 while at Cortlandville, and which I have compared with others obtained of our mutual 

 friend, Luther Tucker, Esq., of the Cultivator. 



" The different kinds are indicated by numbers. I have prepared a scale which is equal 

 to 100 millimeters ; a millimeter is equal to 0-039 of an inch. The hundredth of a millime- 

 ter,* and the fibres of wool, are all subjected to the same magnifying power of an excellent 

 Chevalier's compound microscope. The comparison is both absolute and relative ; but it it 

 highly interesting to see the perceptible difference between the different fibres of wool. The 

 microscope also reveals other differences ; some of the fibres appeared rather uneven or flat- 

 tened, and destitute of a clear and distinct pith or tube ; and, in fact, I may remark that the 

 microscope is really the best method of testing the real quality of wool." . . . 



Fig. 1. 



" No. 1, Mr. Randall's; No. la, fibre of Mr. Randall's prize Merino buck;t No. 16, fibre 

 from one of Mr. Randalls fleeces ; No. 2 and 2, fibres from Mr. Reth Adams's wool ; No. 

 4, Remilles wool, Shoreham, Vt. ; No. 5, fibre of S. O. Burchard's fine wool, Shoreham ; 

 No. 3, fibre of Charles L. Smith's wool, Shoreham ; No. 6, fibre from Collins's Grandee. The 

 last five were taken from wool left at the Cultivator office. In all the fibres examined there 

 i* a great uniformity in the parcels ; only slight differences, in fact, could be detected in the 

 everal diameters. No. 7 shows the structure of wool as seen under the microscope. In 

 the corner is the scale of measurement. The finest fibre as magnified in this cut is equal to 

 about eighteen-hundredths of an inch in diameter. 



" Another inquiry equally important with the preceding came up in this place : What ic 

 the strength of a single fibre of wool, and is the coarser comparatively stronger than the finet 

 I set about answering those inquiries at once, and now give you the result below : 



" Mr. Randall's No. Ib, cm three trials, supported on an average 62 grains ; or, rather, 

 broke when tried with the weight of 62 grains. 



" Mr. R.'s No. la broke with 57-1 grains. 



" The fibre from Collins's Grandee, on three trials, supported on an average 84-6 grains. 



" Mr. Smith's specimen of Shoreham, Vt., on three trials, gave an average of 65-6 grains." 



No. la is the wool of my ram " Premium," which received the first prize 



About 1-2500 of an inch. 



tTaken from the animal by Doct. Emmons. 



