102 , THE SHEEP AND WOOL INDUSTRY 



shoulder wool. No twine should be used to tie up the fleece. In 

 fact, no tying is necessary, though in cases where the wool is 

 handled a great deal it can be fastened by pulling a portion of the 

 wool out of one end of the rolled fleece and twisting it into a thick, 

 rope-like strand, then stretching it over a portion of the fleece, and 

 fastening it by inserting it in the fleece again. The roller nearest 

 the classer's table should take the rolled and skirted fleece to him. 



In skirting wool which has been grown on red sandy plain 

 country, such as Broken Hill District, the north of South Australia, 

 and other places, the sand gets down to the flesh end of fibres and 

 causes the wool on the back of some of the sheep to become open 

 and musty, especially if the wool is very fine Merino. This heavy 

 sandy back wool is very low yielding, as it loses anything from 60 

 to 75 per cent, during scouring. In cases like this the back wool 

 must be taken out by the skirters, and a separate sort made of 

 them. Care should be taken so that no good wool is with it. The 

 young classer has to use a good deal of judgment in making his 

 lines of fleece wool, as there are such a large number of different 

 types of Merino and Cross-bred wools, such as the bright clean 

 wool off good grass country, the red sandy Merino wools from 

 western New South Wales and the north of South Australia, also 

 earthy and tick-stained wools from all over the States. South 

 Australia has a distinct type of strong-fibred Merino wool which 

 varies a good deal in quality in some flocks. The number of sheep 

 has also to be taken into consideration, as you can make a good 

 many more sorts of fleece wool on a large station than on a small 

 place ; if you made too many classes of wool on a small station the 

 lines would not be large enough. 



In regard to branding wool, that is, naming the different sorts, 

 etc., the brand should be as descriptive as possible. For instance, 

 you should not brand a big, bulky wool " Clothing," this name 

 meaning a short-stapled fine-crimpled wool. Some buyers will 

 not purchase anything with a second on it, as it means a rather 

 low sort, and they have instructions not to purchase these wools, 

 and as one station's seconds may be a good deal better than 

 another's firsts, letters instead of figures should be used to make 



