WOOL-CLASSING 113 



Cross-bred wool is much more difficult to class or sort than 

 Merino, more especially if a flock of mixed Cross-bred sheep are 

 brought into the shed together. They should, as I have men- 

 tioned before, be drafted before shearing into fine, medium, and 

 coarse-woolled sheep, and each class shorn separately. This will 

 ensure an even line of bellies, pieces, and locks ; whereas if all are 

 shorn together, you will have fine and coarse bellies, pieces, and 

 locks all mixed up together, and the average shed hand cannot 

 sort them satisfactorily. The classer would also have such a large 

 number of sorts of fleece wool that it w r ould be difficult to find 

 bins for them all, each sort would come so slowly, and the pressers 

 would have a good deal of idle time through the work coming in 

 rushes instead of at a nice even gait. To class Cross-bred wool 

 in a proper manner, it is necessary that the counts, or spinning 

 qualities of the wool, should be understood by the classer. In 

 Australian Cross-bred wool the counts vary from 58*5 a fine 

 Comeback wool to 36*8, which is very, coarse Lincoln wool. 

 The counts between these two qualities are as follows : 



58*8 Comeback wool, a shade coarser than Merino. 



56*3 Quarter-bred wool, or fine Cross-bred wool. 



50*3 Half-bred wool, just between Merino and Lincoln qualities. 



46*5 Three-quarters-bred wool, a coarse Cross-bred wool. 



40*3 Average Lincoln or Leicester wool. 



36*8 Very coarse Lincoln wool. 



Cross-bred sheep are not spread over Australia like the Merino, 

 but are confined to the more settled districts where the country is 

 rich. Cross-breds do not thrive on very poor country where the 

 feed is scarce and scattered. In fact, very few Cross-bred sheep 

 would live on Central Australian pastures ; therefore we do not 

 find so many different types as is the case with the Merino. 



In the average Cross-bred shed the following sorts of fleece 

 wool will be found suitable : 



A. A. Comeback. Consisting of all the fine, light-conditioned fleeces possessing 

 a long, sound staple, the quality being from 56*8 to 58*3 inclusive. 



A. A. Cross-bred. Consisting of fleeces similar to the A.A. Comeback in all 

 respects save quality. This should be about 50*8. 



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