WOOL-CLASSING 119 







the britch and drawn in folds towards you and then thrown on the 

 rolling table, the clean or cut side underneath. The fleece should 

 be skirted lightly all round, just taking off the heaviest of the burr, 

 if any, and all the dark fribby edges. The stained britch wool 

 should be kept separate from the other skirts or pieces. The 

 fleece should then be rolled in the manner that I have described 

 in the chapter dealing generally with Wool-classing. Some 

 farmers tie the fleeces with string and binding twine. This should 

 not be done, as hemp in the wool is very objectionable to manu- 

 facturers. Not much classing is necessary for these small lots. If 

 the farmer's flock is all Merino, he can make two sorts, one con- 

 sisting of all the nice long-stapled, bright, light-conditioned fleeces, 

 the other containing all the dull and shabbier fleeces. Rams' 

 fleeces should be kept out of these sorts. They could be put in a 

 bag and sold separately. Where the flock is all Cross-bred the 

 same number of sorts will suffice, one consisting of all the nne 

 Cross-bred fleeces, and the other of all the coarse fleeces. Lincoln 

 rams' fleeces should be kept out of the above sorts. If the farmer 

 comes across any very dull, heavy, dirty fleeces that are much 

 below the average, he can put them in a bag or break them up 

 and blend them with the pieces or skirts. 



A farmer with a Merino flock could brand his wool as follows : 



A. A. Merino. Consisting of all the good, bright, light Merino fleeces. 

 A. Merino. Consisting of all the heavy-conditioned and dull fleeces. 



For Cross-bred wool he could use the following brands : 



A. A. Cross-bred. Consisting of all the fine, light, Cross-bred fleeces. 



A. Cross-bred. Consisting of all the coarse Cross-bred fleeces. 



Lincoln or Leicester. Consisting of any pure-bred English long-wool fleeces. 



All the belly wool should be kept by itself. The fleece wool 

 should be baled up neatly and carefully, not making the bale too 

 heavy. The bales should be branded plainly, stating the contents, 

 and the owner's brand or name of the farm. The locks and stained 

 pieces could be baled up together with a sheet of paper separating 



