142 THE SHEEP AND WOOL INDUSTRY 



and all the liquor possible squeezed out of it. A small mangle 

 or wringer is very good for this purpose. The wool should be 

 rinsed again in warm water and given a final washing in cold 

 water and put through the wringer again so that all surplus 

 moisture is squeezed out. The wool should then be thoroughly 

 dried in the sun. If the weather is unsuitable for drying the 

 wool can be placed in the oven, but it should be allowed to cool 

 for some hours before weighing, as, if dried in an oven, or by 

 artificial means, it is sure to lose too much of its natural moisture. 

 Normal wools contain 16 per cent, of moisture. The yield can 

 be worked out as follows. Say, for instance, we have scoured 

 12 oz. of greasy wool and we get 6 oz. of clean, scoured 

 wool. What percentage did the sample yield? It can be 

 worked out by making a proportion sum of it. If 12 oz. is 

 100 per cent., what percentage is 6 oz. ? As 6 oz. is less you 

 put it in the second term 12 oz. : 6 oz. : : 100 per cent. As the 

 percentage is the answer required, 100 per cent, goes into the 

 third term. You multiply the second and third term together, 



and divide by the first. Therefore = 50 per cent. The 



answer is therefore 50 per cent. 



Wool when properly scoured should be free from all yolk, dirt, 

 and knots, and should have a " kind " feel. Badly scoured wools 

 are very often gummy, owing to some of the yolk or grease having 

 been left in them. Wool which has been roped in the scouring 

 process that is, tangled into knotty and rope-like pieces instead 

 of being open and free declines about 3d. per Ib. in value, 

 so it is very unprofitable to employ an unskilled scourer. Roped 

 wool cannot be combed as economically as the free, a large 

 percentage of it going into noils. You very seldom see wool 

 roped when scoured by machine. It occurs very often when the 

 pot-sticking method is used by unskilful operators. As I have 

 mentioned earlier, different wools require different temperatures ; 

 to scour stained pieces you would require a hot, strong liquor, 

 while to scour Cross-bred fleece you would not need a liquor 

 nearly as strong. 



