582 



FARMERS' REGISTER, 



[No. 10 



fine-woolled flock, must, select the finest rams that 

 can possibly be obtained, particularly at the com- 

 mencement of his undertaking, i. e. for the first, 

 generation; tor, if the ram ibr the second race is 

 finer than that employed for the first, it is evident 

 that time has been lost in effecting the proposed 

 improvement. 



2. In like manner, the finer woolledthe ewe is 

 with which the improvement commences, so much 

 the more rapidly will that of the breed arrive at 

 the decree of superfine. 



3. The greatest attention is requisite that the 

 rams employed ior the subsequent breeds be as 

 fine as the first; otherwise the amelioration will be 

 retarded. 



4. Where a breeder is desirous of stopping at a 

 certain degree of fineness, without proceeding any 

 further, he may easily effect this object. It will in 

 such case be sufficient to take a ram and ewe of 

 the first or second race; he will have one-half or 

 three-fourths fine; and his flock will retain this de- 

 gree of fineness without any additional improve- 

 ment. 



5. Unless the breeder be minutely attentive to 

 the selection of his rams, the produce of the cross 

 will have only one-fourth part of the Spanish fine- 

 ness. 



6. If an unimproved ewe be put to a ram of a 

 mixed breed, and which has only one-fourth part 

 Spanish in him, the offspring will only have one- 

 eighth Spanish: by continuing to propagate in this 

 manner, a complete separation of the two breeds 

 will at length be effected. 



But Mr. Luccock is of opinion, thai flocks might 

 be amended much more rapidly, if, in addition to 

 the common methods above detailed, a kind of 

 barter in lambs were adopted between two neigh- 

 boring districts, one of them possessing a superior, 

 and the other an inferior breed of sheep. If these 

 could be exchanged in such a manner that the in- 

 ferior sorts only should be sent to the markets, 

 while the a;ood ones were preserved, he affirms 

 that the British flocks would annually become 

 more valuable; as a few seasons would be fully 

 sufficient, todispossess the least cultivated breeds of 

 their present pastures. Our limits do not allow 

 us to notice the objections which he conjectures 

 may be made to this proposal; but, as it is evident- 

 ly the result of much reflection and experience, we 

 leave it to the consideration of the attentive read- 

 er. 



Mr. Bakevvell, however, has brought forward 

 some facts and observations which render it pro- 

 bable that the fineness of wool depends upon the 

 difference of soil* Having, early on his introduc- 

 tion into the wool business, noticed a remarkable 

 difference in the softness of wool equally fine, but 

 which was produced in different districts, Mr. B. 

 was led to believe "that the herbage of each dis- 

 trict derived from the difference of soil some pecu- 

 liar properties, which gave to it, as the food of 

 sheep, the power of effecting that process of the 

 animal.economy by which wool is produced." 



"The soils most, favorable to this soft quality 

 were, first, the argillaceous; next the siliceous; and 

 it was well known, that calcareous soils, whether 



* "Observations on the influence of soil and climate 

 •upon wool," &.c. 8vo. 1808. The value of this work is 

 considerably augmented by several important notes 

 communicated to the author by the Rt. Hon. Lord So- 

 merville. 



limestone or chalk, produce wools of a contrary 

 quality, remarkable for their harshness to the 

 touch. In proportion as the above earths prepon- 

 derate in a loose state near the surface of different 

 soils, their effects may be defected, whatever be 

 the breed of sheep from which the wool be 

 shorn."* 



These remarks on the effects of chalk upon 

 wool, are limited to chalk alone, by Lord Somer- 

 ville. who considers them as inapplicable to lime- 

 stone soils in general. "Lime," his lordship ob- 

 serves, "certainly may be burnt, from chalk as 

 well as from limestone: as chalk it is conveyed 

 into the fleece by contact, in its natural state; but 

 limestone, if it does not lie deep below the surface, 

 as is usually the case, is a hard and clean stone, 

 and can communicate nothing to the wool until it 

 is rendered into lime by the strongest, effect of fire. 

 This doctrine militates also against the whole of 

 our practice in the western counties. The pile, of 

 all my Merino wool, even of the pure blood, is 

 publicly admitted to be improved; it has been con- 

 stantly grown on a limestone soil, and the surface 

 of the land manured with lime on each course of 

 cropping, and to the extent of 100 bushels per acre 

 of the best popple-lime, the qualify of which has 

 been ascertained by Sir Humphrey Davy, to 

 whom specimens were sent; it has been treated on 

 in his public lectures, and its quality ranks among 

 the strongest of our manuring lime. As the au- 

 thor speaks so positively on the effect of limestone 

 on wools, we may conclude that the limestone of 

 byshire and the adjoining counties does pro- 

 duce 'this effect." 



Mr. Bake well conceives that, the soft, quality of 

 wool may be preserved in every situation by greas- 

 ing the sheep; and that the same means will also 

 contribute to counteract the effects of climate and 

 soil, where these are unfavorable to this quality; 

 and further, that sheep will thereby be preserved 

 from cutaneous distempers, from the change of 

 climate, and from the sudden change of tempera- 

 ture after shearing. Mr. B. strenuously advocates 

 the practice of greasing sheep, proving its antiqui- 

 ty as well as its usefulness by details of facts, for 

 which we reluctantly refer to his work, as this ar- 

 ticle would otherwise be extended beyond our con- 

 fined limits. The result of his practice, however, 

 may be comprised in the following positions, dis- 

 tinct from the recital of facts by which they are 

 supported. Mr. B. infers, 



1st. That hair differs from wool, by the greater 

 degree of hardness and elasticity of its fibres. 



2d. That some wools resemble hair in this 

 quality more than other wools which are much 

 coarser. 



3d. That the hard quality found in some wool, 

 prevents it from making cloth of the same value as 

 the softer wools, if the former are considerably 

 finer than the latter. 



4th. That the application of unctuous matter 

 sufficiently soft and tenacious to cover and remain 

 upon the fleece, will defend it from the action of 

 the soil, and is found to produce the soft quality of 

 wool, so desirable to the manufacturer. 



Hence the greased wools of Northumberland 

 and Yorkshire possess a superior degree of soft- 

 ness to any ungreased wools in the kingdom. 



Bakowell on wool, p. 5. 



