woo 



woo 



521 



whose shape we can have no rea- 

 sonable doubt. 



Another topic which deserves at- 

 tention is a substance intimately 

 blended with the pile of the fleece, 

 which on account of its ^^eliowness 

 and consistency is denomniated the 

 yolk. The best breeds of sheep 

 produce this in the greatest abun- 

 dance. Those parts of the sheep 

 which produce yolk most copiously 

 furnish the best wool. M. Vau- 

 quelin, who has submitted this yolk 

 to chemical analysis, declares that 

 the greater part of it is a soap with 

 a base of potash, and that the re- 

 maining portion consists of salt in a 

 state of combination with other 

 substances. 



The manner in which this yolk 

 acts upon wool is unknown. The 

 most plausible conjecture appears 

 to be that it is a secretion, exuding 

 from the skin, which by mingling 

 with the pile renders it soft, plia- 

 ble and healthy, in the same way 

 as oil does a thoug of leather. 



It would be vain to undertake to 

 point out any particular kind of 

 wool, which, in all circumstances 

 might be considered as best, as this 

 would depend on the kind of manu- 

 facture contemplated, but whether 

 the wool be long or short of a coar- 

 ser or finer pile, it will be good or 

 bad in proportion to the quantity 

 of sound and healthy yolk in which 

 it is produced. I 



The breed of the sheep is the ! 

 basis upon which all improvements i 

 of the flock must be founded. { 

 Though English and Spanish sheep 

 have degenerated, when exported 

 to other chmates it is said that the 

 deterioration has been the conse- 

 66 



quence of the intermixture of blood 

 with sheep of an inferior quality. 

 Mr. Lackner says, " the sheep of 

 England, when transported to Ja- 

 maica, )^ield the same kind of ' bur- 

 ly fleece,' as they did at home, 

 and if prevented from mingling 

 their breed with the native stock 

 their offspring afford a wool exact- 

 ly similar to what they would have 

 done in this climate." 



The mode of washing sheep 

 sometirnes practiced where water 

 is scarce and the shepherd careless 

 instead of separating from the fleece 

 all ttie sand, clay and other dirt with 

 which it is incumbered, supplies it 

 with a still larger proportion. They 

 are too often washed in muddy 

 pools, or small rivulets of water, 

 which are rendered turbid by the 

 process, or driven along dusty roads, 

 or lodged in sandy or dusty places. 

 Sheep too are often allowed to car- 

 ry about them loads of their own 

 excrement, and thus impeaching 

 ihe humanity as well as the clean- 

 liness of their owners. What are 

 called the tag locks should be care- 

 fully cut away, and the sheep should 

 be kept in clean dry pastures after 

 having been washed before shear- 

 ing. 



Graziers may increase the length 

 of their staple by various means. 

 The management of the breed is 

 not only the most natural and easy 

 method, but that also which is most 

 Ui-ually adopted. Its effects are 

 more permanent than others which 

 are sometimes resorted to, but less 

 pure from deleterious influences ; 

 for it is not unfrequently observed, 

 that the ram communicating to his 

 offspring an increased length of 



