522 



WOO 



woo 



staple, gives to it also a coarser 

 pile. Feeding the sheep upon the 

 richer grasses, upon turnips and 

 oil cake, thus forcing both the car- 

 case and the fleece, seems to be a 

 method of increasing the wool free 

 from contaminating influence, but 

 requires the animal to be constant- 

 ly supported, even to the point of 

 luxurious feeding ; and the effects 

 of the system remain no longer 

 than it is continued. Another me- 

 thod is to keep the wool upon the 

 back of the sheep two who^e years ; 

 which requires care that the ani- 

 mal be not injured by cold, or by 

 hunger, while the sheep is growing. 



The softness of the piie is an 

 essential quality of the fleece ; 

 and this depends very much on the 

 breed of sheep, and the quantity 

 of yolk, which they constantly af- 

 ford. Mr. Luccock says, that "The 

 Spaniard is so thoroughly aware of 

 the value of this property and the 

 means to promote it, that he not 

 only attends with peculiar care tP 

 the breed which travels to tlie 

 mountains, but before shearing en- 

 closes the sheep in sudatories, in 

 order to saturate and soften the 

 pile with the yolk." The softest 

 pile is collected, if the breed be 

 similar from flocks, which have 

 been kept in good condition, upon 

 loamy soils, and into whose fleeces 

 no particles of absorbent earth 

 have been admitted. Lime or 

 chalk, it is said, will injure fleeces 

 1i)y absorbing or altering the quality 

 of the yolk. 



" Formerly," says an English 

 writer, ''the manufacturer in show- 

 ing his cloth was more anxious to 

 exhibit the fineness of the thread 



than prove the softness of the pile. 

 For this purpose he used to scrape 

 off the pile from a small part of the 

 cloth to display the smallness and 

 regularity of the spinning : since 

 he has been enabled by machinery 

 to spin a small even thread with 

 great facility, the practice is dis- 

 continued. Cloth is now finished 

 without that hard, shining surface, 

 which was given to it a few years 

 since by hot-pressing, which pre- 

 vented the softness of the pile from 

 being felt. By the present mode 

 of cold pressing, the softness of the 

 pile becomes immediately percep- 

 tible to the touch, and is consider- 

 ed as one of the most distinguish- 

 ing and essential qualities of a good 

 cloth. It may be affirmed, that 

 taking two packs of sorted wool of 

 the same apparent fineness, one 

 possessing in an eminent degree 

 the soft quality, the other of the 

 hard kind, the former will, with the 

 same expense to the manufacturer, 

 make a cloth, the value of which 

 shall exceed the latter full twenty- 

 five per cent." 



Housing the sheep at night, and 

 providing for them a shelter during 

 the day from the rain and sun pre- 

 serves and improves the wool, and 

 conduces to the health of the ani- 

 mal ; and in proportion to the re- 

 gularity of the temperature in which 

 sheep are kept, and to the regular 

 supply of nourishment which they 

 receive, will the hair or fibre of 

 the wool preserve a regular degree 

 of fineness. 



M. Monge gives the following 

 account of that extraordinary pro- 

 perty in wool, called the felting 

 quality. 



