THE SHEEP 



189 



value to man. The Merino is an example of 

 a race which now produces this improved wool, 

 but many other breeds of short-wool sheep 

 have the same quality. 



The quality of the wool is judged by its 

 curls (as, for instance, the number there are 

 to the square inch) ; by the length when 

 uncurled and stretched out ; by the weight 

 which each thread can bear without, breaking ; 

 by its elasticity, that is to say, its power to 

 curl up again after being stretched out ; and 

 finally, by its color and brilliancy. 



The great variety of wools now existing may- 

 be classed in two groups, — the fine or short 

 and carding wool, and the long, coarse, and 

 combing wool. For the manufacture of cloth 

 the former — such, for instance, as the Merinos 

 supply — is used. The softer materials, such as 

 thibet, are made with longer, less curly wool, 

 which is carded before it is spun ; these latter 

 fabrics bear the name of etaniinc, or tammy 

 cloth. The manufacture of these softer fabrics, 

 such as cashmere, homespun, serge, cheviot, 

 zibeline, and flannel, has rather driven into the 

 background the making of cloth, properly so 

 called ; consequently the Merinos, which fur- 

 nished the finest wool for the latter purpose, 

 have been supplanted, especially in France and 

 Germany, by breeds whose fleece is lighter 

 and more porous. 



In some countries, ours especially, it is 

 the custom to wash the sheep before shearing 

 them ; in others they are not washed, and the 



fleece is sold with all the grease and sweat in 

 it. This is certainly advantageous for the 

 seller. In some parts of the Old World, when 

 the shearing is on a large scale, the sheep, 

 numbering sometimes twenty thousand, are 

 put into huge covered sheds, whence they are 

 driven into a sweating compartment, where 

 they are crowded one upon another to induce 

 perspiration. These compartments have neither 

 doors nor windows ; the animals are exhausted 

 intentionally, and their health is partially sacri- 

 ficed solely to obtain a heavier fleece and to 

 make the harsh wool of the rams softer and 

 more supple. 



After the sale the fleeces are washed by 

 the manufacturers of the cloth. At the height 

 of the wool production in Spain, when great 

 quantities were exported to foreign countries 

 (in 1796 these exports amounted to twelve 

 million pounds), the king of Spain derived vast 

 sums from an export tax. In the year just 

 mentioned it amounted to 51,496,000. 



Formerly the fleece was pulled from the 

 body of the animal at the molting or shed- 

 ding season. The custom still prevails in Ice- 

 land and in some other European countries ; 

 but the present method, especially with us, 

 is to shear with a machine, operated either by 

 hand or power, that cuts the wool with perfect 

 regularity, does not wound the sheep, and 

 reduces the time necessary to shear one ani- 

 mal from half an hour to ten minutes and 

 even less. 



