BRITISH WOOLS. 189 



the wrecking of vessels of the Great Armada round the Scottish 

 coast. 



Typical Long-wools and Long-wool Breeds of Sheep. Typical 

 long wool, as required by the woolcomber, spinner, and manu- 

 facturer, should be long, lustrous, and wavy, of a uniform staple, 

 and sound from root to tip. Fleeces should be free from black 

 hairs, kemps, and bright hairs, and should be washed on the sheep's 

 back, and marketed in this state, as the quality and lustre of long- 

 wools may be much better judged in the washed state. The sheep- 

 breeder wishing to make the most of his wools should carefully 

 consider the above noted characteristics, for a very small divergence 

 from type results in wool much less valuable. For example, if 

 Lincoln sheep are not carefully bred, the wool has a tendency to 

 deteriorate into straight, stringy, hairy wool, technically termed 

 " britch." Thus, the Lincoln breeder endeavours to produce 

 wools of a lustrous, wavy, fine, and uniform staple. But not 

 only must he bear in mind the typical wool required, but he must 

 also endeavour to produce a uniform fleece. If sheep are not 

 well selected for breeding from, a tendency will be noted towards 

 short wool in front and long, stringy wool behind. The ideal fleece 

 should be of uniform staple throughout ; but although this is 

 an impossibility, an approximation thereto may be effected by 

 careful selection of breeding rams, and, if possible, by the culling 

 of ewes. The expense of wool sorting is considerable, and must 

 be added to the depreciated value of the wool in poorly -bred fleeces, 

 BO that the superior financial return resulting from good breeding 

 is most obvious. 



The typical long-wool breeds of sheep by no means produce 

 identical wools. The differences between the Lincoln and Leicester 

 wools are not so great as the differences between sheep of the same 

 breed fed differently say, some on grass, &c., and some on root 

 crops. But, on the other hand, there are certain characteristic 

 breeds of long- wools worthy of special consideration. The 

 Wensleydale sheep, for example, produces a wool of a wonderful 

 lustrous, curly staple, and is a prime favourite among wool staplers. 

 The Devon long- wool should also be specially considered. Thus, 

 in the longwool lustre class are many varieties, each of which is 

 worthy of special consideration from the wool point of view alone. 

 Perhaps the tendency of the Wensleydale sheep to produce black 

 lambs should here be referred to as a race characteristic. From 

 observations made over a period of years though not experi- 

 mentally confirmed it would appear that the Wensleydale black 

 sheep is, in Mendelian language, a " recessive," whereas the Welsh 

 mountain sheep, when black, appears to be " dominant." If 

 it were a question of developing a black breed of sheep, this infor- 

 mation would be most useful. For example, taking the Wensleydale 



