198 BRITISH SHEEP AND SHEPHERDING. 



On the other hand, the fine, wavy Down wools may be spun into 

 soft handling yarns which may then be knitted into hosiery goods 

 or woven into soft, full-handling tweeds. Obviously, then, the 

 sheep -breeder should endeavour to bring his flock distinctly under 

 one or other of the above categories if the greatest wool value is 

 to be obtained. Thus, one farmer may find that his land will carry 

 Lincoln sheep. It would also carry, say, Oxford Down sheep. 

 But if he were to cross these two breeds, the resultant wool would 

 be neither a good long lustre nor a good short, wavy wool ; it 

 would fall into a nondescript class between the two and probably 

 be much less valuable than either. Of course, according to fashion, 

 the relative values of long and short wools may vary, but broadly 

 speaking the foregoing remarks hold true. Thus, although it may 

 be true that by far the greater weight of wool grown in the British Isles 

 is neither one nor the other of the two foregoing types, but something 

 in between, it is nevertheless useful to bear the two types in mind 

 and to approach as near as possible to one or other of the types as 

 opportunity offers. Shropshire wools, for example, have Down 

 characteristics combined with length in the full-grown fleeces. 

 Thus, length may be and frequently is an actual obstacle to its 

 treatment as a soft tweed or hosiery wool, and its Down character- 

 istic markedly decreases its value as a long lustre wool. What more 

 natural, then, that Shropshire lambs should be sheared and a 

 shorter Down wool of greater value thus produced. It is not 

 sufficiently recognised that under certain circumstances wool 

 may be too long. Thus, combers may sometimes be instructed to 

 comb out not the short fibres (or " noil " as it is termed) but 

 the long fibres, thus producing a short type average top. 



Having decided upon the type of wool to breed to, every endeavour 

 should be made to obtain uniform fleeces. In certain crosses, and 

 possibly in all fleece (subsequent to second year) wool, there is a 

 marked tendency for the hinder half of the fleece to be coarser 

 than the front half. This should be corrected so far as may be, 

 and most strenuous endeavours made to produce a uni-fleece. 



The Marketing of Wools. In the long run, the large sheep-breeder 

 will find it to his advantage to classify his fleeces and to face the 

 wool buyer with " well got-up wool." He must not expect to reap 

 any advantage by doing this for one year only ; he must rather 

 hope to establish a name by persisting in the right getting-up 

 of his wool year by year. The wool must be well washed on the 

 sheep's back, cleanly sheared without double-cuts, free from 

 straw and vegetable bits, tied up with itself and not with stack- 

 band or other objectionable vegetable fibred stuff, dirt and foreign 

 matter removed, and a normal amount of moisture only present. 

 Black and grey fleeces must be kept separated from the white. 



If the farmer will pay attention to these points, then it may 



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