132 



GENESEE FARMER, 



Junk, 



Preparing Wool for Market. 



This is an important matter to the wool grow- 

 »ir, and one which is very often sadly neglected. 

 In preference to writing any thing of our own 

 on the suhject, we copy the following directions 

 fro7n " Morrell's American Shepherd," — a work 

 that should be in the hands of every American, 

 whether he keeps a sheep or not, for it is wortli 

 twice its cost as a treatise on an interesting 

 branch of Natural History. 



ROLLING THE FLEECES. 

 After the shearer has performed his task, the 

 fleeces must be carefully taken fi'om the floor, 

 ;ind put upon the rolling table, the outside of it 

 uppermost. The valuable loose locks about the 

 shearer's stand must all be picked up, and the 

 useless stuff from the legs, &c., put into a corn- 

 er, bag, or basket. It should not be swept out of 

 <loors, as it possesses valuable properties for ma- 

 nure. 



The roller then proceeds to spread out the 

 Heece, which cannot be too carefully done, sepa- 

 rates the ragged portions from tlie skirts and 

 head, and then makes it as compact as possible 

 by pushing from all sides towards the centre. — 

 The loose wool is then thrown upon the fleece, 

 which is followed by turning over the sides and 

 ends so as to form an oblong stripe, say about 

 two or three feet long, and one and a half wide, 

 which is moved to the front edge of the table. 

 He then commences to roll the long side of the 

 stripe, aided by a boy at the other end of it, who 

 lay their arms flat from the elbow to press the 

 wool as the rolling proceeds, till the stripe is re- 

 duced to six or nine inches in width, depending 

 on the size of the fleece. The boy then mounts 

 upon the table, and each commences rolling from 

 the ends of the stripe till the parts meet, when 

 the boy rolls his portion on top of his assistant's, 

 firmly pressing it till the twine is passed round 

 both ways and tied, which eilectually secures the 

 fleece, no matter how roughly handled. After 

 it receives a slight pressure, it presents some- 

 what the form of a cheese, • 



Thore are other modes of putting up fleeces, 

 performed without any aid ; but the writer has 

 yet to see that individual who alone can roll a 

 fleece as firm and solid as it should be, at the 

 same time giving it a symmetrical and attractive 

 form. If it is loosely rolled, the quantity of can- 

 vass used for packing is necessarily much in- 

 creased ; and this item of extra expense is more 

 than equivalent to the services of a lad as an as- 

 sistant. — 



ARRANGEMENT OF WOOL FOR SALE, &c. 

 The slovenly manner in which vrool is rolled 

 and afterwards prepared for exhibition to the 

 buyer, deserves a passing remark. 



The wool-grower should keep before him the 

 rnotto of the shopman, "goods tidily kept arc half 

 Bold." This applies witli equal propriety to 



mer, and to nothing 

 col. They are too 

 matter in a " rough 

 ihe fleeces untidily, 

 I lark and uninviting 

 . ool has been well 



everything saleable by tl ;. .' 

 with greater force than i.ia 

 prone to get along with t!. 

 and tumble" style, doing i 

 and then depositing them i. 

 places for exhibition. If 



cleansed, it will not be ashamed of too much 

 light; if only half washed, a dark corner only 

 aggravates its appearance. There is an art in 

 disposing wool for sale, wlach enables the flock- 

 master to put his best foot o>it, and yet be guiltless 

 of artifice to deceive the buyer ; on the contrary* 

 increases his opportunity to judge accurately of 

 everything appertaining to condition and quality. 

 The adoption of the following will carry out 

 the writer's views and practice : — 



First, against one, or all sides — if necessary — 

 of the wool-loft, let four or five tiers of fleeces 

 be placed upon top of each other, as nearly alike 

 as to size as possible ; the next pile, one tier of 

 fleeces less, and so on diminishing the succeeding 

 piles one tier, till the last is reduced to a single 

 one. In tliis way, the fleeces represent piazza 

 steps, or perhaps more properly, the ascending 

 seats of an ampitheatre. It will readily be con- 

 ceived, that if the fleeces have been neatly rolled 

 and adjusted, the whole is not only attractive, but 

 saves the buyer much time in overhauling it, 

 which is unavoidable if disposed of in a bin, or 

 piled in any other form. This constitutes one 

 of those "inviting appearances" which the world 

 delight to gaze on, and which the world are 

 sometimes disposed to pay a little beyond the in- 

 trinsic value for the sake of possessing. Let the 

 flock-master honestly tag his sheep and cleanse 

 his fleeces, and put nothing within them but the 

 "clean thing," and flie inviting scene before the 

 buyer cannot mislead, or deceive him afterwards. 

 This leads to an exposure of other " cheating 

 practices" of wool-growers, alluded to by Mr. 

 Samuel Lawrence, under the head of" washing." 

 In a communication to the writer he states the 

 following: — "The practice of inclosing in the 

 fleece clippings, &c., is too common, and should 

 be discourc-iged by manufacturers. I have known 

 six ounces of this useless stuft' taken from one 

 fleece. There is another practice equally dis- 

 graceful — the use of five to twenty times as much 

 twine. as is necessary. A short time since I took 

 sixty-six feet of large twine from one fleece." 



No further comment is necessaiy, than to say, 

 that any flock-master who will put tag or dung 

 locks, clippings, &c., in the fleece, with a view 

 to increase the weight, foj- sucia is the motive, is 

 committing a gross fraud, and in every instance 

 of discfjverv, his crime should be exposed to the 

 public for reprobation. 



In addition to excessive quantity of twine, it 

 is not unusual for the size to be adapted alma*** 

 as well for rope-traces, as tying of fleeces. It 

 should be about half the size of a pipe's tail, as 

 smooth as possble, otherwise, the fibres of flax, 



