100 



NEW ENOCAND FARMER. 



From iiees' Cyclopedia. 

 WOOL. 



[Continued from page 93.] 

 The colour of the fleece should always ap- 

 proach as much as possible to the purest white, 

 because such wool is not only necessary for 

 cloths dressed white, but for all cloths to be dy- 

 ed bright colours, for which a clear white 

 ground is required, to give a due degree of 

 richness and lustre. It is probable that all 

 sheep's wool was first of a black or reddish col- 

 our; the latter is always referred to by the an- 

 cients. Before the invention of dyeing, colour- 

 ed wool must have had a preference to white ; 

 but after the art of communicating beautiful 

 colours to the fleece, white wool would be in 

 the greatest demand, and those sheep which 

 had white fleeces would be selected to breed 

 from. The most ancient flocks ofsheep, which 

 we have any record of, are those of Laban and 

 Jacob, described in the book of Genesis. The 

 fleeces appear to have been principally brown, 

 or spotted and striped, which was, in all proba- 

 bility, the general colour of the flocks through- 

 out that part of Asia. We learn that in the 

 course of twenty years a great change was ef- 

 fected in the colour of a large portion of the 

 sheep of Laban ; though Jacob appears to have 

 concealed from his father-in-law the method by 

 which this change was effected, we are express 

 ly told in the sequel that it was by crossing with 

 rams which had fleeces of the colours required 



Dark brown or black wooled sheep are no' 

 uncommon in many parts of the European flocks 

 but such wool being of less value than the 

 white, these sheep ought always to be expelled. 

 Some of the English fine-wooled sheep, as the 

 Norfolk and Soulh-Doun, have black or grey 

 faces and legs. In all such sheep there is a 

 tendency to grow grey wool on some parts ot 

 the body, or to produce some grey fibres inter- 

 mixed with the fleece, which renders the wool 

 ■unfit for many kinds of white goods ; for though 

 the black hairs may be too few or minute to 

 be detected by the wool sorter, yet when the 

 •clolh is stoved they will become visible, form 

 ing reddish spots, by which its appearance is 

 much injured. The Herefordshire sheep, 

 ■which have while faces, are entirely free from 

 this defect, and yield a fleece without any ad 

 "mixture of grey hairs. We have no doubt that 

 by carefully rejecting those sheep from the 

 South-Down flocks, in which the grey is most 

 apparent, this defect might be gradually re 

 moved. It is particularly desirable with respect 

 'to those sheep as the wool grown on chalk 

 soils, though less soft than on other soils, is gen 

 erally whiter, and better suited to such good: 

 ^vhich require the process of bleaching or stov- 

 ing, and do not require to be so much fulled as 

 many other cloths. 



The ancients were so well aware of the ne- 

 cessity of expelling dark coloured wool from 

 their flocks, that in selecting their sheep to breed 

 ■from, they did not trust to the colour of the 

 fleece alone, but carefully examined the mouth 

 and tongue of the ram, and if the least black- 

 ness or swarthiness appeared, he was immedi- 

 ately rejected ; and though some moderns have 

 *loul)tcd the use of this precaution, we believe 

 it was well founded. 



" Ilium autem, quamvis aries sit candidus ipse, 

 Nigra sube^t udo tantum cui lingua palalo, 

 Rejice, no meculis infuscet vellera pullis. 



Virgil's Geor. III.* 



Pliny also states, that particular attention was 

 on this account had to the colour of the mouth. 

 Arietum maxime spectantur ora.t We are in- 

 formed that this kind of inspection takes place 

 in the Spanish flocks at present, a practice in 

 all probability derived from the Roman Shep- 

 herds, as we believe the flock to have been 

 from those of Italy or the Tarentine breed. — 

 The colour of the soil on which sheep graze, 

 if very dark or red, communicates to the wool 

 a tint more or less strong, which is indelible, 

 and renders such wool less proper for cloths or 

 hosiery ffonds that are tn be finished white ; for 

 though the colour may be improved by stoving, 

 yet on washing the cloths, they soon return to 

 a brownish or yellowish tint. The tint from 

 the soil is, however, rarely of sufficient strength 

 to be regarded for dyed goods, excepting lor 

 exceedinsjlv lis:ht colours. 



The cleanliness of wool is principally re- 

 garded by the purchaser, as it afl'ects the 

 weisht. To the grower those fleeces are g<?n- 

 erafly most profitable that are well tilled with 

 grease, or yolk, as it is called, because it keeps 

 the wool in a sound state, and improves its soft- 

 ness. It ought, hewever, to be washed out as 

 much as possible, before it is exposed to sale.— 

 The fleeces of the Merino sheep are more 

 plentifully supplied with yolk than those of our 

 native fine wooled breeds; indeed it is so abun- 

 dant, that the English mode of washing on the 

 back of the sheep will scarcely produce an ef- 

 fect on the fleece. The yolk or grease appears 

 from experiments made upon it by M. Vauque- 

 lin, to be a native soap, consisting, principally, 

 of animal oil combined with potash. It is most 

 copiously produced by those breeds, wliich 

 2T0W the finest and softest wool, and is always 

 most abundant on those parts of ihe animal 

 which yield Ihe finest parts of the fleece. To 

 this subject we shall again refer in treating of 

 the improvement of wool. This yolk, though 

 so beneficial to the wool in a growing slate, 

 becomes injurious to it when shorn ; for if the 

 fleeces remain i)iled in an unwashed state, a 

 fermentation takes place, the yolk becomes 

 hard, and the fibre is rendered hard and brittle. 

 This effect takes place more rapidly in hoi 

 weather. The Spaniards remove this yolk, in 

 a great measure, by washing the wool after it 

 is shorn and sorted. In Saxony, fine wooled 

 sheep of the same race are washed In tubs 

 with warm water, soap-lees, urine, and alter- 

 vvards in clean water. 



In England the wool is washed on 'the back 

 of the sheep by immerging the animal in wa- 

 ter, and squeezing the fleece with the hand. — 

 From these different modes of washing, the 

 wool is left more or less pure. Mr Bakewell, 

 in his Observations on the Influence of Soil and 

 Climate on Wool, has given the following table, 

 contrasting a statement of the quantity of neat 



* F.v'n though a snowy ram thou shall behold. 



Prefer him not in haste for husband to thy fold — 



But search his mouth ; and if a swarthy tongue 



Is underneath his humid palate hung, 



Reject him, lest he darken all the flock ; 



And substitute another from thy stock. — Drydew. 



t The mouths of ra;ns are chiefly to be regarded. 



wool in every hundred pounds, i.iken on an av- 

 erage of each sort, and M][.|>u>ing each lo be 

 free (rom lumps of pitch employed in mirking 

 the wool, and cleared from what are called the 

 dog-locks. The first column represeols the av- 

 erage weight after Ihe wool has been scoured 

 perfectly clean with soap and water. 



100 lbs. of English wool washed ) Pure Wool. Waste. 



on the sheep's back — J 75 25 



Do. Saxony fleece wool, 80 20 



Do. Spanish R. or refine, 88 12 



Do. Spanish and Portugal unwashed, 75 £5 



Do. English fleeces unwashed, 60 40 

 Do. lightly greased wools of i 



Northumberland, washed on > 65 35 



the sheep's back — j 



Hence it is obvious, that the state of the fleece 

 with respect to cleanness is of great importance 

 to the wool-buyer. The English Mermo sheep, 

 from the difficulty of washing Ihe wool on the 

 sheep's back, have generally been shorn in an 

 unwashed itate, and the wool offered lor sale in 

 this state. The purchasers were frequently un- 

 acquainted with the great amount of the loss it 

 would suffer by washing, and were much disap- 

 pointed at the result. This circumslance, we 

 conceive, more than any other, tended to prej- 

 udice the manufacturer against the Anglo-Meri- 

 no wool. The wool is also injured by remain- 

 ing in the grease, as we have before stated ; — 

 and though this has been contradicted, we have 

 no hesitation in asserting the fact from our own 

 experience. Indeed, the French manufacturers 

 of fine wool assert that the best wools from Spain 

 though cleared in a great measure from the 

 yolk, yet still retain sufiicient to injure the 

 wool, if it be suffered to grow old when it is 

 packed, the yolk becoming rancid and hard, and 

 communicating the latter property to the world. 

 We have frequently obtained this effect in the 

 wools from Portugal, that retain a greater por- 

 tion of the yolk than those from Spain. 



After ivool has been washed in the usual 

 manner practised in England, and piled or pack- 

 ed, a process takes place in eight or nine weeks 

 called sTfeating. This is well known to wool- 

 dealers and manufacturers, but has not before 

 been noticed by any writer that we are acquaint- 

 ed with. It is evidently an incipient fermenta- 

 tion of the yolk ; and the inner part of the pack 

 or pile becomes sensibly warm. This process 

 proihices a certain change in the wool, whereby 

 it become' in a better situation fcr manufacfur- 

 insr. being what is called in the north of Eng- 

 land less fii::y. This effect results from a dim- 

 inulion of the natural elasticity of the fibre. 



^Vhen this fermentation lakes place in unw ash- 

 ed wool, it proceeds further and injures the col- 

 our and soundness of the fibre or staple. A sim- 

 ilar effect is produced in wool on cloth that has 

 been oiled, and remains some time in an unscour- 

 ed state. Instances of spontaneous combustion 

 from heaps of refuse wool remaining in a greasy 

 state, have been known to occur, and occasion 

 the most serious accidents in woolen factories... 

 (To be coniimied.') 



To mafcc Kumes grow in Fruit. — When fruit is 

 about half ripe, cover the side exposed lo the 

 sun with stripes or specks of wax, in any de- 

 sired shape or form, which hinders the sun from 

 colouring the parls covered, and when the fruit 

 is ripe and the wax removed, it will be found, 

 marked in the manner desired. 



