1825.] 



NEW EVGLAND FARMER. 



229 



From Rees^ Cytlopedia. 

 WOOL. 



[Continued from page 189.] 

 Short coml)ing or hosiery wool requires a 

 Jifferent length of staple, according to its fine- 

 ness : tor the belter sorts, tlie staple should not 

 be shorter than lour or five inches ; the lower 

 sorts may range ns high a? eight inches. A 

 greater length than this is not desirable ("or any 

 kind of soft worsted. What has been said of 

 the soundness and fineness of staple required 

 for long combing xtooI, applies equally to the 

 hosiery wool, but in this the fineness of the 

 hair and softness are of more importance. 

 Most of the fleeces which yield fine combing 

 wool produce nsarly an equal quantity of short 

 wool, which is thrown in the same manner as 

 the regular clothing sorts. The combing sorts 

 for hosiery are generally called — 

 Super matching, 



Fine matching, 



Fine drawing, 



Altered drawing. 



Brown drawing, 



Saycast. 

 The names of these sorts derive their origin 

 from ancient processes of the manufacture, 

 with which we are unacquainted at present. 

 The lower sort, or saycast, was probably at 

 first the long coarse combing-wool, thrown out 

 for the manufacture of say, of which we have 

 frequent mention in the earliest history of the 



K woolen trade in England. The relative value 

 iof those sorts, compared with each other, va- 

 •ries according to the demand for the finer or 

 coarser kinds of hosiery, and is also affected by 

 the clothing trade. ^Vhen any clothing nrt 

 which ranges in fineness with one of the comb- 

 ing sorts is in great demand, the wool-sorter 

 wiU break down the shorter combing wool of 

 this sort and throw it to the clothing wool which 

 enhances the price of the former by making it 

 scarce. The fineness of these sorts out of the 

 best combing-wools, stated numerically,, as 

 compared with clothing sorts, will be nearly 

 as under in the fractional parts of an inch. 

 Super matching - - 1-030 

 Fine matching - - 1-780 

 Fine drawing - - 1-700 

 Altered drawing - - 1-600 

 Brown drawing - - 1-520 

 Saycast - - - - 1-450. 

 Most of the best sorters throw out the say 

 combing-wool from the best sorts, making a 

 superfine say for the bombazine trade, say- 

 wool being less suitable for the hosiery, which 

 does not require yarn so finely spun as for hard 

 yarn. 



As all the differe.at sorts of short combing 

 wool, together with several sorts of clothing- 

 wool, will frequently occur in one English 

 fleece, it is absolutely the interest of the grower 

 that Jiis fleece should produce as great a pro- 

 '^rtionofthe best sorts as can be done without 

 terially diminishing the weight. 



Skin Wool^ or Pelt Wool, is the wool separ- 

 ated from the skins of the slaughtered sheep 

 by the fell monger. Soon after shearing, the 

 skin-wool is too short to be worked by itself, 

 aod is generally kept and niiied in with the 

 longer wools. The process by which wool is 



to 



separated from the skins has a tendency to 

 make it hard, and destroy or injure its felting 

 or milling property, on which account short- 

 skin wools are seldom used for the manufacture 

 of cloth, but more generally for serges, flan- 

 nels, and those kinds of goods which require 

 little or no milling; the finest kinds are much 

 used for stockings made of yarn from carded 

 wool. In the spring when the wool on the 

 skins has acquired a considerable length it is 

 thrown into combing sorts ; the finer kinds are 

 used for knitting hosiery yarn, and the coarser 

 hard yarn for the warps of serges and other 

 goods, having a warp of combed, and a welt 

 of carded wool. The value of the wool is sel- 

 dom equal to that of fleece-wool of the same 

 degree of length and firmness, owing to the 

 felting property being injured, which renders 

 it more unfit for the manufacture of woolen 

 cloth. 



Lamb\ Wool. — The wool of the lamb is, 

 with certain exceptions, softer than that of 

 sheep's wool from the same flocks. It pos- 

 sesses the property of felting to a remarkable 

 degree, and on this accouwt is principally man- 

 ufactured into hats, except skin lamb's wool, 

 which losing its felting property in a great de- 

 gree, is employed in the manufacture of flan- 

 nels and woolen yarn for lamb's wool hosierj'. 

 In the northern parts of Europe, the lambs of 

 some of the breeds of sheep possess a fleece so 

 delicately soft, that it constitutes a most valua- 

 ble fur, being dressed on the skin, and used as 

 a costl}' article of attire. According to Pallas, 

 the inhabitants of the Ukrain and Podoli, as 

 soon as the lamb is dropped, (which comes into 

 ihc world with a pretty wavy skin, even with- 

 out the assistance of art,) to augment its beau- 

 ty, and make it bring a higher price, sew it up 

 in a sort of coarse linen shirt, so as to keep up 

 a constant gentle pressure on the wool, pour- 

 ing warm water over it every day to make it 

 soft and sleek ; only letting out the bandage a 

 little from time to time as the animal increases 

 in size, but still keeping it tight enough to 

 effect their purpose, which is to lay the wool 

 in beautiful glossy ringlets, and thereby pro- 

 duce a delicate species of fur in great request 

 for lining clothes and morning-gowns. By this 

 treatment, the staple of the fine soft wool 

 which rises in the infancy of the lamb takes a 

 handsome arrangement ; and the animal is kil- 

 led younger or older according to the species 

 of fur intended to be produced ; from a short 

 glossy nap, like satin, only fit from its thinness, 

 for the purpose mentioned above, to a warm 

 thicTt i'urfor a winter great coat. 



It is very remarkable that the lambs-wool 

 in many of the Merino flocks, is coarser than 

 the sheep's wool. In some of the flocks, the 

 lambs are at first covered with a coarse hair, 

 which falls off afterwards, and they produce 

 the finest wool. 



[To be continued.] 



TO PRESERVE MEAT. 



Put fresh meat in a close vessel, containing 

 vinegar, which will preserve it a considerable 

 time. Tainted meat may be rendered good, 

 by pickling iLin pearl ash water for some time. 

 Before it is cooked, however, it should be dip- 

 ped in vinegar, a short time, and then salted in 

 brine. 



CURE FOR FELLON. 



Take a piece of rock salt about the size of 

 a butternut or English walnut, and wrap it up 

 closely in a green cabbage leaf, but if not to 

 be had, in a piece of brown paper well mois- 

 tened with water. Lay it on embers, and cov- 

 er it up so as to roast ; when it has been in about 

 twenty minutes take it out and powder it as 

 finely as possible. Then take some hard soap 

 and mix the powdered salt with it so as to make 

 a salve. If the soap should contain but little 

 turpentine, which it smells pretty strongly of, 

 none need be added. Apply the salve to the 

 part affected, and in a short time it will totally 

 destroy it and remove the pain. 



TO MAKE OPODELDOC. 



Take one quart of spirits of wine, half a 

 pound of white soap, two ounces of gum cam- 

 phor, 1-4 of an ounce oil origanum; cut the 

 soap fine, and put all together into a tin canister, 

 or some safe vessel, and dissolve the whole 

 on a moderate fire, stirring it often with a pine 

 stick. When nearly cool, and before it coagu- 

 lates, put it into proper vials. This is an ex- 

 cellent application for bruises, sprains, &c. in 

 man or beast. 



TO CURE WARTS OR CORNS. 



Take the inner rind of a lemon, steep it for 

 four and twenty hours in distilled vinegar, and 

 apply it to the warts. It must not be left on the 

 part above three hours at a time, and is to be 

 applied afresh every day.- Or divide a red onion 

 and rub the warts well with it, or annoint them 

 with the milky juice of the herb mercury seve- 

 ral times, and they will gadually waste away. 



, CT'2.1! FOR THE JAUNDICE. 



Take the white of of an egcr.^ and two glass- 

 es of spring water, beat well together, and 

 drink it every morning till the cure is effected. 



E.xcellent substitute for Coffee. — Cut sweet 

 potatoes into small square pieces, dry them 

 perfectly in an oven after the bread is drawn. 

 When wanted for use, parch, grind, and pre- 

 pare in the same manner, as coffee, and it 

 makes a drink equally good to the taste, and 

 more wholesome. It is not easily distinguisha- 

 ble from real coffee, and if its use is daily al- 

 ternated ivith that of coffee, or a very small 

 quantity of coffee is added to it, it cannot be 

 distinguished at all. It is good, very cheap, 

 and what is more, it is American. — American 

 Farmer. 



Cure for Bots. — 1. Half a gallon of sweet- 

 ened milk, and in an hour after, an ounce of 

 calomel. 2. An ounce of calomel. 3. A pint 

 of tar. Each has been recommended as suc- 

 cessful. Dr. Green, of Massachusetts, says the 

 irritation of the bots produces inflammation and 

 renders a large bleeding from the neck pro- 

 per. — lb. 



To cure the Rot in Sheep. — Take three quarts 

 of tar, three of train oil, boil together and stir 

 in one pound of brimstone finely powdered ; 

 pour a little of this mixture along the spine 

 from head to tail directly after shearing. It 

 will preserve the sheep healthy, and improve 

 the wool at next shearing. — J. NeUon, Esq. of 

 Aleckknburg, Fa. — /J. 



