252 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



[March 4, 



From Rees'' Cyclopedia. 



WOOL. 



[Concluded from page 229.] 



Wool, from other animals besides the sheep, 

 is employed in manufactories, and spun and 

 woven into fabrics of different kinds, eilher un- 

 mixed or mixed with sheep's wool. The goats 

 of Thibet, which grow the fine shawl wool, pro- 

 duce it as a fine down at the bottom of a long, 

 coarse hair, with which the animals are cover- 

 ed.* Many of the common goals, in Europe, 

 grow a similar down, which, by cultivation, 

 migfht become a valuable ariicle of commerce. 

 It is not, however, ascertained whether the 

 shawls and shawl cloth of India are all manufac- 

 tured of goats' wool ; a part appears to be made 

 from sheep's wool, peculiarly soft and fine. The 

 Angora goat grows a hair extremely soft and 

 silky, which is much used in some of the French 

 worsted goods, mixed with silk. Dr Anderson 

 says that the Angora goat will prosper and pre- 

 serve its peculiarities in France and Sweden. 



The improvement of zvool depends primarily 

 on attention to the breed of sheep ; but there 

 are various circumstances of soil, climate, and 

 food, which are important to be regarded. The 

 experiments, which have been made in various 

 parts of Europe within the last half century, 

 have sufficiently removed the prejudice, that 

 long prevailed, respecting the possibility of 

 growing the finest clothing-wool in almost eve- 

 ry part of the globe where sheep will subsist 

 and thrive. It is difTerest with the long comliing- 

 wools, to grow which in perfection, luxuriant 

 pastures seem absolutely requisite, and these 

 cannot be obtained under a parching sun, nor 

 could the animal subsist in tropical climates, cov- 

 ered with such a load of wool as is grown on 

 our sheep in Lincolnshire. Under such circum- 

 stances an entire change seems to take place in 

 the animal system; the long-wcoled sheep be- 

 come diseased and feverish, and only recover 

 by casting the fleece, which is replaced by a 

 coat of short hair. The rich pastures in Eng- 

 land and the opposite coasts of Flanders, Seem 

 more favourable to the growth of heavy comb- 

 ing fleeces, than any other country in the known 

 world ; and the Leicestershire and Lincolnshire 

 sheep seem every way well suited to these pas- 

 tures, and the prices of the wool obtained at 

 present, are sufficient to secure attention to its 

 cultivation. 



For the common purpose of the worsted man- 

 ufactures, this wool is so well suited as to leave 

 nothing further to be desired; and it is this 

 kind, which foreign manufacturers are so desir- 

 ous of obtaining from us. In many situations, 

 however, where heavy, long-wooled sheep are 

 introduced, and where the soil is not sufficiently 

 rich to grow it in perfection, it would be possible 

 to grow a fleece, weighing five or six pounds, 

 of very line combing wool by crossing the long 

 vvoolod ewes with the Anglo-Merino rams. 



The experiments made on tlie tl.TC wooled 

 sheep on a large scale, in different parts of Eu- 

 rope, prove that peculiarities of food and cli- 

 mate have comparatively small influence on the 

 quality uf clothing wool, and that it may be 

 grown equally fine m situations where the sheep 

 are coniiued on dry meat a great part of the 



* Fo'r further notices of this species of animals, tlie 

 fleece they produce, their introduction into France, 

 Sic. &c. see New England Farmer, volume i. p, 188 — 

 and volume ii. page 22ii. 



year, as in Saxony, Sweden, and Denmark. It 

 may also be grown in the richest pastures, pro- 

 vided the pastures be overstocked to keep the 

 herbage bare. 



In Spain no attempts arc made to wash the 

 wool on the sheep's back, but all the fleeces of 

 a pile are regularly sorted, and the different 

 sorts scoured and dried before the wool is pack- 

 ed. But where the quantity of wool, which 

 any one grower possesses is small, as in Eng- 

 land, it would not answer to send for wool-sorters 

 from a distance ; and to wash the wool before 

 it is sorted would so intermingle the fine and 

 coarse locks, as to render the regular sorting 

 extremely difficult and expensive. In Saxony 

 and Sweden the -jvool is washed on the sheep's 

 backs. The following account of the process 

 is described by baron Schultz. The sheep are 

 first washed with one part clear ley, and two 

 parts lukewarm water, and then in another tub 

 with less ley in the water ; after which the 

 sheep are washed, laying them always on their 

 backs, with their heads up, in a tub of clean 

 water ; and, lastly, there is poured on the sheep, 

 when standing on the ground, a sufficient quantity 

 of water, which is as much as possible squeez- 

 ed out of the wool. The sheep are afterwards 

 driven to an unpastured meadow adjoining, and 

 remain there a ilay and a night, or longer, till 

 their wool be diy, which, in fine weather, will 

 be three days. Some [lersons wash their sheep 

 twice, but the wool becomes harder in conse- 

 quence of it, and has a greyer appearance. 



The practice of greasing the sheep in Scot- 

 land, and the northern countries of England, with 

 a mixture of tar and butter, seems to have been 

 introduced merely to preserve the shee|), and 

 was generally supposed to he injurious to the 

 wool; but Mr Bakewell, in his Treatise on 

 Wool, observes that, "in Northumberland, 

 where the fine wooled sheep have received the 

 benefit of greasing with a mixture in vvhich the 

 proportion of tar was merely sufficient to give 

 it due tenacity, the wool is greatly im[)roved by 

 the process; but the ignorance and selfishness 

 of the wool-huyers, for a long time prevented 

 the acknowledgment of the fact." Many were 

 afraid to purchase the wool on account of its 

 dirty appearance, but its value is now better 

 understood by the Yorkshire merchants, and it 

 is purchased by the manufacturers of coloured 

 cloth in preference to the ungreased wool. — 

 These wools appear to improve in every pro- 

 cess of the manufacture, and yield a cloth of 

 greater value, by twenty or thirty per cent., 

 than the ungreased hard wools, though the lat- 

 ter may be equally fine. 



But even in North\imbcrland, where the wool 

 is so greatly improved by the practice, its good 

 effects in this respect are not sufliciently known, 

 and the operation is delayed till the approach of 

 winter. To derive the greatest advantage 

 from the ointment, both to the wool and the 

 sheep, it should be applied immediately after 

 shearing, and again on the approach of winter. 

 By the first greasing the wool will be kept soft 

 and moist during the sultry heats of July and 

 August, and the top of the staple will not be- 

 come harsh and discoloured. One acknowledg- 

 ed advantage of greasing immediately after 

 shearing should not be overlooked; it destroys 

 the sheep tick, and has a tendency to prevent 

 cutaneous distempers, and to protect the skifi 

 against the bite of the fly. The manner of 



preparing the ointment in IVorlhumberland is as 

 follows: — from sixteen to twenty pounds of but- 

 ter are placed over a gentle fire, and melted ; 

 a gallon of tar is then added, and the mixture 

 stirred with a stick until the tar and butter are 

 well combined, and form a soft tenacious oint- 

 ment. Some skill is required in its application, 

 the want of which has prevented the practice 

 from prevailing more generally. If the oint- 

 ment is rubbed on the wool, it collects on the 

 top of the staple, where it detains the loose 

 soil and becomes hard, and is injurious to the 

 wool. 'The proper method is to divide the sta- 

 ple or locks with one hand, and apply the oint- 

 ment with the finger immediately on the skin; 

 it is thus kept constantly soft by the warmth of 

 the animal, and is equally diflused through the 

 fleece. Attention to this circumstance is of the 

 greatest consequence to the success of the 

 practice. The quantity laid on each animal va-^ 

 ries in different districts. In the lighter mode 

 of greasing, one gallon of tar and twenty pounds 

 of butter will be sufficient for fifty sheep, lu 

 Scotland, where greasing is applied merely to 

 preserve the animal from the inclemency of 

 the climate, a much larger portion of tar is us- 

 ed. This would be very injurious to the wool, 

 were it any other but the very coarsest kind. 



The rays of the summer sun have a tendency 

 to make wool both coarser and harder, and 

 may be seen in the effect produced on sheep 

 that are exposed to it without shelter, immedi- 

 ately after shearing. The top point of the sta- 

 ple, which was grown at that time, is almost al- 

 ways coarser and harder than the bottom of the 

 staple, vvhich has been grown under cover of 

 the ujiper part of the fleece, and consequently 

 more protected from light. An analogous ef- 

 fect is produced on the skins of horses kept in 

 coal mines, which become sleek and soft. These 

 facts might suggest to wool growers, desirous of 

 improving their wool, the advantage of provid- 

 ing shade for their flocks during the sultry heats 

 ' i>f ^mmer. The natural instincts of sheep 

 might teach them the impropriety, not tospeak 

 of the cruelty, ol' keeping their sheep, insnm- 

 [ mer, inclosed in pens, and unsheltered, on a dry 

 I soil, where the animals are almost roasted alive 

 i — a practice not less injurious to the health of 

 the sheep, than to all the best qualities of the 

 wool. Next to a regular supply of food, protec- 

 ; tion from the efl'ects of heat and wet, are ob- 

 jects of the first importance in the management 

 of sheep ; and it may be stated as an undoubted 

 I truth, that whatever contributes to the comfort 

 of the animal, will enable it to fatten on a smaller 

 quantity of food, will tend to preserve it in a 

 healthy state, and will also increase the quanti- 

 ty and im[irove the quality of the wool. 



Liverpool and Manchester Rail Road. — We are 

 informed that the Shares in this concern are at 

 a hundred guineas premium each, contingent 

 upon the passing of the bill in the next session 

 of Parliament, of which there seems little or no 

 doubt, as it is said that every land-owner on the 

 line has given his consent. 



^'Fruit out of Season.'^ — The Darien, (Geo.) 

 Gazette, of 14111 Dec. says, "A Mulberry Tree 

 befiire our door is now yielding ripe fruit, and 

 a friend of ours on the Mopetown plantation, 

 plucked a ripe damson plum from his trees on 

 the 9th inst." 



