1868. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



87 



ago, but I think no one knows where the scions 

 came from. How was such a variety pro- 

 duced? Was it a natural growth from the 

 seed, or was it produced by artificial means? 

 I think it must have been done by artificial 

 means, but what those means were, would 

 probably need some experiments to prove. — 

 Z. A. Gilbert, in Maine Farmer. 



AMERICAN ■WOOL AND ITS IMPROVE- 

 MENT. 



H. D. Tellkampf of New York submitted a 

 report at the late meeting uf the National 

 Wool Manufacturers' Association, November 

 7th, on the part of a Committee of that body 

 appointed to consider tlie subject at our head. 

 The author, it will be reuicmbered, is at the 

 head of the hou.-<e of Tellkauipf & Kitching, 

 and is perhaps second to no ono in the extent 

 of his information as regards the wool trade, 

 and in his ability to speak with authority as to 

 the wan^s of our manufacturers, and the char- 

 acter of the woo! MOW and heretofore supplied 

 by our growers. — Country Gentleman. 



E. B. BiGELOW, Esq., President, &c. — As a 

 member of the Committee on "Raw Materials," 

 I beg leave, most respectfully, to submit some 

 remarks in relation to the production of wool 

 in the United States, considering the improve- 

 ment of it of vital importance, both to manu- 

 facturers and wool growers, and the more so 

 as the present high tariff ojierates seriously 

 against a supply uf several qualities of wool 

 needed fn- various descriptions of woolen 

 goods. The manufacturers have tested this 

 year's clip sufficiently to tell whether they can 

 acknowledge the force of the following obser- 

 vations, viz. : 



Our fleece wool, as a general thing, has 

 shown that loo little care has been taken with 

 the sheep — not even excepting our old wool 

 growing states. It is evident, in fact, by the 

 great number of fleeces being more or less 

 matted and yellow, the staple of which is un- 

 healthy, and causes a greater loss in working ; 

 such faulty wool, in spite of the great care, 

 and much expense on the part of the manu- 

 facturer, will not render an article as good, 

 as healthy or sound staple wool. The reason 

 for such deficient or faulty fleeces is to be found 

 generally In the fact that the sheep have been 

 exposed to inclement weather, and been irreg- 

 ularly fed, etc., and an important objection to 

 the exposure of the sheep in rainy seasons is 

 the harshness of the points of staple produced 

 by it. The well cared for flock will not only 

 be healthier, and the mortality less, but the 

 quantity of wool produced, larger and more 

 valuable, than of the same flock if carelessly 

 kept. A perfectly sound staple of the fleece 

 is required for good fabrics and a perfect 

 finish. 



There is prevalent in this year's clip the in- 

 fluence of the Vermont breed, resembling the 



old Negretti Spanish breed, well known for 

 many years for its heavy grease, causing in 

 most cases the points or tops of the staple to 

 become charged with a dark hard substance 

 similar to pitch, and for this reason called, in 

 Austria and Germany, pitch tops, which are 

 dreaded by the manufacturers, who cannot 

 scour this wool by the regular process, and 

 have the trouble and expense of clipping the 

 tops by hand, to say nothing of the loss of 

 weight to them — seldom less than ten per cent. 

 They have found, at the same time, that a 

 wool without a perfect staple will not work or 

 finish as well as that of a full or entii-e staple. 

 Furthermore, the wool of this breed proved to 

 be lacking the necessary f idling qualifications, 

 and does not produce as valuable and saleable 

 fabrics as that of Sllesian and Saxony Escurial 

 breed. Our next clip will be still more charg- 

 ed with "pitch tops," indicated already in the 

 fleeces of yearling.-! and lambs this season, as, 

 with the age of the sheep, the tops of the sta- 

 ple become more filled with tie hai d substance. 



Vermont wool has mver enjoyed In this 

 country a reputation, as Silesia and Saxony 

 wools laave deservedly earned in Germany. It 

 is, therefore, the more astonishing that the 

 wool growers of Pennsylvania, Virginia, Ohio 

 and New York, producing for years superior 

 and higher priced wool than Vermont could 

 be Induced to venture upon an enterprise, 

 without first considering the consequences, 

 merely for the production of heavier fleeces. 

 Should it have been recommended by Vermont 

 breeders, "a single or dou'ule crossing," but 

 no more, of the flocks in this country, it might 

 have led to some good, similar in effect to that 

 experienced In the superior Escurial breed of 

 Saxony and Silesia, where the breedlng-in for 

 years had weakened the strength of the ani- 

 mals, and the fibre of the wool. But for this 

 mixture of blood, nothing but the best breed 

 of Negretti was considered advisable, or has 

 proved beneficial. 



It is very obvious that we have too much of 

 the Negretti blood in our flocks, and to coun- 

 terbalance it favorably, the Escurial breed of 

 Silesia and Saxony Las to be used without de- 

 lay. The difference lietween those two bree<;s 

 Is "that the Escurials produce a compact, short 

 stapled wool, superior for clothing. The Ne- 

 grettis, however, grow a longer stapled wool, 

 but not as compact a fleece. In Mecklenburg 

 and Austria, more than in other parts of Ger- 

 many, the Negrettis have been used, to a cer- 

 tain extent, for obtaining combing wool. In 

 France, there are likewise good breeds for 

 Delaine wool. The Negretti sheep is of larger 

 size than Escurials. The best breeders in Si- 

 lesia prefer the Escurial breed for its being a 

 better traveller, healthier, and for consuming 

 less food. Three Escurials will not need as 

 much food, in short, as two Negrettis. Sev- 

 eral years ago the Negrettis were introduced 

 in various parts of Australia, but proving quite 

 unsatisfactory, they are now called there i.e- 



