TYING FLEECES. 



161 



the year, as ir. California or Australia, the fleece will continue to 

 grow on, without change. At least this is the case with the Meri- 

 no, whose fleece has been known to grow to a length of 22 inches 

 in a continuous period of six years in Australia. In California a 

 fleece was shorn in 1874, which weighed 52 pounds; this was 

 doubtless the result of two or three years' growth. The retention 

 of the fleece for an indefinite period is a peculiarity of the Merino, 

 which is not known to appertain to any other variety of sheep. 



PACKING THE FLEECE. The manner in which the fleeces are 

 made up has no little influence upon the price at which the wool 

 'vill sell. Wool buyers prefer to have the fleece loose, light to 



Fig. 56. TABLE FOR TYING WOOL. 



handle, and elastic ; and tied up so that it can be easily opened if 

 need be. The method of packing in Ohio and Western Pennsyl- 

 vania, is to lay the fleece upon a table, turn in the head and tail, 

 then the flanks, and roll it up in a neat roll, tying it with a string 

 at each end. This method is shown in figure 56. Sometimes the 

 fleece is tied with one more string across the ends, but this is 

 rarely necessary, excepting when the wool is very short. A fleece 

 thus tied is light, easily handled, shows the quality of the wool, 

 and can be felt all through. The effect of the manner of putting 

 up the fleece is seen in the following quotations taken from the 

 wool market report of Coates Bros., Philadelphia, of July 1st, 1875. 



