WOOL DESCRIBED AND CLASSIFIED 65 



various Down breeds the Tunis, the Dorsets and the 

 Cheviots also from grades of these. Coarse wools are ob- 

 tained from the long wooled breeds and from the West 

 Highland sheep and grades of all these breeds. 



In the order of fineness it would be correct to say that 

 of three fine wool breeds the American Merino produces 

 the finest grade, the Delaine coming next in fineness, and 

 the Rambouillet third, but the difference in this respect 

 is not a wide one. It would be at least approximately 

 correct to say that in the order of fineness in medium wool, 

 the pure breeds in America rank as follows, beginning 

 with the finest: Southdown, Tunis, Dorset, Shropshire, 

 Cheviot, Suffolk Down, Hampshire Down and Oxford 

 Down. The coarse wooled breeds, beginning with the 

 finest wool, will rank as follows : Leicester, Lincoln, Cots- 

 wold and West Highland. 



Wool is further classified on the basis of use. On 

 this basis it may be divided into three great classes. 

 These are: (i) Carding wools, which are used for mak- 

 ing garments for ordinary wear, and which are also very 

 commonly classified as clothing wools. These are used 

 mainly as broadcloths and the thicker and heavier woolen 

 cloths. (2) Combing wools, which, generally speaking, 

 are made into garments calling for superior softness, 

 lightness and strength of wear. In the finer sorts they 

 are much used for making garments that are much prized 

 and worn by women. The better class of these are known 

 as delaines (see page 70). (3) Carpet and knitting wools. 

 These are also combing wools, but of a class far different 

 from the delaines. They include the cheapest, coarsest 

 and harshest sorts of wool. They approach more nearly 

 to hair than other wools. These wools are now virtually 

 all imported. The only staple of this class now grown in 

 the United States comes from the original Mexican sheep 

 of the southwest. 



Short, intermediate and long wools The length of 

 wool ordinarily runs all the way from, say less than 2 



