290 Types and Market Classes of Live Stock 



found the average diameter of the Merino fiber to be 1 /1, 194 of an inch, 

 while the Southdown had an average diameter of 1 /865, the Hampshire 

 Down 1/769, the Lincoln 1/685, the Leicester 1/654, the Cotswold 

 1 /605, and the Oxford Down 1 /581. In 1860, American Merino fibers 

 with a diameter of 1 /1, 572, and American Saxon Merino fibers measur- 

 ing 1/1,875 of an inch in diameter were exhibited in London, showing 

 the extreme fineness which may be secured in wools. 



Secretion and composition of yolk. — Opening into each wool 

 follicle are a couple of sebaceous or oil glands, furnishing a profuse 

 secretion of an oily or fatty material, called the yolk, which is thrown 

 out at the same time the fiber is formed. This secretion consists largely 

 of a soapy matter having a potassium base, together with an animal 

 oil which gives to the yolk its peculiar odor. Yolk, then, is not strictly 

 a grease or oil, but is a soap with an excess of oil. This explains why 

 it dissolves freely in warm water and may be washed almost entirely 

 out of the fleece, and why it cleanses and whitens the hands as soap 

 does. The quantity and fluidity of the yolk vary greatly, being greater 

 when the sheep are healthy and well fed, and varying also according 

 to the breed. The yolk maintains the softness and pliancy of the 

 fibers, and protects the scaly surface from injury such as might result 

 from friction of the fibers against one another during the movements 

 of the animal. It also helps to keep the fleece clean and free from a 

 cotted or matted condition. The wool manufacturer removes the 

 grease from wool by the scouring process. This is the first step in 

 wool manufacture. 



Woolens and worsteds. — When scoured wool is combed, that is, 

 drawn through metal teeth, the fibers are made to lie parallel to each 

 other and foreign matter and short fibers are combed out. This waste 

 is called the "noils," and the remaining long fibers are called the "top." 

 Wool used for combing under the Bradford or English system of manu- 

 facture must be strong and at least 23/^ inches long in order to give the 

 yam sufficient strength. Such wool is called combing wool. The yam 

 made from combed wool (top) is called worsted, and the cloths made 

 of it are known as worsteds. 



Wools which are short and much crimped and serratured are 

 called clothing or carding wools. They have a high felting quality. In 

 preparation for spinning they are put through carding machines which 

 jumble the fibers together in any and every direction, forming a mixed 

 mass from which the yarn is eventually drawn. The cloths made 

 from such yarn are known as woolens. 



The difference between woolens and worsteds is largely due to the 

 way the yarn for each is spun. In worsted yarn the fibers are arranged 

 as parallel as possible by the combing process; in woolen yam they 



