Types and Market Classes of Live Stock 299 



Acceptable length 

 Grade for an average Shrinkage — 



grade — inches per cent 



Fine and Fine medium 2 H 64-65 



Half-blood 23^ 61-62 



Three-eighths-blood 3}4 55-57 



Quarter-blood 4 51-53 



Braid 4^-13 46-48 



Classes and grades of wool from various breeds of sheep. — The 



following list ^ shows in a general way how wool from the various 

 breeds would be likely to grade. This table is presented because it 

 will be of interest and because it will assist the reader who knows the 

 fleeces characteristic of some or all of the breeds of sheep, but does not 

 know the characteristics of the classes and grades of wool, to gain a 

 clearer understanding of the latter. 



Breed Class and grade of wool produced 



Merino (eastern states) Delaine, XX, X, or fine unwashed. 



Merino (range states) Fine and fine medium staple or clothing. 



Rambouillet Fine and fine medium staple or clothing and a 



small amount of half-blood. 



Southdown Half and three-eighths-blood (chiefly three- 

 eighths combing or clothing, chiefly clothing.) 



Shropshire Mainly three-eighths-blood, combing or clothing. 



Some quarter-blood. 



Hampshire Three-eighths and quarter-blood combing or 



clothing. 



Dorset Three-eighths and quarter-blood combing or 



clothing. 



Suffolk Three-eighths-blood combing and clothing. 



Cheviot Quarter-blood combing. 



Oxford Quarter and low quarter-blood combing. 



Corriedale Three-eighths-blood combing. 



Cotswold ] 



Lincoln [Low quarter-blood combing or braid. 



Leicester J 



Government standards. — In an attempt to secure greater uniform- 

 ity in the classing and grading of wools, and, if possible, standardize 

 them, the U. S. Bureau of Agricultural Economics in 1920 formulated 

 "Tentative Wool Grades." During the past two years these grades 

 have been tested in actual practice and the Bureau is now taking steps 

 to have them declared official. The classification tentatively adopted 

 is very similar to the commercial classification which has been described. 

 It includes the clothing and combing classes, and also an intermediate 

 class known as "French or baby combing." These are shorter wools 

 than strictly combing wools, but may be manufactured into a cheaper 

 class of worsted goods by means of the French combing process. The 

 respective lengths assigned to the three classes are as follows: 



»U. S. Dept. Agr. Bui. 206, p. 21. 



