

WOOL. 47 



of felting is an important property in the case of all wool 

 designed for the manufacture of cloth, and prepared by the 

 card, it is not required in the case of wool intended for 

 worsted, and prepared by the comb. Certain kinds of wool 

 have this property in a higher degree than others, and are 

 consequently better adapted for the making of woollen cloth. 

 In general, the shorter kinds of wool having also fine fila- 

 ments, are those of which the laminae are most numerous 

 and distinct, and are those accordingly in which the felting 

 property is the greatest. The property, however, is not in 

 proportion to the tenuity of the fibres, since certain short 

 and slender wools possess it in an inferior degree. Of all 

 known wools, that derived from the Merino race possesses 

 the felting property in the greatest perfection, and is accord- 

 ingly the best adapted of all others for the making of cloth ; 

 while the long and tough wool of the larger sheep is imper- 

 fectly adapted to the preparation of woollen yarn, and ac- 

 cordingly is never prepared by the action of the card. It is, 

 therefore, the short and felting wools which alone are fitted 

 for this process ; and until a period comparatively recent, they 

 were, with few exceptions in this country, never prepared by 

 any other means. This gave rise to a popular distinction, 

 long in use, and not yet entirely abandoned. The long wools 

 were termed Combing wools ; the short, Carding wools. But 

 these designations are no longer applicable. By improve- 

 ments in the woollen manufacture, the means have been 

 found to prepare the shorter and more delicate wools by the 

 comb as well as by the card ; and now a great proportion of 

 all the short wool of this country is converted into worsted 

 yarn. The South Down wool, which was formerly, and until 

 a recent period exclusively, prepared by the card, is now in 

 a still larger degree prepared by the comb for the manufac- 

 ture of worsted. It has fallen in price, indeed, from its being 

 no longer used for the finer cloths, but the range of its utility 

 has been greatly extended. Thus it is also with the wool of 

 the Cheviot, the Norfolk, and other Short-woolled breeds ; 



