THE CULTURE OF WOOL. 263 



ject of every advanced breeder to exterminate tins worthless 

 part of the fleece, by selecting out as much as possible all 

 the kempy sheep from his flock. There is no reason why this 

 should not and may not be done. Breeders have covered 

 the Merino, and indeed other breeds of sheep, over with 

 good wool down to the hoofs, and other breeds have been 

 improved in a similar way, thus adding very much to the 

 product of a flock. It needs only the efforts of all concerned, 

 and possibly such suggestions as this to the advanced breed- 

 ers, to rid all kinds of sheep of every defect, and as far as 

 each may in his allotted time, do everything in his power 

 to leave the world in this respect somewhat better than he 

 found it. No one has any use for keinp, and it should be 

 obliterated from every flock, just as we may say of tlje 

 horns, which to a large extent have been got rid of except in 

 the Merino, and why not in this breed, which might doubt- 

 less be brought to put the matter thus wasted, and which is 

 precisely the same matter as that of wool, into the fleece? 

 This remark also applies to certain other diseases of the 

 fleece, indirectly, and directly diseases of the skin, through 

 which the wool is affected; such as scab, the most costly of 

 all this class.of diseases, with other parasites, by which the 

 shepherd is troubled, and which might easily be eradicated 

 by the destruction of these creatures in a sure and certain 

 way, as has been shown by the effective measures taken in 

 Australia for the destruction of the scab mite. This result, 

 although not yet completely effective, has been so far at- 

 tained as to prove the possibility of this end in the course of 

 a short time, when all concerned shall have adopted the 

 measures by which a large number of flocks have been com- 

 pletely freed from the disease. There are several diseases 

 of this class due to the action of parasites, chiefly vegeta- 

 ble, and varieties of fungi of a low order, which directly at- 

 tack the wool and feeding upon the fibers cause these to split 

 and become entangled in a mass. These diseases also affect 

 hair in a similar manner. In general it may be said that 

 these and in fact every disease of the skin, and some consti- 

 tutional disorders, are in effect diseases of the fleece, but 

 these will be noticed fully in the last chapter, which is de- 

 voted to diseases of the sheep particularly. 



