402 



JUDGING FARM ANIMALS 



Fig. 222. "He easily sees the length when 

 parts the fleece." 



he 



will dress out with 

 less waste. Another 

 - evidence of quality 

 is a crimpy condi- 

 tion of the wool, 

 with fine, wavy or 

 serrated lines like 

 the teeth of a saw. 

 Crimp gives elas- 

 ticity to the wool, 

 which is a valuable 

 quality. In the 

 fleeces of the large, 

 long-wooled sheep, 

 the crimp is in 

 long waves rather 



than serrations, while with the smaller sheep of the 

 middle wool type, there is a short, fine crimp. The fineness 

 of the fiber is more or less affected by the thickness of the 

 wool over the body, the thicker it is, the finer it will be. 

 To study the quality part the wool at several points, 

 especially on the neck, shoulder, middle of side and thigh, 

 and note comparative fineness, crimp and softness, the lat- 

 ter feature be'ing determined by pressure under the fingers. 

 The quantity of wool produced by the mutton sheep 

 impresses the sheep buyer, especially the butcher, more than 

 the quality. Then he seeks for two things especially, length 

 and density. He easily sees the length when he parts the 

 fleece, and the density he judges by grasping the wool, and 

 determining if it covers the body thickly, indicating a heavy 

 fleece. What the buyer wishes is a heavy weighing fleece, 

 and this cannot be secured unless it has length and is dense 

 or thickly placed over the body. These features should 

 obtain over the sheep in general, and so it is necessary to 

 critically inspect the length and density of covering on 

 different parts of the body. Bareness of belly and legs in- 

 dicates light weight fleece. Also a fleece that easily parts in 



