THE FLEECE AND ITS EXAMINATION 



427 



that naturally separate by breaks in the fleece. To examine 

 the degree of fineness, one should begin at the side of the 

 neck, and inspect the fleece, separating to the skin the locks 

 at various points, so that the fiber can be easily compared 

 and studied. The judge should look for a fleece uniform in 

 quality with as lit- 

 tle variation as pos- 

 sible in fineness, 

 with no great dif- 

 ference between the 

 front and hind- 

 quarter wool. Soft- 

 ness is a valued 

 feature. A wool is 

 said to be soft when 

 it has a smooth and 

 yielding touch to 

 the hand. This is 

 a characteristic of 

 the fleece as a 

 whole, rather than 

 of a single fiber. 



"When the climate is both moist and bracing, wools have a 

 better, softer touch, than where produced in a dry and 

 trying climate. 



The crimp of wool is the name applied to the serration 

 of the fiber. Perhaps the common saw-tooth shape illus- 

 trates this. The crimp, however, varies from the close, sharp 

 wave in the Merino, to the long, wavy one seen in the long 

 wool breeds. Hawkesworth states 2 that "in superior Me- 

 rino wool there are 24 to 30 crimps to the inch, and some- 

 times more. In the English breeds, the Southdown, which 

 is the finest, contains 14 to 18 crimps per inch; medium 

 wool from 11 to 14, while the long, coarse Lincoln staple 

 has but two or three serrations to the inch/' Crimp is an 

 especially striking feature of Merino wool, and is a true 



3 Australian Sheep and Wool, 1906, p. 219. 



Fig. 234. "The coarsest over the hindquarter, 

 especially the thigh and belly." 



