120 JUDGING SHEEP 



is also characteristic of an unhealthy fleece. It is this 

 that produces what is generally known as a cotted fleece. 



171. Commercial Grades. According to the fine- 

 ness of fiber, or, in other words, the size of it, wool is ar- 

 ranged in three grades, fine, medium and coarse. These 

 terms are applied to all the classes of wool, the cloth- 

 ing, delaine and combing that go into the market. For 

 instance, there is fine, medium and coarse clothing ; there 

 is fine delaine and medium delaine, and there are all 

 three grades of combing wools. These terms relating to 

 the grades are used to designate certain size of fiber. No 

 exact measurement limits the arrangement of it, but yet 

 they are so defined that one can readily tell them after 

 becoming acquainted with them in practice. 



172. Crimp. All wool is more or less crimped, pos- 

 sessing what are sometimes called spirals. The most im- 

 portant point in regard to the crimp is that it should be 

 regular and the folds should not be thrown on each other. 

 Regularity in the crimp indicates that the fiber is sound 

 from end to end, but if in some places the crimp is short 

 and close, and in others long and wavy, it usually indi- 

 cates that where this difference occurs, there is an un- 

 sound spot in the fiber. It shows that the growth has 

 been irregular and there is a close relation between the 

 fineness of the fiber and the nature of the crimp. When 

 the crimp is fine and close almost invariably the fiber will 

 be found to be of fine quality. In all coarse wool it should 

 be noted that the crimp is open and wavy. In opening a 

 fleece and looking at it, the crimp should always 1 be 

 noted, for from it an estimate may be made, both as to 

 the soundness and the fineness of it. 



173. Soundness. The soundness of the fiber is of 

 .much importance in the process of manufacturing wool- 

 ens. The fleece of unsound fibers will bring four or five 



