-MARKET CLASSIFICATION OF WOOL 



391 



A diseased condition of the animal may cause dead or weak 

 places in the fleece. The location of the unsoundness depends 

 on the stage of development of the fleece when the disease 

 appears. The weakness may be in the top, the bottom or 

 middle of the wool. This leads to the expression of wools 

 with weak tops, weak bottoms or weak middles. In classi- 

 fying wools, what would otherwise be a combing wool if 

 sound would enter into the class for clothing wools because 

 of the shortness of fiber made necessary through dividing 

 the fiber at the location of the weakness. 



FIG. 167. Tender wool showing break. (Hart.) 



Market Classification of Wool. Market wool is classified 

 into clothing, delaine and combing staple. This classification 

 is based on the length, strength and fineness of fiber, shrink- 

 age or condition, color and character. Each of the domestic 

 staples is divided into various commercial grades. 



Clothing Wool Clothing wool is used for making the 

 highest grades of woolen cloth. It is a fine, short staple 

 averaging about two inches in length. Clothing wools are 



