FOR MUTTON AND WOOL 117 



mairafacturer of woolens desires a short stapled wool, for 

 such a wool has better felting qualities and usually more 

 serrations or spirals than the long wools. In manufac- 

 turing woolens into yarns the fibers are transversely dis- 

 posed to the axis or length of the thread. In yarns of 

 this nature this feature is termed "pile." The points pro- 

 jecting from the center should be numerous, so that in 

 felting the fabric unites and also when the cloth comes 

 to be finished it will appear on top like short fur (Royal 

 Agricultural Society Transactions, Vol. II, Second Series). 

 On the other hand, in worsted goods, the object is to 

 stretch the fibers and lay them parallel with each other, 

 and this produces a yarn, even, strong, and composed of 

 as fine fibers as possible. In this process of manufacture, 

 it is easy to see that the length and strength of a fiber 

 includes its most valuable characteristics. 



168. Classification of Wool. There is another market 

 classification which is more definite than this, but is very 

 similar in nature. The wools according to their length 

 and strength in the Chicago market are divided into 

 clothing, which is short, being about two inches, or it is 

 weak ; then there is the delaine class, which is a fine wool 

 from two to three inches long in fiber. The other class 

 is a combing, which is a strong wool over three inches 

 long. This classification, it will be seen, depends alto- 

 gether on the length and strength of the wool. Consider- 

 ing first, clothing wool, which is used for making flannels 

 and certain kinds of rough cloth, shortness in the fiber 

 is its leading characteristic. If the fiber of a fleece, how- 

 ever, is four inches long, it would, on its length, be classi- 

 fied as combing wool, but if that fiber has a weak spot 

 in it where it readily breaks it passes from the combing 

 class into the clothing class and drops two or more cents 

 on the pound in price. The delaine wools are fine wools 



