122 JUDGING SHEEP 



similar to that which is common in the territories. The 

 sheep have run out the year round ; the fleece has become 

 full of sand, straw, chaff and similar substances, and this 

 has filled the fleece with foreign material. 



178. Blanket Wool. The poorest kinds of wool that 

 go to the market are known as carpet wool and blanket 

 wool. The worst feature connected with this kind of wool 

 is the presence of kemp or the dead fibers previously men- 

 tioned. On account of these not freely absorbing the 

 dyes, this wool has to be manufactured into carpets and 

 blankets. When the nature of the fleece of the original 

 sheep is understood so that the improvement that has 

 been made through breeding for many years becomes ap- 

 parent, it can easily be seen that where sheep are neg- 

 lected the tendency is for their fleece to revert to the orig- 

 inal condition. In this condition the fleece was made up 

 of an external covering of hairs and beneath it an under- 

 growth of very finely fibered wool. Domestication by 

 man has completely removed the hair and gives us a fine 

 fleece of wool which exists on well bred sheep today. 

 Neglect on the part of the breeder will surely result in 

 the sheep reverting to the kind of fleece that it at one 

 time possessed. 



179. Lustre. This refers to the glistening appearance 

 of the fiber when held to the light. This is independent 

 of the amount of yolk, and it is also quite distinct from 

 the brightness of the fiber. Although yolk in a fleece 

 may add to the lustre of the fibre, yet all lustrous wools 

 have this characteristic independent of the amount of yolk 

 that is present. The chief advantage from a commercial 

 standpoint that attaches itself to lustrous wools is that 

 they more readily take delicate dyes. "Wools in the mar- 

 ket are known as lustrous or dull, according to the ap- 

 pearance of the fiber. The lustrous fiber has the appear- 



