Proceedings of the Farmers' Clue. 525 



breeds, it is better to pass tliein over to the butcher when arrived at 

 the age mentioned. Intimately connected with producing a sound 

 and true staple is the 



Influence of Temperature. 



It cannot be doubted that equability of temperature is an import- 

 ant agent in perfecting the several properties of wool. The Spanish 

 custom, continued for centuries, of driving the sheep in the spring of 

 the year to the northern and mountainous parts of the kingdom, 

 which are there kept until the approach of winter, originated in part 

 from the conviction that this theory is sound. Indeed, it is founded 

 in the natural instincts of the animals. Every one knows it is 

 impatient of heat. In the midst of summer, in all latitudes where it 

 is found, it will seek the most elevated point for the sake of the cool- 

 ing breeze, and retire to shades to guard itself against the burning 

 rays of the sun. In winter it will flee to a place of refuge from 

 storms and cold. This testifies strongly in favor of the correctness of 

 the premises. But the question may be asked, what has the bodily 

 comforts of the animal to do with perfecting the several properties 

 of the fleece? The answer is, everything. If health and thrift are 

 promoted by equability of temperature, the cutaneous glands are 

 alike healthy, and regular and even growth of the fiber follows. 



But, strictly speaking, equability of temperature is nowhere to be 

 found ; therefore, in our rigorous and changeable climate, the fiber of 

 wool must ever present a greater or less irregularity- of diameter 

 between the extremes. It is a remarkable fact that the point has 

 always the largest bulk. This is the product of summer, after shear- 

 ing time, when there is a repletion of the secretions which produce 

 the wool, and when the pores of the skin are relaxed and open, and 

 permit a larger fiber to protrude. The portion near the root is the 

 growth of the spring, when the weather is getting warm, and the 

 intermediate part is the offspring of winter, when, under the influence 

 of cold, the pores of the skin contract, and permit only a fine fiber to 

 escape. A writer remarks: "The variations in the diameter of the 

 wool in the different parts of the fiber will curiously correspond with 

 the degree of heat at the time the respective portions were produced. 

 The fiber of the wool and the record of the meteorologist will sinsru- 

 larly agree, if the variations are sufficiently distant from each other for 

 any appreciable part of the fiber to grow." 



In confirmation of the general fact as to the influence of climate 

 on wool and hair, the remarks of Mr. Hunter, an English author of 



