THE WOOLGROWER AND THE WOOL TRADE. 11 



due to a cold wave following close shearing have also been reported. 

 However, machine shearing does not necessarily mean close shearing, 

 as thicker combs can be used and the fiber cut at a greater distance 

 from the skin; but it does insure more uniformity. A great deal of 

 the prejudice against machine shearing has been aroused by im- 

 proper handling of the machines. 



PACKING WOOL. 



Packing lamb, ewe, and wether fleeces together militates against 

 higher prices for wool. Lambs' wool is usually more valuable be- 

 cause of lighter shrinking qualities and because of the fact that it 

 will spin higher than wool from older sheep. Sewing the bags with 

 sisal or other unsuitable twine also creates a bad impression in the 

 mind of the buyer, as there is always the possibility of the sisal 

 fiber getting into the wool and causing damage. Much wool is lost 

 through the bursting of the bags. This is caused by the use of poor 

 twine. A stronger twine used for sewing, such as Andover six-ply, 

 is recommended for this purpose. Examples of poor packing are 

 shown in Plate IV. 



Packing dead wool (wool from dead sheep) with good wool is also 

 far too common. The dead wool is usually worth about half as much 

 as the corresponding grade of good wool. Another feature in bad 

 packing that should be discouraged is the tying of the fleeces to- 

 gether. In many cases the two fleeces are not of the same grade 

 and they must be separated by the grader before being assigned to 

 any pile. 



Occasionally one hears of frauds being practiced by putting stones, 

 etc., in the center of a fleece or sprinkling sand over the wool after it 

 is shorn, but the actual cases of this kind are very rare. It is true 

 that foreign materials have been found in wool sacks, varying from 

 spectacles to oil stones, but such occurrences are more often due to 

 accident than to intent to defraud. 



WOOL GRADING. 



Most American-grown wool is sacked just as the fleeces come from 

 the sheep and sold at home to dealers. Before offering wool to the 

 manufacturer the dealer makes up from his various purchases a num- 

 ber of piles, each containing only fleeces of similar character and 

 value. This work constitutes grading and should not be confused 

 with the sorting done at the mill. In the dealer's warehouse the 

 fleeces are not untied, but are graded on the basis of judgment of 

 the fleece as a whole. (Plate V.) 



The grading itself is an art with which few American sheepmen 

 are familiar, yet it has many points of interest for them. Passing 

 through the lofts and merely seeing the fleeces go over the grading 



