12 BULLETIN 206, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



board is not enough to give one an insight into the complexity of a 

 trade that requires at least three years' apprenticeship. Days and 

 even weeks must be spent there before the importance and signifi- 

 cance of numerous points that arise can be appreciated. 



The grade has much to do with fixing the price of wool, and every 

 woolgrower should be competent to know how his own wool will 

 grade in the market. The various grades are described later on in 

 connection with the market report following the outline of the work 

 of the grader. Some clips of finer wools, very uniform in character, 

 are resold to the manufacturer in the original bags. This is practi- 

 cable when the mill produces a variety of fabrics for which different 

 grades of wool are required. (Plate VI.) 



AT THE GRADING TABLE. 



About the grading table or board are a number of large baskets or 

 box trucks, one for each grade. The wool sacks are rolled up by 

 the table, the ends and one side ripped or cut down, depending upon 

 the kind of sewing, and the fleeces turned out in a roll. The fleeces 

 are separated by helpers, who throw them upon the table. Other 

 helpers bring up the bags and empty the baskets containing the 

 graded fleeces, piling them ceiling high where the wool can be ex- 

 amined by the prospective buyers. 



The different grades are merely arbitrary divisions more or less 

 clearly recognized and defined in trade. There is some variation from 

 year to year and among the different houses. The mills often have a 

 higher standard of qualities than the dealers, and the "half-blood" 

 of the dealer may represent the millman's idea of a "three-eighths 

 blood." Fineness is the dominant factor; but many other things are 

 considered in grading. 



The grader does not determine fineness, as might be supposed by 

 examination of individual fibers. The handling of innumerable fleeces 

 has given him an intuitive sense of quality, so that he accomplishes 

 in an instant what would take an untrained person a much longer 

 time. For example, say that a half-blood combing fleece has been 

 thrown upon the board. This grade has in general certain charac- 

 teristics, such as a certain degree of crimp (the finer the crimp the 

 finer the wool, except in very fine wool), and a certain arrangement 

 of the fibers in locks or staples that the grader notes as soon as his 

 eye rests upon it. This gives him something as a guide, but the grade 

 is not yet decided. When his hands come in contact with the fleece 

 he has another source of information. The feel of the different grades 

 is more or less characteristic, and this sense is highly developed in the 

 grader. Illustrating this, a blind buyer formerly operated upon the 

 market with considerable success. He could not only make pur- 

 chases and distinguish the grade by the touch, but by the odor he 



