THE WOOLGROWEE AND THE WOOL TEADE. 17 



ticed twice a year. There are spring, or 8 months, and fall, or 6 

 months, wools from these sections. The spring wool is usually longer 

 and it shrinks less than the fall. Both spring and fall wools are 

 highly regarded for felting purposes. This is due to the fact that they 

 contain a high percentage of Merino blood and also to the fact that 

 they are short. In the southern part of the State the mestiza bur 

 is very common and many of the wools contain it in varying quanti- 

 ties. These wools are quoted as "defective" in distinguishing them 

 from the "free" wools. This bur can not be removed by mechanical 

 means; hence the wools must be carbonized. The short wools are 

 not tied up in fleeces, but come to market in a loose condition. Some 

 of the California wools are baled to facilitate shipping. 



Oregon wools. — Oregon produces some excellent wool, though it is 

 somewhat high in shrinkage. The best of it will grade 80 per cent of 

 staple or combing wool. Excepting the valley wool, it is largely of a 

 fine and fine-medium character. The Lakeview wools of this State 

 are sometimes spoken of separately. The valley wools are quite 

 different from the ordinary clip. They are largely from long-wooled 

 sheep. They are quoted as valley No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3, correspond- 

 ing roughly to half-blood, three-eighths-blood, and quarter-blood, 

 respectively. These numbers have this same general significance 

 when applied to wools from other sections. The valley wools are 

 somewhat akin to the luster wools of England. Some buyers claim 

 that the heavy rainfall of the valley discolors the wool to a certain 

 extent, but others deny this. These wools are the only western wools 

 that lose weight under normal conditions when being shipped east. 

 They lose from 1 to 2 per cent. Most other wools if dry when 

 shipped gain this amount or even more in transportation. 



TERRITORY WOOLS. 



Under "territory wools" are grouped all those wools produced 

 west of the Missouri River, and they derived their name from the fact 

 that this section of the country was formerly made up of Territories 

 in distinction to the States of the central and eastern sections. Cer- 

 tain of the wools, however, have more or less distinct characteristics 

 which separate them from the main lot, and they are no longer 

 included in the territory wools. Among these are the clips of Cali- 

 fornia, Oregon, Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico. 



The States that produce the territory wools — Montana, Wyoming, 

 Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Colorado, and Washington — are in the main 

 the range States. A great deal of fine-wool blood is present in the 

 flocks, but the use of medium and long wool mutton rams is steadily 

 increasing, and this is having its effect upon the character of wool 

 produced. Considerable sections of the range are more or less sandy 



