THE WOOLGEOWEE AKD THE WOOL TEADE. 19 



wools from this State are more likely to be tender than some of the 

 others, but if this is true the other grade qualities, such as length and 

 quality, overbalance it. 



Wyoming. — Wyoming wool has not. the soft characteristic feel of 

 the Montana wools. It is somewhat "wild" or harsh in nature. 

 This is said to be due to the influence of the alkali soil over which 

 many of the sheep pass. Wyoming wool scoures out very white. It 

 is quite strong, robust, and of fair length, but is a heavy-shrinking 

 wool. The shrinkage varies widely from year to year. Because of 

 its scouring out so white some manufacturers prefer it to Montana 

 when its heavier shrinkage is discounted. 



Idaho. — The Triangle or Soda Springs wools come from a section 

 around the town of the latter name in Idaho. The three points of 

 the triangle are Ogden, Utah; Pocatello, Idaho; and Granger, Wyo. 

 The wools from this section are somewhat lighter-shrinking than the 

 surrounding ones. 



The wools from western Idaho are long and fine (often grading 80 

 per cent staple) , but in the eastern part of the State they are gener- 

 ally somewhat shorter. 



Utah, Nevada, Colorado, and Washington. — Much of the Utah wool 

 is rather short, there being little staple in it. Overstocking the range 

 is said to be responsible to a certain extent for the poorer qualities of 

 the wools from this State. Nevada is a high-shrinking wool of fairly 

 good quality. 



Colorado wool has little character, being a nondescript wool often 

 shrinking from 70 to 72 per cent. There are, however, some lighter- 

 shrinking wools (around 60 per cent) of good quality from certain sec- 

 tions of the northern part of the State. The wool from this State in 

 general is often described as being "breedless." It rarely grades 

 higher than one-half-blood. In southern Colorado the sheep are 

 sometimes sheared twice a year, this short wool coming to market 

 untied. 



Washington as a whole probably produces the heaviest-shrinking 

 wools of any western State. It is estimated that the average shrink- 

 age is around 70 per cent. This high shrinkage is due to natural 

 grease, of which there is a great deal in the wool of this section, and 

 to dirt, etc., in the fleeces. 



New Mexico and Arizona. — New Mexico and Arizona wools are 

 very uneven in character. The care given the flocks is often very 

 slight, while many of the sheep are poorly bred, and the fleeces run 

 out and kempy. The wools are often very poorly put up. The 

 shrinkage varies from 40 to 75 per cent, though dipping often lightens 

 the wool from these States. It is said that wool from flocks owned 

 by Americans, on account of better handling, is worth an average of 

 2 cents a pound more than that from flocks of Mexican owners. The 



