THE WOOLGROWER AND THE WOOL TRADE. 



23 



house as "half-blood." The gross weight, was 245 pounds; weight 

 of bag, 4l\ pounds; net weight ofwool, 240f pounds. 



Table 3.- — Results of sorting a bag of half-blood Montana wool. 



Sort. 



Regular sorts: Pounds. Per cent. Cents. 



X or three-quarters-blood 11.21 4.66 21.0 



Half-blood combing 88.69 36.84 22.7 



Half-blood clothing 12.90 S.36 21.6 



Three-eighths-blood combing 64.76 26.90 23.0 



Three-eighths-blood clothing 24.33 10.11 20.0 



Quarter-blood combing 12.90 5.36 19.0 



Short quarter-blood 4.55 1.89 17.0 



Low quarter-blood .55 .23 16.0 



Off sorts: 



Stained and gray .55 .23 14.0 



Shorts 3.90 1.62 10.0 



Fribs 3.32 1.38 5.0 



Clips 2.76 1.15 1.0 



String 



Loss in sorting 



Weight. 



Percent- 

 age. 



Pounds. 



Per cent. 



11.21 



4.66 



88.69 



36.84 



12.90 



S.36 



64.76 



26.90 



24.33 



10.11 



12.90 



5.36 



4.55 



1.89 



.55 



.23 



.55 



.23 



3.90 



1.62 



3.32 



1.38 



2.76 



1.15 



1.37 



.57 



8.90 



3.70 



Value 



per 

 pound. 



DESCRIPTION OF SORTS. 



Little need be said concerning the regular sorts. They merely 

 represent a more complete division according to quality than was 

 possible in grading. Regarding the off sorts, the " stained and gray" 

 sort is not usually made, except when white goods are to be manu- 

 factured and it is necessary to separate them out of the main lot. 

 Their character is implied by their name. 



Shorts consist of short wool such as grows about the face and eyes. 

 Part of it may also be due to double cutting in shearing. Fribs are short, 

 sweaty, and dungy locks. Clips are locks so incrusted with foreign ma- 

 terial that the wool can not be freed in scouring, but must be clipped 

 off. The string cut from the fleeces is practically valueless, since con- 

 siderable paper twine is used. The loss of weight in sorting depends 

 upon whether the wools contain much sand or dirt. Other off sorts 

 are often made from wools of various sections. Tags are a very 

 common one. They are sometimes separated at shearing time, but 

 quite often they are separated by the sorters. They are large dung 

 locks and are worth less than half of the value of the other wool. 



Paint locks are another quite common sort. The free wool is 

 clipped from the paint, and the short fiber containing paint is sold 

 to hat manufacturers, etc. It is worth about 1£ to 2 cents a pound. 



Seedy wool is a sort containing weed seeds, soft burs, etc., that will 

 not be removed by the manufacturing process. It must often be 

 carbonized before using. These carbonized wools are used largely 

 for woolens, felts, etc. 



About 25 per cent of the wool bags can be used again; the rest are 

 sold and bring from 5 to 10 cents a pound. 



