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BULLETIN 206, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



baled is because they received the benefit of a more favorable freight 

 rate. 



Ordinarily the sheep owner can not know as much about the de- 

 mands of the market and how the wool should be graded as does the 

 wool grader, or, as he is called in Australia, the "classer." This man 

 must always work to the same standard. Attempts of various 

 owners by whom he might be employed to make his work conform 

 to their own ideas would render impossible that uniformity in the 

 classer's work which is necessary to hold the confidence of the buyer 

 as to the put up of the clips. 



SKIRTING THE FLEECES. 



Skirting fleeces consists in the removal of the belly and the other 

 less valuable parts. When wools are skirted the belly is separated 



SWtfT/NGS 



Fig. 1. — Diagram showing portion of fleece ordinarily removed in skirting. 



by the shearer and skirting consists of the removal of the parts indi- 

 cated in figure 1. The belly wool has already been removed from 

 the fleece shown in this figure. The advantage of this lies in the fact 

 that some manufacturers needing higher qualities of wool can buy 

 the bodies of the fleeces alone when they would not care to incur the 

 trouble and expense of separating and reselling the inferior parts, as 

 is necessary when entire fleeces are purchased. 



