22 BULLETIN 313, IT. S. DEPAETMENT OF AGEICULTUEE. 



up and the fleeces, without being- untied, are graded ,and placed in 

 large piles awaiting sale. 



Practically all of the Australian and New Zealand wool remains 

 the property of the grower until it is sold to the manufacturer. The 

 cost of actually shearing the sheep constitutes only about one-half of 

 the amount expended in preparing the wool. The main result of this 

 extra labor and trouble is to divide the clip into various lots, each of 

 which is so uniform within itself that the buyer knows by examina- 

 tion of a single bale whether or not the lot is of the grade and quality 

 of wool he needs, and is also sure that there will be in a lot purchased 

 a minimum amount of wool differing from what the lot was sup- 

 posed mainly to consist of. This gives certainty to the transaction 

 and renders possible the Australasian system of selling wool through 

 commission brokers to mill buyers. Independent operators may buy 

 wool to sell again, but the bulk of the offerings go direct from the 

 warehouses of the selling agents to the mills. As a result of this 

 plan the report of sales received by a grower shows the selling price of 

 each of the lines into which the classer divided the clip. 



In view of the present interest in this country in improving the 

 preparation of wools for market, it may be of advantage to discuss 

 the more distinctive features of the Australasian system. 



It is not yet time in this discussion to consider the practicability 

 of having American wools classed as are Australian wools, or the 

 probability of the growers' profiting thereby in the event of their 

 becoming convinced that they can and should adopt the essential 

 features of the Australian method of handling wool at the shearing 

 shed. 



RELATION OF WOOL CLASSING TO BREEDING. 



The part that wool classing plays in promoting better breeding is 

 of great importance. This phase of the matter is well expressed by a 

 contribution to the Pastoral Review of January, 1915, page 135 : 



The classification of his wool at shearing time is the woolgrower's annual 

 indication of the progress he is making as a breeder, for it shows him whether 

 he is increasing the proportion of the higher qualities of wool and at the same 

 time decreasing the proportion of the lower grades, and whether he is thus 

 making his flock more profitable. If, therefore, the Australian woolgrower aban- 

 doned the classing of his clip he might .iiist as well abandon all the other little 

 points in sheep management the observance of which has done so much to place 

 the wool industry where it is. 



He has spent huge sums of money on the best class of rams he can afford, on 

 subdivision, and other improvements that are necessary for improving his sheep 

 by selection, and he has done this so that year by year he will see his propor- 

 tion of high-grade wools increase and his proportion of low-grade wools de- 

 crease. Is it likely, then, that at shearing time he will jumble all his fleeces 

 up into a confused heap and bury beneath locks, stained pieces, necks, burry 

 breeches, and bellies all the beautiful, clean, shafty wool he has managed to 

 grow on the back and sides of his sheep? 



