8o MANAGEMENT AND FEEDING OF SHEEP 



fluences that affect softness in wool, apart from those that 

 relate to breeding, are the plentifulness and the quality of 

 the yolk, climate, lack of condition, old age, disease, ex- 

 posure and the chemical constituents of the soil. Wool 

 lacking yolk is lacking in softness and elasticity, and 

 these qualities increase with the increase in the yolk up to 

 a certain limit, as long as it retains the liquid form. 



Cool climates furnish softer wool than those that are 

 hot. A lean condition affects softness adversely through 

 a lessened nourishment of the wool fiber and of the sup- 

 ply of yolk. Old age, disease, and undue exposure, simi- 

 larly affect softness in wool, and for the same reason. 

 Soils affect this quality directly through the constituents 

 which they furnish, and indirectly through the degree of 

 the nutrition and the succulence in the food furnished. 

 Clay soils furnish wool of good quality, while limestone 

 soils produce wool that is much more harsh. Since the 

 chief of the causes that influence softness or pliancy in 

 wool are known, the methods of maintaining and increas- 

 ing these are also known. Such maintenance and increase 

 will, of course, be secured by shunning, as far as may be 

 practicable, the influences that are adverse to softness. 

 Careful regard should be had to the breeding, as no single 

 influence affects this quality more than breeding, under 

 normal conditions. 



Color in the staple of wool — Color in the staple of wool 

 may affect all the fibers of the fleece through the entire 

 length of the same, or it may affect only some of them 

 thus on certain parts of the body. The color, as white 

 or black, illustrates the former. Black or gray patches 

 in the fleece in certain parts of the body illustrate the lat- 

 ter. But it may also affect the shade which the wool 

 fibers will assume when the fleece is parted, as the out- 

 come of condition linked with breed peculiarities. 



Varieties in the color of the staple, even in the wools 

 that are essentially white colored, are considerable. When 

 the wool of a fleece of this class is parted, the color may 



