CHARACTERISTICS OF WOOL 83 



of fiber and softness or pliancy are specially so. Quality 

 excludes such defects as felting in the fleece, cloudiness 

 or discolorations, a stripy condition, break or joint, kemp 

 or jar and such influences as toppiness and clots. It also 

 excludes all such defects as result from the baneful in- 

 fluences of environment, such as burs, spines and chaff. 



The variations in style are as various as the charac- 

 teristics in breeds and grades of the same, and yet all 

 classes of good wool have much in common, regardless of 

 breed or grade. The leading characteristics of good wool 

 all point in the same direction and the defects to be 

 shunned are the same. 



Style or quality in wool cannot be secured in the ab- 

 sence of good breeding, the most careful selection and 

 the most ample care in the management of the flock. In 

 the breeding of the sheep none of the valuable qualities of 

 wool are to be lost sight of. In the selection of the same, 

 those that rank highest in qualities of fleece are to be 

 retained, and those that have defects are to be rejected. 

 The exclusion of the baneful influences of environment 

 are entirely, or at least in a large measure, in the hands of 

 the owner. 



Closure of fleece in wool — By closure of fleece in wool 

 is meant the gluing of the wool fibers as a result of the 

 abundance of the yolk at the extremities of the wool, to 

 which dust and dirt adhere so as to form a crust. This 

 crust gives the fleece a dirty appearance, to the extent 

 even of causing it to assume a dark shade approaching 

 blackness on the surface. Such is the appearance of the 

 wool carried by certain of the Merino types. One of 

 these, the American Spanish Black Top, has been thus 

 named because of the blackness of the fleece on its outer 

 surface. This crust is nearly impervious to rain, and is 

 a great protection to the wool against all kinds of dirt 

 from whatsoever source it may come. This property may, 

 however, under some conditions, become a detriment. 



