CHARACTERISTICS OF WOOL 85 



some instances the yolk glands dry to such an extent that 

 many of the fibers have parted from the body before the 

 fleece is shorn. Because of this, the removal of the fleece 

 is not difficult. The secondary causes of cotting include 

 continued wet weather, which washes the yolk out of the 

 fleece, low condition or the presence of certain forms of 

 disease. It is also to some extent the outcome of inherit- 

 ance. Furthermore, it has been claimed that it sometimes 

 results from ammoniacal exhalations arising in an un- 

 clean stable. Cotting is much more frequent in the coarse 

 than in the fine wool breeds, as the latter produce yolk 

 more abundantly than the former, and the more dense 

 fleece which they possess renders it more impervious to 

 water. 



Since the causes that produce cotting are known, the 

 means that should be taken to prevent it are evident. 

 Sheep must be provided with food that will furnish suffi- 

 cient yolk where cotting is to be prevented. They must 

 be sufficiently protected during wet weather. They must 

 be maintained in a reasonably good condition as to thrift. 

 They must be kept free from disease that results in low 

 condition, and they ought to be furnished with sheds free 

 from conditions that produce filth. Where the felting is 

 the outcome of constitutional inheritance, in whole or in 

 part, the animals thus aflfected should be disposed of as 

 soon as this may be practicable. 



Cloudiness in wool — Cloudy wool means the pres- 

 ence of discolorations in the wool on various parts of the 

 body. In some instances the wool assumes a lemon color 

 or one that may be designated as yellowish, nankeen or 

 saflfron along the back or sides of the sheep. Sometimes 

 it becomes more than ordinarily white on the neck, espe- 

 cially when the sheep have been housed for a time and 

 are then not housed. In some instances the wool ad- 

 heres from the bottom upwards after the manner of felt, 

 though less in degree. The wool is not necessarily in- 

 jured in the staple, although in sonie instances it is, de- 



