WOOL AND WOOLLEN MANUFACTURE. 91 



surrounding its base to the pines which fringe its snow-capped summit, 

 passing through the familiar forms of the temperate zone on your way. 

 For instance, the alpaca is a native of Peru, which is in the tropical 

 zone, yet the alpaca succeeds well in Australia, which is in the sub- 

 tropical ; but, then, this animal inhabits the elevated, and consequently 

 cold, table lands of South America, and really finds the temperature of 

 Australia warmer than its native habitat. The wool produced by the 

 alpaca in Australia is stated to be superior to that produced in South 

 America. 



Before quitting this part of my subject, I must remind my readers 

 that the sheep did not exist in America, in Australia, or in New Zealand 

 when those countries were first visited by Europeans. 



Naturalists and geologists draw some interesting conclusions from 

 this fact. They state that the sheep is the most recent type of animal 

 with which they are acquainted ; it is even a question whether it is 

 found in a fossil state at all — it is peculiarly an animal belonging to the 

 human period, and whether viewed as affording man food and clothing) 

 or as imparting fertility to the soil he cultivates, it is scarcely possible 

 to conceive an animal more valuable to him. 



Stages of Manufacture. — Wools are divisible into, firstly, those best 

 adapted for carding, and, secondly, those most fit for combing. These two 

 varieties may be classed as (1) short and (2) long wools, although the 

 length of the staple is by no means their only distinction. 



(1) Short wool is used for the production of woollen cloth. It is 

 first scoured ; next it is scribbled and carded ; it is then " slubbed ;" 

 and, lastly, it is spun, or drawn finer, and twisted. None of these pro- 

 cesses destroy the felting property of the wool. 



(2) Long wool for the production of worsted goods is deprived of its 

 felting property by the process of combing, which destroys the imbri- 

 cated structure of the wool, and approximates it to the nature of smooth 

 fibres, such as silk and cotton. In fact, the process by which combed 

 long wool is made into worsted yarn is analogous to that employed for 

 spinning cotton, and consists in doubling the slivers or slubbings over 

 and over again, until the fibres are laid parallel to each other, after 

 which it is roved and then spun. 



As will be seen, the great distinction between woollen cloth and 

 worsted goods is, that the wool in the former retains its felting property, 

 whilst the wool in the latter has been deprived of it. Woollen cloth, 

 as it leaves the loom, looks like a mere flannel, but after it has been 

 submitted to the action of the fulling mill, it becomes compact and 

 uniform — the fibres of the wool cohere, interlock, and conceal the 

 threads beneath. Woollen cloth is then quite different in appearance 

 from any article made from worsted, and which goods it must be re- 

 membered are never fulled. 



Woollen cloths are either piece-dyed — that is, they are dyed after 

 being woven, felted, and cut — or they are wool-dyed — that is, the scoured 



