304 



Vegetable Matter in Wool. 



[AUG., 



the sheep and winding the fleeces in places where particles of 

 grass straw, &c, are littered about, and tying up the fleeces 

 with loose twisted string known as *' binder twine." 



The faults (which are not so pronounced in wools competing 

 with home-grown ones) may appear trivial to wool-growers, but 

 they are very serious matters indeed to the consumers of the 

 wool. Vegetable fibres absolutely refuse to take the dyes used 

 for animal fibres ; consequently these vegetable fibres are plainly 

 visible in the finished article and seriously depreciate its value. 

 Even when efforts are made to remove them before the wool is 

 combed, such efforts are not wholly successful, for even with the 

 utmost diligence it is impossible to detect small particles, and 

 these consequently become incorporated in the wool and are not 

 visible until the goods are dyed and finished. Dress goods and 

 cloths are often damaged in this way to a considerable extent. 



The Chamber desire to point out the importance of these 

 matters, and wish the attention of wool-growers to be drawn to 

 the necessity of seeing that no grass, straw, &c, is wound with 

 the fleeces, and that the use of "binder twine" is discontinued. 

 Such twine is mostly used in a few southern counties for tying 

 fleeces, but it is quite unnecessary. 



. This matter is dealt with in Leaflet No. 82, and the following 

 suggestions made therein as to the method of tying fleeces may 

 be reproduced here : — 



The fleeces should be rolled on a clean wooden table, and 

 should be tied up with bands made by twisting a portion of the 

 fleece itself. It is not necessary for these bands to be tightly 

 twisted, the object being merely to keep one fleece separate 

 from another. String composed of vegetable matter, such as 

 hemp, jute, &c, is bad, and ought not to be used. Most 

 farmers tie up their fleeces with wool bands, and have done 

 so for generations, except in a few western and southern 

 counties. In the latter the use of string (and frequently the 

 worst kind of string, such as reaper or binder twine) is not 

 uncommon. This use of string is unprofitable to all the parties 

 concerned. The amount of damage done is a very serious 

 matter to the manufacturer, and the district from which such 

 wool comes suffers in reputation. 



