242 The various Breeds of Sheep in Great Britain. 
and fineness of hair, rendering them more or less applicable for 
each of the great variety of goods now made in the great woollen 
manufacturing districts. 
The fabrics which are manufactured from these different kinds 
of wool are of course various, but they are described generally 
by the terms icooUen and icorsfed goods. 
Woollens are those where the shorter -stapled wools are used in 
the process of manufacturing, in which the fibres of the wool 
are carded or \dJn\. transverselij and spun into a soft, woolly thread, 
which is manufactured into cloths, blankets, flannels, carpets, 
&c. In these the different characters of the wool as to softness 
are of importance, as will be at once understood, when it is re- 
membered that cloths for some purposes require, after being 
woven, to be subjected to a process called " milling," by which 
they are made thicker, and are then called double or single 
milled cloths, &c. This thickening is effected by the nature of 
the wool, the fibres of which, during the process, become felted 
together more or less closely according to the length of time 
during which they are subjected to it. The wool required for 
this purpose must be of a soft, rich character ; that which is of 
a dry, harsh nature is not suitable for it. Down wool generally 
is of tliis latter description, but the very peculiarity which unfits 
it for the manufacture of milled cloths renders it inore com- 
pletely adapted for that of flannels, which, from being required 
to be frequently washed when in use, are always more highly 
valued when they do not "slirink" or "runup" in the washing. 
If made from wool of a " milling " character, they would shrink 
every time they were washed. 
Worsted (foods are made from longer-stapled wool, which is 
first subjected to the process of combing, by which the fibres 
are arranged j)arallel to each other, and are then spun into a 
small close thread. The goods made from these are known by a 
great variet}'^ of names, such as Moreens, Damasks, Lastings, 
Merinos, Cobourgs, Orleans Cloth, &c. &c. There is also 
another kind of worsted yarn made for hosiery purposes, v/hich 
is carded instead of being combpd, and is not spun so closely as 
the others. These worsted goods consume by far the largest 
proportion of English wool, and the manufacture of them has, in 
many important particulars, been improved during the last thirty 
years, whereby a very large extension in their production has 
been caused. 
r\s these changes have from time to time had a material 
influence on the comparative value of different kinds of English 
wool, it is, perhaps, desirable briefly to allude to them in this 
place. 
In the earlier years of the worsted manufacture long-stapled 
