Wool in Relation to Science with Practice. 313 
and lustrous* in appearance, or soft and kind to the touch ; of good spinning 
qualities, and free from burrs or other vegetable fibre. 
" Wiiere possible, the breed of sheep should be improved by the introduction 
of carefully-selected English rams. 
" It is most desirable to obtain the whole natural length of the staple by 
Gtnf d'pping the lambs or sheep once durinfi the season's growth. 
"When the sheep cannot be pastured ail the year round upon succulent 
grasses, a constant supply of artificial food will prevent the staple becoming 
tender. 
"The two last-mentioned points are of the greatest importance ; for insuffi- 
cient food during one season, and frequent dipping, more than onything else, 
deteriorate the quality and depreciate the value of othericise good and useful 
wool. 
"The sheep should be well washed before they are clipped, and the fleece 
properly docked or cleaned. 
"It is also desirable that a proper classification of wool should be made in 
{lacking, and that the packing itself be thoroughly trustworthy and honest." 
Agriculturally, the history of Wool and the Wool-trade, for 
centuries the principal craft of Great Britain, is particularly in- 
teresting and instructive ; and it is essential to a right and com- 
prehensive understanding of an important branch of the subject 
now under consideration. Aided by geographical position, and 
favoured with mineral and vegetable wealth, the energetic spirit 
of the mixed British race triumphed over the ruinous restraints 
of so-called statesmanship and every conceivable legislative 
blunder. Until the fourteenth century England exported wool, 
and imported woollens. Then the Flemish manufacture attained 
its zenith ; glutted with wealth, these prosperous people became 
discontented ; and industrial insubordination and endless revolts 
drove the life-blood of trade, sensitive capital, away from their 
doors, established our staple manufacture, and placed in the 
English House of Lords its typical woolsack. The paths of 
peace are essential alike to commerce, to manufacture, and to 
agriculture. Twice over, in the history of the English wool 
trade, religious bigotry and the Inquisition drove the best and 
most skilful craftsmen of the Continent to share our insular 
freedom : bigotry tore up by the roots the tree of industry, 
because it liked not the vigour of the most promising shoots. 
Here we have a fine example of the certain action of freedom 
in producing beneficial co-operation. Checked during our own 
revolutionary times, the wool trade steadily increased during the 
whole of the eighteenth century, and culminated when steam and 
machinery were introduced and all restrictions removed. Cotton- 
spmning, whilst it reduced the woollen manufacture to the second 
rank in our textile industries, nevertheless gave fresh impetus 
to the woollen-trade ; so true it is that the creation of any one 
* Lusire is not colour ; it is intrinsic silvery brightness, not lost in manufacture. 
Between gonri and bad wool in this respect there is as much dift'erence as between 
a polished silver plate and u wooden trencher. — Mr. Turner. See note, p;igo 340. 
