IFool in Relation to Science loith Practice. 
319 
A hank* of worsted yarn is 560 yards in len<?tli. A pound of 
Breech wool will spin 24 hanks. A pound of Brown Avill spin 
30 hanks ; hence the names 24's, 30's, &c. 
I It must be observed, however, that the wool-sortino^ divisions 
in question vary according to the breed of sheep and the con- 
ditions of their keep, &c. On this point it should be observed 
that great attention on the part of the farmer should be paid to 
the keeping of their breeds of sheep pure and select, as by wide 
crossing even of good breeds, or crossing of a good breed with 
an inferior, a much larger proportion of the less valuable sorts of 
l' wool is produced. 
' In addition to the sorts hereinbefore described, which are all 
long-wool sorts, there is, fringelike around the edge of the fleece 
and especially at the centre of the sides, a short kind of wool or 
skirt, which is called " Shorts," or clothing wool. 
Physical Geography. — The sheep is vitally influenced by all 
the movements which are constantly going on upon the surface 
of this earth — climate, waters over and under the earth, elevations, 
winds, rain, clouds, and the geographical distribution of animals 
and plants, — that is to say by physical geography. How much of 
philosophy there is in the common phrase, " the lie of the land " ! 
temperature, rainfall, herbage, all, more or less, regulated by alti- 
tude ; exposure and nature of soil as indicated by inclination and 
prevailing kind or by the absence of trees. To do justice to these 
subjects one should indeed be a philosophic Darwin and many 
other scientific gentlemen " rolled into one " ! If, practically, the 
flockmaster does not consider physical geography, the sheep un- 
mistakably tells him " I will not thrive." The starting-point, the 
essential question, then, is the perfection of the sheep in relation to 
the physical influences ; the adaptability of the sheep to the land, 
of the kind to the run. The range of sheep-walk all over the face 
of the earth is practically unlimited, boundless. Mr. R. Smith 
in this 'Journal' (vol. viii.) tells us to assist Nature by fitting the 
sheep to the soil, situation, and climate : he tells us that a flock 
impartially divided and kept for twelve months on different soils, 
when put together again were found — ^excepting only the family 
head — to have lost almost all resemblance. I have before me 
Mr. William Brown's thought-engendering ' Map of the British 
Isles, showing the existing distribution of prevailing kinds of 
Sheep: 'f there is no reason why a sheep and wool map of the 
world should not be constructed on the same instructive principle. 
Geology. — The relations of the geological formations to the 
* Mr. Turner (see page 346, note) says, a pound of wool off the shoulder of a 
good sheep will make five miles more yarn than a pound off the breech of the same 
animal. 
t 'British Sheep Farming:' William Brown. Edinburgh: Adam and 
Charles Black. 1870. 
