THE WOOLCJROWER AND THE WOOL TRADK. 17 
ticed twice a year. There are spring, or 8 months, and fall, or 6 
months, wools from these sections. The spring wool is usually longer 
and it shrinks less than the fall. Both spring and fall wools are 
highly regarded for felting purposes. This is due to the fact that they 
contain a high percentage of Merino blood and also to the fact that 
they are short. In the southern part of the State the mestiza bur 
is very common and many of the wools contain it in varying quanti- 
ties. These wools are quoted as " defective" in distinguishing them 
from the "free" wools. This bur can not be removed by mechanical 
means; hence the wools must be carbonized. The short wools are 
not tied up in fleeces, but come to market in a loose condition. Some 
of the California wools are baled to facilitate shipping. 
Oregon wools. — Oregon produces some excellent wool, though it is 
somewhat high in shrinkage. The best of it will grade 80 per cent of 
staple or combing wool. Excepting the valley wool, it is largely of a 
fine and fine-medium character. The Lakeview wools of this State 
are sometimes spoken of separately. The valley wools are quite 
different from the ordinary clip. They are largely from long-wool ed 
sheep. They are quoted as valley No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3, correspond- 
ing roughly to half-blood, three-eighths-blood, and quarter-blood, 
respectively. These numbers have this same general significance 
when applied to wools from other sections. The valley wools are 
somewhat akin to the luster wools of England. Some buyers claim 
that the heavy rainfall of the valley discolors the wool to a certain 
extent, but others deny this. These wools are the only western wools 
that lose weight under normal conditions when being shipped east. 
They lose from 1 to 2 per cent. Most other wools if dry when 
shipped gain this amount or even more in transportation. 
TERRITORY WOOLS. 
Under " territory wools" are grouped all those wools produced 
west of the Missouri River, and they derived their name from the fact 
that this section of the country was formerly made up of Territories 
in distinction to the States of the central and eastern sections. Cer- 
tain of the wools, however, have more or less distinct characteristics 
which separate them from the main lot, and they are no longer 
included in the territory wools. Among these are the clips of Cali- 
fornia, Oregon, Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico. 
The States that produce the territory wools — Montana, Wyoming, 
Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Colorado, and Washington — are in the main 
the range States. A great deal of fine-wool blood is present in the 
flocks, but the use of medium and long wool mutton rams is steadily 
increasing, and this is having its effect upon the character of wool 
produced. Considerable sections of the range are more or less sandy 
