480 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ June 8, 1882. 
a serious falling-ofE in the demand of materials made from lustre 
wool, and English-grown wool has become seriously depreciated 
in value;. Farmers can now scarcely obtain half the price for their 
wool which they could and did obtain when lustre wool fabrics 
were in demand. 
In proof of this statement it may be mentioned that one of the 
best known Lincolnshire farmers, who used to realise about £1400 
for his yearly clip of wool, could not for some years past obtain 
for the same weight more than about £000. In the year 1880 the 
rate of decrease in the clip of wool has been more than twice as 
rapid as in the previous years, caused by liver rot and adverse 
seasons. The decrease of revenue to the farmers from wool alone 
during the last few years has been not less than £0,500,000 per 
annum. When home-grown wool was in good demand, before the 
present depression set iD, the clip of wool sold at an average of 
l.y. 9d. per lb., whereas at the low rates which have recently pre¬ 
vailed only about 10 d. per lb. could be realised. 
As regards the practical question for the home farmer to con¬ 
sider, one point is whether at the low prices now ranging for wool 
does it always pay him to wash it? for the allowance made in all 
wools unwashed is one-third the weight of clean wool. This re¬ 
mark applies to lambs, which are often clipped in the month of 
August, and we do not wash them, the wool being sold in the 
grease, for which lengthy cross-bred wool before the fall in prices 
had frequently made from 7s. Gd. to 95. per fleece. This, together 
with the better wintering of the sheep in the winter feeding (worth 
as much more per head) in many districts, made it advantageous 
to shear them without the trouble and risk of washing such young 
animals in the usual way. 
Dr. Voelcker’s statements on the chemistry or chemical con¬ 
stitution of wool are very interesting and likewise instructive, 
because it will enable the home farmer to account for various 
matters which, without full consideration, seem somewhat obscure 
and unreasonable. We therefore advise him to read the letter 
in the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society for 1875, where, 
in Dr. Voelcker’s letter to Earl Cathcart, he gives several analyses 
of wool taken for the purpose of showing the chemical contents 
of raw sheep’s wool. The relative proportions of the constituents 
vary greatly in different species of wool. The most recent inves 
tigations made in Germany in 1875 by M. Marker and E. Schulz, 
pure wool (fibre) dried at 212° Fahr. consists of 
Carbon. 49-25 
Hydrogen . 7 - 57 
Nitrogen. 1586 
Sulphur . 3'66 
Oxygen. 23-66 
100-00 
It will be seen that wool not only is rich in nitrogen, but also 
contains a considerable portion of sulphur. E. Schulz further 
has shown that the portion of the yolk of wool, which is soluble 
in alcohol, consists principally of cholesterin, a peculiar well- 
defined fat. These contents, including also potash, the com¬ 
pounds of which with lime and animal matters impart to wool 
its characteristic odour. It also serves to show us, in the process 
of washing the sheep, that unless it is done in tubs and the 
proceeds used as liquid manure upon pasture land is lost, it is, 
however, particularly preserved when distributed and spread 
over farmyard manure. After these observations, and the fact 
of woollenYags being used as a manure for the growth of Hops, 
its valtle will be understood. At the same time it is worth ob¬ 
serving that in washing the sheep the soapy portion of the yolk 
becomes^partially dissolved, saturating the wool and giving it the 
silvery lustre so much desired. In referring to the variations in 
the^price of wool, we find a table showing the price per tod of 
28 lbs. from the year 1812 up to the year 1873, during which 
VEGETABLES. 
9. d. s. d. 
Artichokes........ dozen 2 0to4 0 
Asparagus. bundle 3 0 GO 
Beans, Kidney .... 100 13 16 
Beet, Red. dozen 10 2 0 
Broccoli. bundle 0 9 1 G 
Brussels Sprouts.. J sieve 0 0 0 0 
Cabbage. dozen 0 6 10 
Capsicums. 100 1 6 2 0 
Carrots, new. bunch 10 13 
Cauliflowers, new dozen 3 0 4 0 
Celery . bundle 1 .6 2 0 
Coleworts_doz. bunches 2 0 4 0 
Cucumbers. each 0 4 0 G 
Endive. dozen 1 o 2 0 
Fennel. bunch 0 3 0 0 
Garlic . lb. 0 6 0 0 
Herbs. bunch o 2 0 0 
Leeks. bunch 0 3 0 4 
Mushrooms . 
S. 
A 
d. 8. 
Otol 
d. 
6 
Mustard* Cress .. punnet 
0 
2 
0 
3 
Onions. 
3 
6 
0 
0 
pickling ... 
0 
0 
0 
5 
Parsley. 
doz.bunches 
3 
0 
4 
0 
Parsnips. 
1 
0 
2 
0 
Potatoes. 
2 
6 
3 
6 
Kidney. 
3 
0 
3 
0 
Potatoes, new 
.... per lb. 
0 
1 
0 
2 
Radishes.... 
doz .bunches 
1 
0 
0 
6 
Rhubarb. 
0 
4 
0 
6 
Salsafy. 
1 
0 
0 
0 
Scorzonera . 
1 
6 
0 
0 
Seakale . 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Shallots. 
0 
3 
0 
0 
Spinach . 
3 
0 
0 
e 
Tomatoes ... 
. n>. 
1 
0 
0 
0 
Turnips, new. 
0 
6 
0 
0 
POULTRY AND PIGEON CHRONICLE. 
THE PRODUCTION OF WOOL AND ITS USES. 
( Continued from page 459.) 
We have no desire to lead the home farmer away from his in¬ 
terest by the cultivation of wool in preference to pursuing his 
direct benefit in the greatest profits by the production of mutton, 
which is the staple produce required by nearly all classes of con¬ 
sumers. In fact, upon a large portion of the best soils in the 
northern and north midland districts the most mutton and the 
most wool are produced together in the same animal, because some 
of the heaviest carcasses of mutton are derived from the pure-bred 
long-woolled Lincoln sheep, and at the same time these sheep pro¬ 
duce the heaviest fleece of any of the breeds kept in the kingdom. 
Since the price has so much fallen, and the price of the various 
sorts of wool of home growth are so nearly assimilated, the weight 
of the fleece is of the utmost consequence, and the following will 
show the variety and difference of the weight of the fleece of sheep 
peculiar to different counties and breeds of sheep. We find from 
reliable evidence that the fleece of Wiltshire Down sheep only 
average 3^ lbs. per fleece ; Sussex Down, Norfolk, Surrey, Durham, 
and Chester average 4 lbs.; Middlesex, Hertford, Essex, Cumber¬ 
land, and Westmoreland average 5 lbs.; Bedford, Berks, Bucking¬ 
ham, Kent, Cambridge, Northampton, and Northumberland average 
6 lbs. Ireland also averages 6 lbs. Scotland, however, only 
averages 4f lbs. Rutland, Gloucestershire, and Somerset average 
7 lbs.; whilst Devon and Cornwall average 7$ lbs. Leicester long 
wool averages 6f lbs. The lustre long wool of Lincoln averages 
8 lbs. The same kind of wool, however, in the East Riding of 
York reaches the highest average we have to record—84 lbs. of the 
longest lustre wool. We have introduced these valuable statistics 
to show the home farmer how utterly impossible it would be to 
attempt the reversal of the natural effects of soil and climate upon 
the various breeds of sheep in the production of wool. 
With regard to the actual assimilation of the value of sorts of 
wool, this has been in consequence of a freak of fashion which has 
prevailed for some few years. In our textile manufactures pre¬ 
vious to the year 1874 the long-haired wool known in the trade as 
“ lustre wool ” was extensively used in the manufacture of ladies’ 
dresses, producing a material of beautiful texture. A few years 
ago, however, unfortunately for this country, the ladies of Paris 
were induced to discard the bright and lustrous fabrics produced 
by English looms and to substitute a dull material made prin¬ 
cipally of foreign [wool and manufactured in France. English 
ladies followed their example, andjn’consequence there has been 
