452 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 Nov., 1899. 
Softness is that smoothness of the surface of the wool which can be felt by 
the touch of the finger, and will be found in wools of a perfectly smooth surface 
only. We have shown in a former chapter that the wool fibre is clothed with a 
layer of fine leaves—the cuticle; and a fibre will feel the smoothest, the more 
tender and thin the substance of these leaves is,and the closer they surround 
the pile. Manufacturers value that softness highest which appears to be equal, 
whether the fingers remove from the root towards the top of the staple or in an 
opposite direction, against the points of the epidermal leaves. Thus it follows 
that a fibre will be softer the less any of the scales of the cuticle stick out, and 
the less there is an indication of anything like a serrated edge. Youatt says :— 
“ Softness of the pile is evidently connected with the presence and the quantity 
of the yolk. There is no doubt that this substance is designed not so much to 
nourish the hair but to give it richness and pliability.” We have proved, 
however, that the yolk does not influence the quality of the wool fibre itself, 
although it serves to protect it to a certain degree against atmospheric moisture. 
It is also a well-known fact that the softest wools in the world, such as the 
best Victorian—to wit, Ercildoun and the French Mauchamps—and other 
lustrous wools have the least yolk of any, and that there exist many rough, coarse, 
half-bred yools which abound in grease. Softness is fine organisation of the 
cuticle ofthe wool fibre, and it is essentially connected with the organisation 
of the skin. It corresponds with a general fineness of the texture throughout 
the body; it is very little influenced by the yolk, and, like elasticity and other 
valuable qualities of the wool, is a matter of individuality, and must be bred for. 
Lustre means that peculiar power of reflecting the light which we observe 
so strongly developed in silk, a which does not always show itself in its true 
nature until the wool is washed. There are plenty of wools, certainly, that exhibit 
as much lustre in the grease as after they are washed ; others again appear very 
lustrous as long.as they are surrounded by an oily yolk, which, having beev 
washed out, leayes a fibre of a comparatively dull appearance. The bright and 
valuable lustre of the wool depends very much upon the nature of the fibre 
itself. I have seen washed wools that resembled more the threads of spun 
glass—the fibres seemed to be almost transparent. J have. seen others of an 
intense whiteness. The difference between the latter and the former reminded 
one of the difference between china and glass. A really white.fibre with a true 
lustrous surface will show the dye to the best advantage. If such wools are 
dyed properly they will look as if the artificial dye was their natural colour, and 
it is hardly worth mentioning here that deviation in colour from the pure white 
is objectionable. 
WHEATGROWING IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 
THe Adelaide Observer of 10th June contains the following Mi interesting 
and instructive article on the evolution of agricultural machinery, and its influence 
on wheat production :— 
THE INFLUENCE OF MACHINERY ON THE COST OF WHEAT 
PRODUCTION. 
In the struggle for existence, whether animal or vegetable, political or 
commercial, that quality which may be designated as adaptability to changing 
circumstance is one of prime importance. It was this characteristic in the 
pioneers of South Tae which made it possible for agriculture to be carried 
on successfully in conditions remarkably out of joint with those left behind i2 
the old country. The more strongly new arrivals were imbued with the convic- 
tion that English practice represented the ne plus ultra of scientific agriculture, 
the more tardy were they in turning their backs upon it and beginning de novo. 
Happier were they who had nothing to unlearn. Ignorance was bliss as 
compared with the painful process of idol-shattering, i i 
