Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 24.djvu/695

Rh WOOL 655 in character, so that the fibre presents a smoother, less waved character. In some inferior wools the serrations are not so many as 500 per inch. A similar difference may be noted in the fineness of the fibres. Saxony lambs wool has a diameter of from T^Vir to T gVff inch, whilst coarse Algerian wools may rise to a maximum diameter of about inch. Other distinguishing qualities of good wool consist in uniformity and strength of fibre with freedom from tender or weak portions in its length, a condition which not unfre- quently arises from ill health in the sheep. In ill-bred wool there may also be found inter mingled &quot;kemps&quot; or dead hairs, straight coarse shining fibres which show con spicuously among the wool, and be come even more prominent in the manufacturedand dyed goods. Wool also possesses a softness of touch and an elasticity both in the raw and manufactured condition which distinguish it from all other fibres. In length of staple it varies very much, attain ing in combing wools to a length of as much as 15 to 20 inches. As a rule the fine felting wools are short in staple, these constituting carding or woollen yarn wools ; and the longer are lustrous and comparatively straight, and thus most suitable for combing or worsted wools. The latter wools approach mohair and alpaca in their characters, and they are pre pared and spun by the same class of machinery. The bulk of the wool of commerce comes into the market in the form of fleece wool, the product of a single year s growth, cut from the body of the living animal. The first and finest clip, called lambs wool, may be taken from the young sheep at about the age of eight months. When the animal is not shorn till it attains the age of twelve or fourteen months the wool is known as hogg or hogget, and it, like lambs wool, is fine and tapers into long thin ends. All subsequently cut fleeces are known as wether wool, and possess relatively somewhat less value than the first clip. Fleece wool as it comes into the market is either &quot; in the grease,&quot; that is, unwashed, and with all the dirt which gathers to the surface of the greasy wool present ; or it is received as &quot; washed &quot; wool, the washing being done as a preliminary to the sheep-shearing. Skin wool is that which is obtained from sheep which either die or are killed. Such wool is always of inferior value and much impregnated with lime from the steeping pits in the tan-yards in which the skins are first treated to soften and swell the skin for facilitating the easy separa tion of the wool from it. The wool market is supplied from almost every quarter FIG. 1. Micivscopic Structure of Wool, a, merino; b. Southdown ; c, Leicester: d, mohair. of the globe, and the qualities and varieties of the article are exceedingly numerous. The range of woollen and worsted manufactures is also very wide, and the raw material suitable for one section of the trade is not at all fitted to supply other sections. Much more than is the case in any other textile industry we have in the woollen trades practically a series of separate and distinct industries, each with its own appropriate class of raw materials. The main distinctions are (1) carding wools, in which felting properties are desirable ; (2) combing wools, requiring length of staple and brightness of fibre, for hard-spun non- felting worsteds ; and (3) carpet and knitting wools, in which long and strong if somewhat coarse staple are the essential qualities. Breeding, climate, and food are the main factors in developing and rearing special races of sheep in which the qualities essential for producing the raw materials of any of these sections of industry are secured. For centuries the finer wools used for cloth-making Merino throughout Europe were obtained from Spain, which was wo l- the home of the famous merino breed developed from races of sheep originally introduced into the Peninsula by the Romans. Till early in the present century the superiority of Spanish merinos remained unchallenged, but the Penin sular War and its attendant evils produced a depreciation of quality concurrently with the introduction of Saxon and Silesian wools, which suddenly supplanted the product of Spain, and hold the first place down to the present day. The Spanish merino sheep was introduced into Saxony by the elector in 1765, and by judicious crossing with the best native race developed the famous electoral breed. Merinos were carried to Hungary in 1775, and to France in 1776, and in 1786 Daubenton brought them to Rambouillet, whence a famous race developed. In 1802 the first merinos known to have left pure descendants were taken to the United States, and in 1809-10 an importa tion (4000) of merino sheep was made. The introduction of merino blood has also largely modified certain of the breeds of English sheep, and from them, crossed with the English breeds, Southdowns and Leicesters, have sprung the vast flocks of sheep in the various Australasian colonies, which now bid fair to supply the whole world with wools of the merino class, and of the very highest quality. Of colonial wools, which are now by a long way the Colonial most important supplied to the British market, the best wool- qualities come from Port Phillip, Sydney, and Adelaide, the first of these being excelled in quality as a cloth- making wool by the merinos of Saxony and Silesia alone. New Zealand also yields a very large annual crop of wool of high quality, and the wool of Tasmania is generally of fine colour, sound and uniform in staple. The Cape of Good Hope is the source of a large supply of wool, much of which, however, is unequal in strength and somewhat kempy in character. A great proportion of the wool which comes from South America is seriously deteriorated by burrs, and it is of a character which fits it for the worsted manufacture alone. The wools grown in the United Kingdom may be British separated into three classes (1) short or carding wool ; wool. (2) long or combing wool ; and (3) blanket, carpet, and knitting wool. Of short wools Southdown may be taken as the type and best example. It is a staple of excellent quality, milling well, and suitable either for the woollen or worsted trade. The long wools of greatest importance are obtained from the Lincoln and Leicester sheep. These breeds yield a long fleece of remarkable lustre, and it was the possession of this class of wool which gave England its high reputation in former times as a wool-producing country. A similar quality of wool is also obtained from the East Riding Yorkshire breed of sheep. Cheviot wool