182
Wool Quality as the Basis of Individual Selection
In sheep which have been bred to carry a real fleece meaning only wool
fibres, a breeder has a chance to pick up fleeces of exemplary quality for his
stud breeding. But it was found that the coat of the Deccan sheep has a
mixture of fibres varying from a fine wool to a rough stiff hair, with all the
intermediate types. A detailed study of these fibres was made and they were
classed into (1) fine wool, (2) strong wool, (3) heterotypes, (4) hair, and (5)
kemp. Thus to get out of this maze of variations from sheep to sheep, a
standard had to be fixed for study and selection. It was decided to segregate
sheep which carried wool fibres only in their fleeces or in other words those
animals which bore no hair in the fleece-bearing part of the body. This
phrase, ' fleece-bearing part of the body', has been purposely included here
because the Deccan sheep has no wool on the head, chest, belly, legs and on
the lower part of the neck. These parts are covered with stiff hair. A
shepherd in the Deccan who has very little idea of quality of wool when
scraping these hairy portions at the time of shearing, mixes them with the
rest of the clip, and thus reduces its quality to almost a waste. Leaving aside
this negligence in shearing, the selection of Deccan sheep will have primarily
to be based on the percentage of hair or in other words medullated fibres in
their fleeces. When once the standard of quality is fixed according to the
medullation percentage, the rest of the attributes of wool, viz. length, fineness,
waves or crimps and percentage of kemp will give the fleece a definite place in
selective breeding. This study is primarily meant for selection of stud
flocks. Thus the existing farm flock is classed into:—
Grade A.—Sheep carrying fleeces containing no hair.
Grade B.—Sheep carrying fleeces containing long hairy fibres which
have the characteristics of growing without the seasonal break.
Grade C.—Sheep carrying fleeces containing short hairy fibres which
are seasonally shed.
(Plate XV)
IMPORTANCE OF WOOL CLASSIFICATION
In the following pages the method of wool study of the above' A ' grade
sheep is given. Before entering into the details of this subject, it will not be
out of place to state the importance of the above method of sheep classing.
The Deccan wool is mostly used for the production of rough country blankets.
Except this, the wool has very little economic value. The spinning limit of
this wool is from 2 to 5 counts (woollen). Exceptional fine blankets are
prepared from yarn of 10 counts. The' A ' grade mentioned above can easily
be spun up to 30 counts and the ' B ' grade into 15 counts. The' A ' grade
wool will take dye better than the ' B ' and ' C ' grades which absorb dyes
indifferently.
This is from the utility point of view, but it is the study of
wool analysis of individual sheep that is going to influence the future sheep-
breeding work of this part of the country. Although the Deccan sheep are
at present in an undeveloped stage, this carries with them the advantage of
adaptability. One will have to take advantage of this character in evolving
a new breed either by selection or by crossing. Examination of the fleeces
in detail has shown that a sheep carrying wool fibres can be selected out of
this heterogenous mass. It follows then that detailed record of such sheep
should be maintained. This requires the study of a large number of sheep.