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BIKANER WOOL AND ITS IMPROVEMENT [Vol. XXII, Part IV
The shape of the scales on the true wool fibers was of annular or coronal form
(single scale along the width of the fiber), as described by Blyth [10], and resembled
the segments of a young bamboo cane. In the case of heterotypical and hair fibers,
the shape of the scales was polygonal or flattened. Various forms of pentagonal
and hexagonal shapes were seen. It was apparent that with a smaller thickness
the shape of the scales was more or less of a columnar type, but it inclined to become
rectangular and flattened with increase in the thickness of the fiber.
SUMMARY
Eight samples illustrating average and extreme types of Bikaner wool were
selected from 28 samples received from the Government Livestock Farm at Hissar,
India. These 8 samples were analyzed for fiber types, dividing them into true wool,
hair, heterotype, and kemp fibers. Both the benzol test and microscopic cross-
sectional images were used in the classification. Fiber thickness, stretched fiber
length, and contour ratio were determined for the 8 samples along with the surface
scale measurements for the different fiber types.
CONCLUSIONS
The following conclusions are evident from the results obtained from this
study:
1. The results of the count analysis of fiber types and their dimensional
characteristics in the 8 samples as a whole show that the wool is very near to the
carpet wool standards as worked out by Burns, Johnston, and Chen [14] and the
Southwestern Sheep Breeding Laboratory at Fort Wingate, New Mexico, from their
work on Navajo Sheep [2]. However, it appears that the variation in the length
and fineness of fiber types is slightly larger—by 4 per cent to 5 per cent. The
average thickness of the heterotypical fiber is 7µ greater than desirable. The
Bikaner wool as a commercial type can therefore be considered as very good for
carpet and rug manufacture, although some improvement in attaining uniformity
of fiber thickness is necessary in order to fix it as an ideal carpet type of wool.
Individual samples Nos. 4 and 6, with high true wool contents of 96.5 per cent
and 94.6 per cent, respectively, seem too good for ideal carpet wool; Nos. 5 and 8
with true wool contents of 16.8 per cent and 44.6 per cent, respectively, appear
rather poor in this respect. Samples Nos. 1 and 7 are very close to the required
standard, and Nos. 2 and 3 are slightly poorer for this purpose.
2. If the average proportion of fiber types is considered to be very near to ideal
carpet wool by count analysis, the cross-section medullation test of the same samples
reveals that by this method an ideal carpet wool should show 75 per cent non-
medullated fibers and should not exceed a limit of 80 per cent.
3. Although the average quality of the samples reveals that the wool in a
mixed form is best suited for carpets, the extremely low amounts of medullation
in certain individual samples show that selected sorts can be utilized for the manu-
facture of clothing material. The wide range of medullated fibers in the different
samples indicate further that there are high potentialities for evolving an apparel-
wool type of sheep by selective breeding. It is highly desirable to eliminate kemp
entirely from the fleece.