Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, IA [i.e. Ind.]) 1839-1854, 1844-03-29
ALPACA.

Proudly le,e ladies who wear and admire taa
beautiful fabric called Alpacca, arc aware of IT.
source Of production. The Alpaca j. 4 wool
bearing animal ndig1nuous 10 South America.
and IS ona Of four varieties, which bear general
point Of resemblance to each other. The Lama.
one Of these varieties, has been long known and
often described bat j IS only within a fc"
years that the Alpaca has been considered Of
sufficient Importance to merit particular notice
Nine ten!hs of the wool Of the Alpaca j.
h'ack the remainder being partly white. red and
Qrlzzled. Ii Ii Of very Tong staple often reach
ing twelve inches, and resembles soft, glossy hair
which character IS not los: BY dyeIn9. The
indians in the South American mountains manu-
facture nearly all their clothing from this wool,
and re enabled 10 appear in black dresses. with
tho aid Of dyor. Both tho I.7Ina and \ l.
pacca are, perhaps, even more valuable 10 the
natives as boasts Of burden than as wool bearing
animals, aud the obstinacv Of both, when rrita-
tod, IS wou known The importance Of this ami
mai has bgen already considered BY the English.
their hat, WOODEN and stuff trade. and an cs-a :.
on the subject has been published By Dr. HamiI-
ton Of London. from which some Of thosa details
collected.
The wool is 50 rcnla rllabe. being IN iet black.
glossy sk-ika hair, that II IS fitted for the pro-
ductIon of textile f1brics differing from all 9th
cra, occupying medium position between wool
and silk. Il IS now mingled with other material Is
IN such singular manner, TINT while particI1-
jhl u ~ VIII tIIttt l1p|f IL Will leave the y Ip1C-
On wool with its rienal black color. aud thus
give rise 70 great diversity.
W hon the value Of this commodity became
appreciated IN England, i became an iInports mt
question whether the animal itself should BE- rear
cd IN tho country. From tho power possessed by
the Alpaca of living very scantv horbace
1t has been proposed t. Introduce the aninal in
those districts Of Scotland and ireland where the
English sheep cannot flourish Mr.. Walton a
recent writar on this subject, remarks To the
tender oi an Andes flock, the snow storm IS dis
armed OF all lis terrors. and the stranger when
naturalizoi among us. would feed upon hcrbaec
left behind by the cattle and sheep which had
gone over the ground before him, he would not
consequently Interfere with the pasturarc of our
present herds and hocks, nor diminish in the
slightest degree the provision of food reserved for
them. The income which farmer would doriye
from this now breeding stock Will be readily cal
culatod when it IS taken into account that the
South Down fleece seldom weighs more than two
pounds, whereas the Alpaca yields from SIX to
eight, and THIS wool always commands higher
price, besides keeping for seven wears if the
market should be low
The late Dutchess of York introduced the /
pacca as denlzen in her pleasure grounds as
dd likewise the late Countess of Liverpool
he Earl OF Derby. ut Knowles. has a small
flock OF AIPaccas, some of which wore born on
the estate and one. fine male. has wool eight I
oen or twenty inches IN length. At the |
Glasgow meeting OF tho British association. IN |
1910. Mr.. Dawson introduced the subject and !
stated the grounds which It's rearing IN Enn- |
land may be advocated. Among the matters adj |
duced by Mr. Dawson was tho following. that !
. the Alpaca wool Is naturally free from grouse. |
and differs materially from the sheep. attributa-
bic to Is PorsPiring through the skin and conso-
quentiy not requiring tho artificial protection OF
smcaring with tar and other substances injurious I
+ the WOO rs far as tho m1nutacturo is concerned
and IN shearlng the animal requires no washing
preparatory to the operation" Another point
considered not less singular and vatuablo Is that
OF the peculiar coat of silky wool proving com
ploto protection against an atmosphere ut all +
times excessively humid and against the daue-
ing ram. which (among the Andes) continues
10 tall upwards of four months in tn wear: thus
rendering them we'll suited to the Grampjan and /
other mountainous districts of Scotland lastly.
- the animal IS not only capable of UNDERGOING
great fatigue but likewise lives on the mountain
nerbage httlo bottor than kind Of withcred
grass and IN times of scarcity. has been stIs-
tanned several days without water taking only a
handful OF maize. A few of these animals
have been introduced into this country. but at
present the attempt only be regarded as an
experiment. Pittsburg American.
From the Philadelphia Forum.