Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1882-06-01

HAc soIuS pIceOtEc sClpe vi wVit-piCu
Merino, but heavy with grease and there
fore in poor condition. And similarly
wool may be light and bright lin good
condition), but having a wild, coarse
or weak staple, will be OF poor growth
If a fleece is wild and poorly grown, il
will only go into low-priced goods, nc
matter how light it is, so that poor
growth may counterbalance good con.
dition. Good growth Sound, healthy
staple) and good condition Ia light
bright fleece make up the first reaui-
sites of good wool. The growth and
condition depend on care and intelli'
gence in breeding, and also consider
ably on the locality where the wool is
grown. In wild or prairie sections the
wool is apt to be "brashy" weak sta
pie and of wild growth) !, and is general
ly discolored by the soil; where in 10
calities more under cultivation the
wool is apt to be of better growth and
brighter.
This is one of the reasons why Ohio
produces better wool than Wisconsin
or Minnesota. As the land of a section
is brought more under cultivation, the
woods improve. But this must be sup
plemented by proper attention to breed
ing; for we received some lots OF un-
washed from Iowa that were better in
grade and condition than shipments
from Indiana and Illinois.
The terms growth" and Condition
being understood, We pass to grades.
Fine is the full-hlood Merino. In well
and high-bred washed woods, fine is
subdivided into X and Xxx, according
to the fineness of fiber. Fine delane
is the elastic and long staple Fine, OF
about q inches in length throughout
the whole fleece, Medium is a
! to ! blood, Merino cross. The
proper crossing of full-bloe Merino
on coarse wool sheep produce med-
um. Medium combing Is the long
staple of the medium grade, about 81
inches in length. a cross of Merino
and Leicester gives medium combing
the Merino giving fineness of fiber
and the Leicester length of staple.
Quarter blood may be called a mon
grel wool;-like a cur dog, it has no
defined characteristics of breed 1t is
generally wool of common sheep, that
don't contain enough Merino blood to
class as medium. Quarter may be a
run out medium, of coarse blood. 1t
is of a wilder and not 50 close growth
as medium. 1t is difficult for our
western friends to make the distinc-
ton between medium and quarter
blood In thn oil hot ~
fine and extremely coarse fleeces is
classed rs medium; whereas here that
range is split into medium and quar-
ter blood, the bulk of the wool some
times the latter grade. We can hard
ly make the difference more clear than
we have, except that to add that in a
real medium the Merino blood can be
distinguished in the fiber of the wool;
whereas in quarter blood the Morino
characteristic has entirely died out, if
it ever was there. Quarter is wild,
coarse wool, as contrasted with medi.
UNI, which is II closer and finer growth
approaching Merino. Coarse or quar-
ter combing is the longt staple of quar-
ter blood grade. Common is the rough
hairy wool and cotted or matted fleece.
1t is often run out Cetswold, and this
grade is found mostly in coarse sec
tons and in hocks that are run out.
Common combing is the long, hairy
wool, on the order of full blood Cots
void and Canada.
The grades fine, medium, quarter
and common apply to all woods. Ia
unwashed wool there is little or no diff
ference in the prices of combing and its
corresponding grade OF clothing, and
the only advantage of taking out the
combing is that it can be run a little
lower than clothing, For Instance,
medium clothing and combing sell at
the same price, but what is known as
medium combing is made almost a
grade lower than medium clothing;
the same holds true of quarter clothing
and combing. In well-bred washed
woods the combing is worth more than
the clothing, because it grades up bet
ter. Fine delaine is practically never
taken out of washed woods; and in fine
washed, that is not well bred and well
grown, there is rarely any to take out
Neither combing or delaine are made
out of dark, heavy, or poorly grown
woods because the staple is generally
weak, brashy, or not of sufficient elias
ITCHY.
Fine woods. well bred and in good
condition, promise to be in good de-
mand; but it should be remembered
that Australian woods are now selling
at prices that forbid any decided I'D
vance in our fine fleeces, unless there
is corresponding improvement
abroad. In this connection we quote
from our circular of March 81:
Australian wool is carefully and
properly prepared for market. The
feeces are skirted, lightly tied up with
thin Irvine, and the WOOL IS higher breo
and of better staple THAT is, ~ill sor
up and spin better than the average G
wool that has been lately received ever
from Ohio"
Moreover the heeces are not stuffed
with tags or unwashed, as is often thu
case with those grown in this country
= -
Words OF Wisdom.