Iron County record. [volume] (Cedar City, Utah) 1893-1982, 1914-04-24
BETTER QUALITY
AND CLEANER WOOL
Movement on Foot TO Improve Ameri-
can Wool By Australian
Methods of Packing.

II American woods were sent to mar.
ket graded and put up as attractively
as are Australian woods, it is estima.
ted that an increase in price of as
much as 3 cents pound might be re.
ceived by the grower. Wool growers
dealers, and manufacturers generally
admit that the American system (oi
lack of system) is very bad, and al
the annual meeting of the National
Wool Growers Association in Salt
Lake City, Utah, considerable inter.
est was shown in the proposal to
adopt the Australian method Of put
ting up wool. Three cents a pound
upon woods selling at from Is to &c
cents a pound is very high percent.
age Of loss, which can and doubles:
will be prevented by growers in the
future. The growers gain in this
particular is in no way opposed to the
interests of the dealers or manufac.
turers.
The Bureau of Animal Industry has
prepared collection Of American anc
Australian woods for use in education.
al work in this connection. This ex.
hibit includes samples of various
grades of wool, showing how grade
and value may be determined by fac.
tors under the control of the sheer
raiser.
Advantages of Australian Methods. .
Australian and New Zealand woods
are graded or Chased" at the time OF
shearing. They are also shipped ir
bales instead of sacks. The "woo'
classers" who do their work at the
shearing plant are familiar with the
basis Of grading wool for manufac.
turers' uses. No bale contains more
than one grade of wool, and any one
bale is a true representative of 9th
ers of the same grade shorn from the
same flock. In many instances the
fieeces are also "skirted." Skirtinf
is the removal from the fleece Of thai
part of the wool shorn from the legs
and belly. Such skirtings contain tn,
most of the dirt and foreign matter
present in the fleece and when balet
and sold separately bring their ac
tual value and do not detract from the
appearance and uniform character o.
the body of the wool.
Quite frequently the bodies of Aus
tralian feeces are held together by {
roll twisted from the fleece itself anC
which serves to keep the fleece intac
while being placed in the bale and af
ter the bale is opened at the market
thus avoiding possibility of injury b,
the use of unsuitable Irvine.
Only small proportion of American
woolgrowers separate their wool in
to grades before sacking for ship
ment. hlstssxas1 is y yer!
ppiform Wfkacter the sacks oi WOO
must be opened at the warehouse an
their Sntents graded before beinI
offered flor sale. Skirting is neve
done in Am erica and on the majorit!
of ranches the tags or dung locks ar
left with the fieeces.
The breeding of the sheep is o
first Importance in determining tn
grade Of the wool. Woolgrowers, a
a rule, are not familiar enough wit
the commercial grading Of wool to un
derstano into which of the grades tn
fleece of particular breed of shee
would be placed. Aside from the mat
ter of grade, the value of wool is con
trolled to great extent by the fee
supply and methods of herding tn
sheep upon the range. Lessons up
on these points as we'll as upon tn
handling of the shorn wool can b
brought home by the exhibit that ha
been prepared by the Bureau of An
NAL Industry. 1t is not too much I
expect that in the next decade in
proved business practices will add o,
err 10 per cent To the returns receive
for wool by sheep raisers.