The silver state. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1909-1925, 1915-11-06
.SHEAR|NC, GRADING
AND CARE OF WOOL

~.
A. Norcross, of the University Agri-
cultural Extension, Mr. Riteh left yes
terday morning for Elko, where he
spoke twice yesterday. He had been
III the state for the past ten days, Wis
iting and lecturing in the principal
wool eenters. The Elko meetings con
cluded the series.
In speaking of the shearing, grading
and caring for wool, Mr.. Ritch said:
Practically all wool In the United
States is sold by the growers at an
| agreed price per pound, sacked and
weighed just as it was shorn from the
sleeps back. The growers very sci.
dom knows anything at all concerning
his wool after it leaves the shearing
shed. Since the buyer of the wool very
seldom represents a manufacturing con-
ccrn, the seller has no facilities for
Knowing in any detail how his product
should be improved to enhance its
value for manufacturing purposes. On
our western state sheep ranches wool
Is considered ready for selling when
each fleece has been tied together with
twlne and the lot tramped into sacks.
In the Australian shearing sheds the
removal of the fleece from the sheep is
the beginning of its preparation for
the market. 1t is of the methodical
| system that is employed there that |
will tell of and such notifications as
may be practical here in this country.
Of course, there are many who will say
and eonscientionsly believe that the
| glowing picture that is drawn of con-
| ditions in Australia could not be OBJ
tanned in the United States. / agree
that there are some notifications that
must be made, but the fundamental
principle is the same, and can be work
cd to the same advantage here as In
Australia where it has stood the test
of time.
cit is the habit in most shearing
sheds in the west to shear the sheep,
roll up the feces and sack them with
10 regard whatever for the kind, clean
illness or quality of wool in the fleece.
When the wool is put on sale, the wool
| buyer, an expert in judging feeces,
| judges the wool according to the poor
est part of the fleece in the bale, and
pays accordingly.
"In Australia shearing is the minor
part of the wool business, for after the
/
| taken into a well-ighted room, where
experts go over it thoroughly, remov-
ing the inferior portions and then care
fully roll and sack the clean fleece.
Each bale is then graded and the
wool of the same grade placed in the
same group, and marked plainly. By
this method, the highest possible prices
are received for the clip at the auction
sales.
In shearing in Australia, the bellies
of the fleece are removed first and do
not again come in contact with the
fieecs, but are baled and sold separate
lv. Convenient to the shearing floor, a
well-hghted room is provided for skirt
ing, rolling, chasing, baling the fieeces
and recording the contents of each bale
''The work of the wool room is SUI
perintended by the classer, who directs
the work of the skirter, rollers and
piece pickers, and assigns each fleece
tc its proper class or grade. Each class
so made is baled separately and the
bale marked accordingly. In the auc-
tion sales and wool selling centers each
lot offered comprises only those bales
bearing the same mark from a single
clip.
Skirting consists of removing the
eoarser, dirtier and inferior wool from
the lower parts. The amount of wool
going into the skirtings is determined
for each lot by the elasser, and may
vary between differnt clips or between
different lots of sheep belonging to the
same station. The elasser is necessarily
man of experience and knows the
aT ha h,,x Ha to l.
ly left to prepare the clip as he thinks
necessary to insure the maximum re-
turns, without suggestion or influence
by his employer.
"After the skirtings have been re
rloved, the body of the fleece is neatly
rolled, flesh side out, in such way
that when it is later removed from the
bale and placed before the sorter at
the mill it is readily spread out in its
original shape. After rolling, each
fleece is passed to the table where the
classer does his particular work. Be-
hind the classr are a number of bins
one for each class or grade. Each fleece
is assigned to its particular bin on ba
sis of length of staple, fineness, amount
of yolk, amount of sand, dirt or other
foreign matter, soundness, brightness
or color. The men operating the baler
mark each bale according to the class
name assigned by the classer to the
particular grade.
"a primary object all through the
elasser's work is to group together
fieeees having a similar percentage of
clean wool, and after that to secure as
much as possible of uniformity in res
pect to spinning quality and character.
The percentage of clean wool obtain.
able from any offering of wool is the
most important factor in determining
pliee and allowing accurate valuation,
the buyer first of all wishing to be as
sured that ten or one hundred bales of
certain lot in one clip viii be the
same as the sample bales selected at
random from the lot for examination.
Uniformity of the lots in regard to
fineness and other qualities are also
necessary, but cannot be considered be-
fore the securing of uniformity in res
naaf ta tho naroan4ano of tha alaan