Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1934-06-07

were 100000 sheep grazing over the
settled area of eastern United States.
-Four years later there were 10,000,O00.
About this time foreign wool flooded
the United States markets and the
wool industry was as hard-hit as other
industries in the panic of 1919.
AS large American cities and towns
took form, demand for homespun
waned and factory-made woolens took
their place. Prices paid for wool by
manufacturers encouraged sheep rails
ing so that by 1910 the range Of the
animals had spread from the Atlantic
to every state east of the Mississippi.
as well as to Missouri and Louisiana.
With the western migration In the
middle Of the last century went sheep.
BY 1850, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota,
Arkansas, Texas, California and the
areas that now are Oregon and Ari-
iona, joined the wool-growing regions.
Two decades later, there was not q
state in the Union that did not have
a sheep population of at least $4,000.
BY 1888 the national flock" had
grown to more than 50,O0O,0O0.
To sheep, many regions of the world
owe at least partially their discovery
and growth, for these animals often
have been the companions Of pioneers.
Magellanes formerly Punta Arenas.
Chile, the southernmost city Of South
America, was saved by the feecy ami
mails. The city was an important coal
ing and ship supply station for craft
doubling Cape Horn before the COM
pletion Of the Panama canal. The canal
stripped it of former prestige, and
even many of it's staunchest citizens
prophesied its doom. Smart business
men, however, saw the possibilities Of
sheep industry on the surrounding
mainland and nearby islands, and
turned their faces from the sea to
the land for their livelihood. Thanks
to sheep, Magellanes still is a thriving
| port.
How FIeeces Are Handled.
While, In few remote regions Of
the United States, homespun is worn,
| factories have almost entirely erased
the home industry from this country.
One of several hundred modern Amer
lean manufacturing companies normal
| ly operates 60 wool mills that employ
10000 workers. A display of one COM
pany recently included $500 different
styles Of wool fabrics.
Wool greatly differs In quality. The
same breed of sheep in the same coun-
try may produce different qualities Of
wool. The best wool grows on a
sleeps shoulders and sides.
When a sheep Is sheared the fleece
holds together. The whole fleece then
is tied and with other complete feeces
is placed for shipment in bags contain
ing from 100 to 500 pounds each.
At the factory expert workmen sort
the wool. Some sorting tables are
covered with wire netting through
which dust and other loose foreign
| matter falls while the sorters tear the
fieeces apart. In some wool-growing
| countries wool Is washed before 1t is
sheared from the sheep. Unwashed
|
Of the animals. After sorting, the
wool is secured by passing 1t through
a series Of watts Of warm. soapy water.
| From the washers 1t is conveyed to
drying rooms and thence to cardlng
rooms where 1t begins the journey that
ends in wooden cloth and other wool
products. Worsted fabrics are made
Of yarns whose fibers are parallel,
while woolens are made of fibers
crossed and mixed. Foreign matter
that cannot be washed from the fleece
is destroyed by chemicals. Burrs are
removed by machinery.
Wool is constantly moving In COM
merce. Although the United States
normally produces about one-tenth Of
the worlds annual wool clip, 1t is only
a little more than half of the wool
required by American cloth and carpet
manufacturers. American manufac-
turers call upon the wool growers Of
Australia, Argentina, Uruguay, South
Africa, China, England, and many less
important wool producing countries for
additional raw material England Is
the leading Importer Of wool, for most
Of the export wool from all the LEAKING
wool producing regions of the globe is
shipped to British markets Much of
1t is reshipped to other countries.
London is the largest wool market Of
the world.