MASSEY AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE.

Wairarapa Age, 5 July 1932, Page 6

MASSEY AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE.

MONTHLY BULLETIN. WOOL QUALITY AND ITS IMPROVEMENT. A SUGGESTION FOR THE WOOL INDUSTRY. '

(By

R. Waters.)

The term “quality” is commonly used in connection with the coarseness and fineness of the fibres; hence we speak of “Lincoln and strong quality Romney” and of “the finer crossbred qualities.” The term may also be used—as in these remarks—with reference to the good and bad features of wool and without special reference to count. Differences in count as between one line and another are of course necessary to meet various demands, but similar differences amongst the fibres of the same fleece may constitute a distinctly “undesirable quality”—the difficulty in classing by no means being the major objection to such wool. Coarse-Growing and Fine-Growing Fibres. Special methods have been developed for detecting and studying defects of this kind. Researches on behalf of the manufacturers in England have demonstrated that the variations to be met with in the diameters of different fibres constitute a most undesirable quality in wool—one that operates directly to the detriment of certain important woollen manufactures. On the other hand, researches on ibehalf of the producers in New Zealand have traced this same quality in the fleeces of certain living sheep. The fleeces of these animals and of their offspring are the subject of exceedingly close investigation, the component fibres of such fleeces being capable of arrangement into definite groups, some of which can be recognised from the moment of birth.

It can be said that certain Romneys have shown a strong tendency to produce fleeces with fibres or fibre groups that develop at vastly different rates. Nor is this the worst feature of this tendency, for not only are the slower growing fibres shorter, but they are also finer and weaker, and of different crimp from their more vigorous neighbours. Again, the longer fibres may not only be coarser, but may take on a hairy character. Marked variation in growth-rate and crimp naturally lead to confusion rather than order amongst the fibres of a fleece. Such a fleece, apart from being jumbled and unattractive in appearance, and of undesirable quality for certain manufactures, is probably less favourable to body development, being less efficient as a body insulator and as a protection against the weather. The loss of heat, and therefore of weight, must be appreciable when a fleece fails to fulfil its natural functions. These inequalities of growth appear to be maintained irrespective of feeding and seasonal variations; thus whether the animal has received a setback or not, the slower growing fibres still remain slow in relation to the growth of others. Their slowness appears to be a character of the actual follicles (or pockets in the skin) which produce them. This character would in fact appear to be an inheritable one that should be well understood' in order to be intelligently excluded. Coarseness and Fineness in the Same Fibres.

So. far reference has been made only to differences in thickness, etc., between different fibres or groups of fibres. Now let us turn to the consideration of differences in thickness that are frequently met with at different parts of the same fibre. It is not generally recognised how common is this quality in wool —the various forms that it assumes sometimes being regarded as separate defects, rather than as associated, and probably arising from somewhat similar causes. Tenderness.

The wool buyer who firmly grasps a lock at each end and slowly exerts an increasing strain upon it, is actually in search of a place in the lock where the individual fibres are so much finer that they are noticeably weaker—weak enough perhaps to be a distinct detriment on the machines at the manufactory for which he is buying. This defect is well-known as ‘' tenderness. ’ ’

The fibres at such a weak point may be reduced in diameter to a 'degree scarcely to be detected, or more so even up to a point where they are less than half their proper diameter. Investigations at the College have shown that this defect is associated with a decrease in the rate of growththat all or most of the fibres of a fleece may suffer in the same way at about the same time; that not all the sheep of a flock will show tenderness under the same conditions; but that of those that do show it, some will show it more than others, and all appear to show it about the same time ? year. The opinions, therefore, held at present are that, whilst this detect appears directly connected -with the feeding or other conditions prevalent at certain times of the year, yet it also .is closely connected with a defect in the constitution or breeding ot certain individual sheep'. Breaks. Again, the so-called “break” in wool, readily recognised by buyers and others on sight as a still more serious detect, would appear to be merely a more acute form of “tenderness.” The hores about the affected part of a lock are seen not only to be very thin in diameter, but in some cases to come to an end—certain fibres having been Th t n a l l^i^ e<l com I ,letel y 'by the skin. The shedding of certain fibres in considerable quantities gives the characterof °. r tbinness (in the density where ‘J* 3 * appears in the locks ” hyre a break has occurred— a thinness to h norm n r e d gr ? d " al ’y to be restored “ normal density towards the skin frim which a crop of new fibres has a , riSCn when thc conditions “ducting the break have eased. Thm defect therefore likewise ap?ate Xro a t r° Cia , ted with decrease in as wed f oWt ’\? ndto bc both seasonal as well as constitutional or hereditary. 0 be continued.)