The Journal of Agriculture.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume XIII, Issue 5, 20 November 1916, Page 345

The Journal of Agriculture.

WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND.

20TH, NOVEMBER, 1916.

WOOL: ITS GROWTH AND USES.

J. R. MACDONALD,

Auckland.

AS there are many different breeds of sheep fed upon pastures and in climates suited to their divers natures, there will always in consequence be wools of different qualities, causing a discussion of the subject to be surrounded with many considerations. In dealing with the question it should be pertinent to first discuss the genesis of wool. It is known that if sheep do not receive the attentions of domestication —if they are allowed to revert to a free and wild state the fleeces soon take on a hairy tendency, the skin becomes rougher, and the coating of it (the wool) too. When man began to pay attention to sheep so as to get the best results from them he soon realized that there were potentialities offering of making the available material plastic to his particular desires. He picked out the most likely sort of wool-bearing sheep and allied them in breeding, with the

result that he hastened along and accentuated the wool-growing habit. - He did likewise with sheep showing the mutton form, and now there are the many different breeds in existence, some famed for wool-production, some for mutton, some of small carcase and some of large, the marked differences in them being largely accounted for .by the skilful manipulation of the sheep-breeder working in circumspect accordance with natural conditions. Breeding is therefore an important factor in wool-perfection, and it is supported by the vital auxiliaries of feeding and attention. .

The domestication of sheep commenced many scores of centuries ago, but it is only since the human race settled down to peaceful occupations and trade and commerce that, vastly improved types of sheep have been bred up, until now there are many excellent kinds famous for respective qualities. The industry as carried out is strongly supported by the great calling of stud-sheep-breeding, which is undertaken with the object of maintaining and improving desired qualities.

There is still another way of approaching the subject of wool. Man’s civilization requires wool; uncivilize him, however, and he could do without wool, which at any rate would not be forthcoming, for the contemporaneous liberation and uncivilizing of the sheep would cause its reversion to hairiness, and to paucity of carcase as well. Conclusively, therefore, the breeding of sheep for profitable wool or mutton qualities is an art of man brought about by his own artful or civilized methods of existence, and grasping this fact imposes upon the attention the necessity there is for selection and care in the breeding and feeding and attention of sheep so as to take the most out of the occupation.

Growing an abundant fleece in company with a quicker carcase or mutton result has now become a more important feature of sheep-farming than in years gone by. There did not then ' exist the demand there is now for mutton, and which now offers the inducement to combine its production with that of wool. This has necessarily popularized crossbreeding, for the differences in wool and mutton sheep are marked, and to obtain the. dual result the attention naturally was drawn to crossbreeding. The Merino is a great wool-sheep with a carcase lending poorly to quick and profitable mutton-growing. However, like all animals living fairly close to nature, the flesh of the Merino has a peculiarly acceptable flavour. ■ Excepting that it is as carefully bred as any other sheep, the Merino lives closer to nature than any other great breed. By uniting the animal with a longwool sheep, bred for the production of quicker-growing mutton, the mutton results of both are improved. The cross gives a fuller and quicker growing

carcase than the Merino, -and a tastier and not so’ grossly fat carcase as the pure longwool. The cross also provides a superior kind of wool. It makes the fleece of the longwool denser, this being often, desirable in certain country or climate, and it makes the wool of the Merino coarser and weightier, commanding always a good price —an acceptable factor, made more acceptable by reason .of the extra ’ profit taken from a more suitable mutton carcase. ' .

. Wool is getting scarcer; the output of it. is not on the increase, but the numbers. of the people requiring it, and who have to put up with various and inferior substitutes are increasing. Therefore any kind of wool fetches a good price providing it is well grown. Very often nowadays it is the mutton result that receives first thought. There are factors of a graduated nature to consider, however. With suitable land near market the fat lamb will usually return double what - may be expected from the ewe’s fleece. This is the most favourable state for mutton. Land not so good and farther away from market may place the consideration at half wool and half mutton; . and land * in . the poorly accessible backblocks will exhibit consideration in favour of wool almost solely. Generally these states are met, in the first case, by using a mutton ram on crossbred' ewes; in the second, by half - breeding the longwool ram with Merino . ewes or crossbreeding; and in the last, by using only the pure Merino.

. .Market conditions are constantly changing, by better accessibility, and it may be realized how impossible it is for farmers in the transitionary stage through which sheep-farming is passing, and observing the growing demand for mutton, to adhere in any way strictly to the culture of a - particular . kind of wool.; but they can make a point of growing whatever wool they grow as well as they can, for wool in the aggregate of Australasian sheep-farming conditions is of greater value than mutton. It is essential, therefore, that, whatever may be the sheep-farming opportunities, well-fleeced ewes only should be used to breed from, and the fleeces should resemble one another as nearly. as possible, for they and the. flock’s progeny then command a much higher price. This aim is attained in a high degree by the selection of even and well-fleeced rams in the first place, which are but rams that have been well bred in accordance with the laws governing sheep-improvement. If sheep with inferior-clad bodies are bred from there is the non-paying sacrifice of less wool to- cut, and if the fleece shows kemps the manufacturer pays less ' for the wool, for kemps will not take dye, and the wool has therefore to be used in making an article that requires only second-rate wools. / .... . .

A farmer in a district where mutton-production is the important direct, or indirect factor does not require to strive at growing a class of wool that may catch his fancy from wool-market reports and quotations of prices—and this for many reasons. He may interfere with the mutton results of his flock, and he may tend to impose a crossbred flock upon his land which under modern conditions may not be quite suited to it nor pay the best. Also, he can realize that the improvements in the machinery of woolmanufacturers of late years are such as to enable them to use wools for many purposes that in the past had been confined to a few special uses. A manufacturer often has large stocks of fleeces on hand, and to what exact use he puts them he may not himself know until market requirements guide him at the last moment. Before finally manufacturing a kind of goods he can also sort the fleeces as he desires, as well as gather different sorts of wool . into a blend, studying not only market conditions, but making the sorting or. blending as economical to himself as possible i.e., he can use a greater or lesser quantity of the good or the inferior parts of fleeces. He makes necessity and economy guiding factors.

The manufacturer also works under. the knowledge that all kinds of wool can be used in the production of woollen garments, but that certain kinds of wool can only be used in the manufacture of worsteds. So, therefore, as the manufacturer strives towards liberal and wide use .of the product of The wool-grower, the wool-grower can in turn aim towards the suitability of . bis breed of sheep for the particular kind of country and available market he may have, resting assured that whatever kind of wool he grows, if it is grown well, will be in good request. He should also realize importantly that when his class of country and degree of . accessibility at all suggest the use of the pure Merino he should by all means stick to that , breed, for the . Merino flocks of the world are so . rapidly decreasing through the growing popularity, of crossbreeding. that fine Merino wool will soon be a most valuable luxury. He may have to wait an extra year for a lamb from his . Merino ewe, . but he can ■ probably carry one thousand Merinosbetter ,on his mediocre..country than six hundred- crossbreds. .

Dealing with the breeds of sheep popularly known in Australasia,, the following table quotes them in order of the-fineness ,of their wools. The.. finest-woolled, the Merino,. is . stated first, and the others gradiently down to the Lincoln, which is the coarsest. Thequality of their wool - tops production is also stated, . and theapproximate . length of staple of their fleeces as well. “ Tops ” in the wool trade are the combed .fibres of the wool after they

have been treated in the combing-machine, the noils or short fibres having been separated therefrom. Higher the quality number of the tops, like Merino Bo’s, finer is the wool; lower the number, like Lincoln 36’s, coarser is the wool composing it. The term “ Bo’s ” means that the particular wool in the top should spin to such a length of yarn that it will take 80 hanks, each of 560 yards, to weigh 1 lb. of the spun material i.e., of clean, scoured tops, not of greasy wool; and so on for 6o’s, 50’s, &c., in corresponding numbers of hanks.

........ Length of Breed. Quality. Wool Staple. ■ . Inches. Merino .. .. .. .. 6o’s to Bo’s 2to 3 Southdown .. .. .. .. 50’s to 56’s 4to 5 Half-bred .. .. .. . . 50’s to 56’s Threequarter-bred, longwool side .. 46’s to 48 .. Shropshire .. .. ..' .. 46’s ' 6 Romney .. .. . . .. 44’s to 46’s 8 Leicester .. .. .. ' .. 40’s 9 Crossbred .. .. ■ ... ' •.. - 40’s (about) Lincoln .. .. .. .. 36’s 12 to 15 The uses to which these wools are put may be approximately stated as follows : .... Merino .. .. Light fabrics, soft serges, flannels, &c. - Southdown .. Variety of cloths for everyday wear and for blankets. Half-bred .. .. Serges, worsteds, &c. Threequarter-bred .. „ ~ ■ ■ - - Shropshire .. ~ ■ ~ - ■ Romney .. .. Woollens. ‘ Leicester .. ' .. Hosiery, &c. ■ Crossbred . . .. Serges, &c. ’ ■ ■. ~ Lincoln /. • .. Lustrous serges, &c. ■

There are two extreme uses to which wool may be . —the finer sort, such as the Merino, for light and soft fabrics for - women's wear, &c. ; and the coarser kinds, . approximating to hairiness,, like the Highland breed, for coarse things like carpets, for which. much of this breed’s fleece is only suited, but a small part . being • employed in making special , rough suiting-material for . sporting wear. The wool of the. Highland breed is much coarser than ; that, of the Lincoln.

The fleeces of the longwools are heavily sorted by the manufacturer, fine crossbred to a lesser extent, and the Merino, growing

a more even fleece, still less. - Evenness' of fleece always suggests less requirement for sorting, and greater inducement for the buyer to give for this reason a higher price. The following is the extent approximately to which, . say, 100 lb. weight of Lincoln or Leicester fleece is sorted under what the sorters term the Scotch method. The fleece is spread upon the table, and the different qualities are taken from it in the order of their. merit :—•

• lb. Fine matchings (best part of shoulders), 40’s to 44’s .. 7* Blue matchings (from the shoulders), 36’s to 44’s .. 62 f Neat matchings (from the sides), 32’s- to 34’s .. 19 First brokes (skirting or edge of fleece) .. . . 2 Second brokes (skirting or edge of fleece) .. . . 3 Third brokes (skirting or edge of fleece) . . . . 1 Brit ch (from the tail and thighs) .. . . ' . . 4 Toppings, waste, . &c. .. .. .. 2 Total .. . . .. .. 100 * 13 lb. for Leicester, f 56 lb. for Leicester.

The bulk of the fleece of each breed of sheep is eminently suited for certain uses, and the excellence of modern machinery, as already referred to, can still further widen the scope of use of each. Short-stapled wools, which have many more serrations per inch of fibre than. the longer wools, have great adaptability for the manufacture of woollens; the serrations help to readily lock the fibres into one another in the felting or milling process. On the other hand, with less serrations and crimps to each inch of wool-fibre of the longwools, their fleeces, or the better parts of them, are more adapted for worsted-manufacture, which consists of the process of combing the fibres so as to lay one alongside of the other. . Short-stapled wools are preferred for such things as flannels, blankets, broadcloths, jerseys; long, lustrous wools for worsted suitings, serges, &c. ; and long- and short-stapled wools are frequently combed and made into flannels, suitings, underwear, &c. ■

The uses to which wool are put are very liberal, and a lot depends upon the quality of the particular fleeces and the necessities -of the manufacturer, who may often be compelled to use a wool of a certain description for the production of an article that it may not be eminently suited for, but for which at the time there is no quite suitable wool available. As indicated above, intermixing the fibres irregularly into a felted mass of cloth with a soft elastic finish is the woollen process; stroking or combing

the fibres repeatedly so as to lay them parallel with each other, then twisting them into a yarn or rope and manufacturing into goods presenting a regular and lustrous surface, is the worsted process.

Wool-buyers always take into consideration such questions as the impurities of the clip, among which are twigs, burrs, sand, &c., and offer their price accordingly. When a clip is very full of vegetable impurities English buyers -as- a rule do not bid (although at latest English manufacturers are introducing special cleaning plants), and the clip finds its way ,to the Continent of Europe, where many firms make a speciality of treating such wools. They have the plant for dealing with them, and the process is termed " carbonizing,” which, shortly, takes the form of' submitting the wool to' treatment with sulphuric acid, then exposing it on a floor to dry at a high temperature. After the wool has dried the acid acts upon the vegetable matter by reducing it to ashes that' are dissolved out when the wool is scoured. As this process takes time and money, it can be understood that a wool-grower by securing cleanness of clip ' saves such cost, which will go into his own pocket by way of a higher price.

The yolk or fat of wool is a natural feature of the latter, playing a useful part from the commencement of the growth of the fleece to the * day when it is scoured. Its presence in the fleece serves as a most valuable protection to the sheep from harm by muchrain, and to the wool in preserving its soft and pliable condition for manufacturing purposes. Much rain entering to the skin of the sheep, which it would easily do in the absence of yolk, would cause injury to the animal’s constitution, besides deteriorating the wool, which would become dry and harsh. Acting as a natural soap, yolk also serves a most useful purpose in facilitating the scouring of the wool, and the manufacturer saves the yolk residue for use in cleansing finished' garments.