Textiles, for Commercial, Industrial, and Domestic Arts Schools. William H. Dooley
[1] Hair is straight and glossy, stronger and smoother than wool, and grows sometimes as long as twenty inches.
[2] Spinning is a process by which long or short fibers are twisted into a continuous thread.
[3] A process of finishing cloth by condensing the fibers so as to make the cloth stronger and firmer.
[5] The size of yarn is technically called the “counts” and is based on the number of 560 yard lengths required to weigh one pound. In this case 130’s count = 130 × 560, or 72,800 yards of yarn to a pound.
[6] An encrusting compound of dirt and grease formed on the fleece.
[8] Mixtures.
[9] After wool fibers are combed they are called top.
CHAPTER II
WOOL SORTING
Fleece wool as it comes to the mill is rolled up in bundles and must be sorted. This process consists in sorting and classifying the fibers of the fleece. Not only do the various species of sheep furnish widely different qualities of wool, but different qualities are obtained from the same animal, according to the part of the body from which the wool is taken. This variation in some instances is very marked, and sometimes is greater than that which separates the wools of the different breeds of sheep. Hence the sorting and classing of wool become necessary for the production of good, sound yarn of even quality.
An attempt to utilize the fleece as a whole would result in the spinning of uneven, faulty, and unsatisfactory yarns. As many as twelve or fourteen sorts may be obtained from one fleece (by very fine sorting), but generally not more than five or seven are made. The following table shows the relative qualities of wools from the various parts of a Merino sheep:
1 and 2. Head (top and sides): The wools grown on these parts are remarkable for length of staple, softness, and uniformity of character. They are usually the choicest wools in the fleece.
3. Upper part of the back: This also is a wool of good, sound quality, resembling in staples Nos. 1 and 2, but not as soft or as fine of fiber.
4. Loin and back: The staple here is comparatively short, not as fine, but generally of unvarying character, sometimes rather tender.
5. Upper parts of legs: This wool is medium in length but coarse of fiber, and has a tendency to hang in loose, open locks. It is generally sound, but likely to contain vegetable matter.
6. Upper portion of the neck: The staple clipped from this part of the neck is of an inferior quality, frequently faulty and irregular in growth, and contains twigs, thorns, etc.
7. Central part of the neck: This wool is similar to No. 6 but rather tender in staple.
8. Belly: This wool is from under the sheep, between the fore and hind legs. It is short and dirty, poor in quality, and generally tender.
9. Root of tail: In this wool the fibers are coarse, short, and glossy.
10. Lower parts of the legs: This wool is generally dirty and greasy, the staple having no wave and lacking fineness. It is generally burry and contains much vegetable matter.
11. Front of Head; 12. Throat; 13. Chest: The wools from these parts are sometimes classed together, all having the same characteristics. The fiber is stiff, straight, coarse, and covered with fodder.
14. Shins: This is another short, thick, straight wool of glossy fiber, commonly known as shanks.
Classing. Classing is a grading of the fleeces, and is usually, but not always, a process preliminary to sorting. It is an important part of sorting, and when well done greatly facilitates the making of good, uniform matchings.
Grades of Wool. In the grading of wool no set standard of quality exists. The same classification may be applied in different years, or in different localities, to qualities of wool showing much variation, the best grade obtainable usually setting the standard for the lower grades. The highest quality of wool in the United States is found on full-blooded Merino sheep.
Merino Wool. The Merino sheep was bred for wool and not mutton. The fleece of this breed is fine, strong, elastic, and of good color; it also possesses a high felting power. Though naturally short, it is now grown to good length and the fleece is dense. The Merino sheep is a native of Spain, and Spain was for a long period the chief country of its production. It was also in past centuries extensively bred in England and English wool owes much to the Merino for the improvement it has effected in the fleeces of other breeds of English sheep. It was also introduced into Saxony and was highly bred there, and Saxony soon came to surpass Spanish wool in fineness, softness, and felting properties. The Merino was introduced into the United States at the beginning of the nineteenth century. By 1810, 5,000 Merino sheep had been imported and these 5,000 sheep formed the basis of most of the fine wool-producing flocks of our country to-day.
The terms half blood, three-eighths blood, and quarter blood refer to the full-blooded Merino standard. As the scale descends the wool becomes coarser, the wool of a quarter blood usually being a comparatively coarse fiber. The general classifications of fine, medium, coarse, and low, refer to the relative fineness of Merino combing wools. These distinctions naturally overlap according to the opinion of the parties in transactions. Picklock XXX and XX represent the highest grades of clothing wool, the grade next lower being X, and then Nos. 1 and 2. These again are used in connection with the locality from which the wool is grown, as Ohio XX, Michigan X, New York No. 1, etc.
Difference Between Lamb’s and Sheep’s Wool. One of the first points to be understood in wool sorting is the difference between the wool of lambs and one-year-old sheep, and that of sheep two or more years old. Lamb’s wool is naturally pointed at the end, because it has never been clipped. It is termed hog or hoggett wool, and is more valuable when longer, of about fourteen months’ growth. It is finer in quality and possesses more waviness, which is a help in the process of spinning.
The wool of sheep two or more years old is known as wether. The ends of the fiber from such sheep are thick and blunted, on account of having been previously cut. It is necessary to be able to tell at once a hog fleece from a wether,