Repository: UIHistories Project: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1886 [PAGE 241]

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ment in collecting the samples, or even in the part of the fleecefrom which the wools were secured. The variation from the average amounts to from about 5 per cent on one hand to about 11 p e r cent on the other. From all our study with regard to the fineness of fibre of wools we deduce the following conclusions: 1. It is affected by breed—and with this regard the wools of the several breeds stand in the following order from coarsest to finest: 1, Oxforddown; 2., Cotswold ; 3, Leicester; 4, Lincoln : 5, Hampshire; 6, Southdown; 7, Merino. 2. It is to some extent related to sex, but with this regard each breed is a law unto itself. 3. It differs from one part of the fleece to another but no general rule can be established on this point. In the majority of cases, however, the shoulder wool is finer than that from the side, which in turn ,is finer than that from the hip. The belly wool is almost; invariably finer that that from other parts. 4. The age seems to be without marked influence in the Merino* breed, but in the coarse wools the fineness seemes to decrease with, increase of age, that is to say, with advancing years the fibre seems to become coarser. 5. The fibres from the tops of the wrinkles or folds is decidedly coarser and less even than that from between them and from t h e smooth skin, and animals with numerous and large folds in t h e skin should, as far as possible, be excluded from flocks devoted to* the production of fine even wools. 6. A relation prevails between the number of crimps per inch and the fineness of fibre in Merino wool, and while this is not absolute in all cases, it may serve as a general indication of the quality in question. 7. Loose fleeces in Merino wool appear to contain finer fibres* than the dense fleeces. 8. To some extent the fineness of Merino wool seems to be affected by the section in which the wool is grown, but the differences are not so marked or so distributed as to indicate that they are due to climate, or to anything more than the natural variations occurring m different lots of wool, or possibly to slightly different care in the management of the flocks.

STRENGTH AND ELASTICITY OF WOOL.

In the study of the comparative fineness of the fibre we are only upon the threshold of the work of fixing the" ultimate value of the staple in all its relations, industrial and commercial. While many of the' commercial grades are established upon this quality alone, manufacturers and consumers alike are interested in knowing to* what extent any given lot of wool will be able to resist the wear it must be subject to in its various applications, and the power necessary to this must be'found, and find expression, in the ultimate strength, or generally the strength and elasticity of the fibre a& variously produced or treated. Strength is the power to resist strain, and stretch the elongation produced by strain, limited only by rupture. Elasticity is the power