An Essay on Wool, containing a particular account of the English Fleece, etc

Front matter

AN ESSAY ON WOOL, CONTAINING A PARTICULAR ACCOUNT OF THE ENGLISH FLEECE. WITH HINTS FOR ITS IMPROVEMENT, ADDRESSED TO THE GROWER, DEALER, AND MANUFACTURER. BY JOHN LUCCOCK, WOOLSTAPLER, LEEDS. " As an object of national attention, the coat of the sheep is of the first importance ; and every wilful attempt to supplant or debase it, is an act of treason against the state." Marshall. LONDON: PRINTED FOR J. HARDING ST. JAMES'S STREET. 1809. HardiDg and Wright, Printers, St. John's Square, London. TABLE OF CONTENTS. Introduction. Wool claims Attention from Farmers— Land-owners — Manufacturers — the Public. Section I. GENERAL ACCOUNT OF WOOL. Page 11 Not always produced by Sheep — Description of their Coats — Wool resembles Hair — Culture improves the Fleece — At first changed its Colour — Is connected with the Arts — and most visible in the Furs of Sheep.

Section II. CULTIVATED WOOL. . Page 27 What the Author intends by it — Circumstances which promote the Culture of Wool and have a remote Effect. Accident and Caprica. State of Society. Art of Husbandry. Public Taste. Comfort of Woollen Clothing. Discovery of the Felting Quality. Application of Spinning and Weaving. Invention ofMachines. Art of Dyeing. Institution of separate Manufactures. The Culture of Wool suspended vyhen Manufactures declined, but renewed when they revived. Evinced in the History .of Persia and Rome, Venice and Spain. The Netherlands, England, France, Ireland, Sweden and Russia. — Promoted by the Invention of New Articles, viz. Worsteds, Tapestry, Hosiery and Hats. Causes which act immediately upon the Fleece. Page 69 General Principles enumerated . TO Constitution of the Sheep . . 75 Temperature . . . 89 Dryness and Moisture . . 92 Pasture ■ i . .

COMENTS. 1'age Herbage . . . 10i Soil . • • .10* Shepherd's Attention to Health and Cleanliness, to Uniformity of the Pile, to its Purity in respect to Yolk, Pitch, Excrement, Moisture, Moats, Time and Manner of Shearing . 105 Fatigue . . . 125 Cotting . . . . i~7 Luxuriant Feeding • • 188 Taring the Staple . ■ 131 Age of the Sheep . . 133 Scab, Winterstain and Felling . 134 Sect ion III. ESSENTIAL QUALITIES OF WOOL 137 The Growers complain of Ignorance — The Business of a Stapler described — Different Instruments require different Properties in Wool — The Card and the Comb described, with the Qualities suited to each— Length, Curvature, Pliability, Toughness, Felting property, Softness, Colour, Relative Weight. Smell. Trueness of Hair, &c. Section IV. WOOL OF ENGLAND . 182 All of it imperfect — Divided into two Kinds — Districts producing Long Wool — Description of their Sheep— Sometimes ambiguous — Difficult to ascertain the Quantity of Stock.

Preface

. X HE small volume, now offered to the attention of the public, depends for acceptance entire ly upon its own merit. If it possess any, patronage will not be wanting ; if it be destitute of interest, the author is content that it should be consigned to oblivion. He published, because he was vain enough to think that he possessed some important information which does not fall within the common line of reading. The work was written hastily, and printed as it was composed ; this circumstance will account for some of the errors which it contains, and some slight inaccuracies. It is true, we have no reason to expect that the public will tolerate indolence, but when persons employ the leisure hours, which busi ness affords them, in communicating their observa tions to the public, and in attempting to rouse attention to a great national object, they must be allowed to express themselves in unadorned language, and sometimes in terms which the man ot taste would utterly discard The The reader will perceive, that the author has not completed his original intention.

Some hints arc thrown out which indicate a design of including a description, not only of the English fleeces, but also of th" wool produced in Scotland and Ireland. It, was found, however, that either the subject must be treated very concisely, or the volume enlarged beyond a reasonable bulk. The first is not readily submitted to when the author has some degree of vanity, nor the last when he despairs of securing attention. In many instances, the want of information is lamented. — It is almost impossible to write with precision upon such general subjects as the culture, and the quantity as English wool. Should any palpable mistakes be observed, the author will be thankful for better instruction. John Luccock. Leeds, September 25th, 1805. THE NATURE AND PROPERTIES, Kc. W OOL is an article very closely connected witli the interest of every class of society.

Considered as a production of almost every farm in the kingdom, it becomes the immediate object of attention to the whole body of Agriculturists, and the same prin ciple which renders it desirable, that we should ob tain from the soil all its produce in the most perfect state, applies with more particular propriety to wool, than to most other articles. Indeed we cannot help wishing that our fleeces possessed all the ex cellencies which the climate, and the circumstances of the country will admit of, and that no limitation were set to their improvement, below the point of absolute and complete perfection ; for then only can the grower receive from them that compensation for his labour, and ingenuity, which he deserves ; and the land owner that interest upon his capital, and remunera tion for his confidence, which he has a right to expect.

If either the quality of wool be inferior, or its quantity smaller, than it ought to be, the commu nity loses annually a portion of those advantages which nature solicits it to receive; and makes the •A most most ungrateful return for her liberality. The more we can obtain from the ground of any va luable commodity, and the greater degree of ex cellency which it attains, so much the larger re ward we receive for our industry, and so much the more we increase our wealth. As an article of manufacture, wool assumes, at least, the second place in the rank of importance. It is closely connected with our comfort, and affords many of the ornaments of social life. It furnishes a large portion of our population with em ployment, and gives them their daily bread, con* tributing at once, like all similar manufactures, to the strength and the affluence of the country.

But if it were possible to suppose that these should withdraw their support, or even languish for a con siderable period, the workmen would fall an heavy incumbrance upon the land ; they must derive their subsistence from the wealthy, the active and the benevolent. It is desirable therefore to maintain them in their full vigour, and to render their happy influence, if possible, uniform and permanent. The best mode of attempting this, is to occupy the people in working up the best of materials, to produce by their labour goods of the most valuable quality, and those which at once are in most request, and afford the largest returns for the capital originally employed. These, almost invariably, occupy a larger number of hands in their completion than fabrics of an inferior quality, they allow greater wages and contribute most liberally to the comforts of the poor.

Fortunately, at present, the prevailing taste in Britain is for cloths of the first excellency, and very few amongst us are contented to appear in those of a lower lower order. Hence, the demand for prime wools is perpetually increasing, and the looms call loudly upon the farmer, and the merchant, to supply their deficiencies. Hence too, every man contributes, .in a much higher degree, a share towards the public employment ; brings into circulation a larger capital than is necessary in the manufacture of inferior goods ; and gives that activity to it which is the source of wealth. If however instead of furnishing the raw material from our domestic productions, we seek it from other countries, or import it from rival nations, we do ourselves a real injury, and indirectly transfer a por tion of our advantages to the hands of strangers; a conduct which, however noble and disinterested it may appear in a personal view, deserves, in a political one, the severest censure.

We cannot justifv, I fear in this, respect, the existence of our commerce for Spanish wools without hinting, at the same time, that our forefathers have been too indolent, or too in attentive ; a charge, from which, I trust, their sons will be anxious to redeem their own character. If the raw material be so far inferior as to render it impossible to produce from it, with the utmost ingenuity, the very best of commodities, we open a wide door for the introduction of rival fabrics ; and although we may endeavour to bar their way by pro hibitions and penalties, they will nevertheless insinuate themselves amongst us, and too frequently become the objects of envy, especially if their superiority in any respect be strikingly evident. By this means, also they silently sap the foundations of our own ma nufactures, by producing an unfavourable opinion of them, and, if brought into the country in consider- A 2 able able quantities, tend to render them languid and un settled.

What indeed can that country expect, whose inhabitants are perpetually wishing for the silent and secret introduction of foreign manufactures, but that those who are employed in similar ones at home, will watch their conduct with a jealous eye, and be ready on every occasion, when they think themselves aggrieved, to seek a less precarious mode of employing themselvesand their property ? Where as, on the other hand, a confidence in the superior excellency of their materials and their workmanship induces them to push their trade, proves the best stimulus to enterprize, reduces difficulties, renews the vigour of genius, collects capital, and points out new paths to riches. Happily the manufactures of Britain have obtain ed an opinion in the foreign markets pre-eminently favourable ; and it is sound and necessary policy to do all we can to render it more extensive and per manent, to subdue prejudices, remove difficulties which still lie in the way of their introduction, and to excite comparisons which we are sure must end in our own advantage.

But even this superiority produces jealousies, which must not be overlooked. It incites those nations, which receive our goods, to continual exertion, in order to prevent their impor tation ; and, to promote those fabrics of a similar kind, which exist among themselves, they load ours with very heavy duties, or entirely prohibit them. In such a situation it is evident that we can re tain our trade no longer than we can produce goods of superior materials, or better texture, or at a lower price ; no longer than we can give to our rivals new objects of imitation, and are careful that they they do not overtake us in the competition for per fection. Thus do our manufactures perpetually call upon those who produce the raw material, to im prove it rapidly, in order to render their superiority over foreign ones more decisive; that they may train a firmer footinr* in the countries which receive them, and extend themselves to those where they are not admitted.

The export trade of any article, the material of which is produced at home, is of very great importance ; for so long as the looms of our country do more than supply our own consumption, 'tis by this channel alone, that the surplus can find its vent. It keeps our domestic markets free, and produces that degree of competition which is salutary to all. But the instant that surplusbecomes an incumbrance, priceslower, employ men t slackens, and discontent prevails amongst those whoare first affected, andwhoare commonly too ill-informed todiscoverthe cause of that difference which they perceive in their circumstances. Nor should it be imagined by him who produces the material, from which goods are fabricated, and upon whom any depreciation in their value must ultimately fall, that a small surplus upon the market is of trivial consequence ; for it is scarcely to be con ceived how much a circumstance of this kind will affect the demand for goods, and the price of them.

These remarks apply to manufactures in general, but are more particularly suitable to those of wool, not only as it is a production of our country, but because the goods into which it is Wrought, form a principal part of the attire, and are used for many household purposes, throughout most of the temperate regions of the globe. When When we recollect the number of succeeding ajes through which this valuable material has been applied to some of the prime conveniences of life, aud the immense number of persons who have made it an object of their regard, we are almost induced to believe that it must already be produced in its most perfect states, that its general properties must be universally understood, and that the most ready means of rendering them useful, have been every where adopted. But when we notice the state of " Wool-bearing Animals," either in our own country, or as they exist among foreigners, we are compelled to form a very different opinion ; and the improvements which have been adopted in almost every branch of the woollen manufactory, at diffe rent periods of its history, serve to convince us that there is still much to be attained, even by nations who have most reason to boast of their superior proficiency.

The imperfection of the British fleece has of late years been very generally acknowledged, and the mode of improving it most sedulously sought after. The experiments of a Sovereign, anxious topromote, by every means, the welfare of his subjects, have ascertained that the soil and climate of England are adapted to the growth of much finer wool than has generally been produced there, and have diffused an enterprising spirit among the gentlemen of large landed property, from which tbe most happy effects may be predicted. The exertions of the British Wool Society, while it subsisted, did much towards depasturing the hills of Scotland with an improved race of the most useful of quadrupeds, and lead us to expect that the time is not very remote, when when the fleeces of the northern part of the island will be in no respect inferior to those of the southern districts ; and when their number shall be increased in a very large proportion.

The efforts also of private individuals, who have taken pains to stock their farms with a better race of sheep, whether they have been chosen from the cotes of the most eminent breeders, or judiciously selected from the lambs of their own rearing, entitle them to tbe gratitude bf every one, who is capable of seeing with an honest pride the growing riches of his country. Influenced by an earnest desire of promoting, so far as it shall be in his power, the amelioration of the British fleece, and by no means pretending to a superior degree of information respecting its pro perties, or the improvement of which it is suscepti ble, than'may be easily attained by all who are engaged in growing, or manufacturing it, the author of the following pages,, commits them to the candour of the public, convinced that he has undertaken a task, which, in many respects, must be imperfectly exe cuted.

No one, at least to the best of his know ledge, has hitherto attempted to describe, the essential qualities of wool, — the circumstances up on which its adaptation to manufactures depends, the peculiarities of the British fleeces, — nor the num ber of them which these islands produce ; although the discussion of such subjects appears to be an object of some importance, in the present state of political inquiry, and agricultural experiment. Whatsoever he has met with upon these points, in the course of his reading, is either too general to afford much satisfaction, or scattered too widely through a number ber of detached publications to be of general utility. Of all the assistance, however, which he could derive frpin the writings. of others, he has most freely availed himself, and here embraces the opportunity of acknowledging his obligations.

Some of the remarks, which he has met with and adopted, were new to him ; many have been comfirmed by his own observation, in almost every district in England, and through the course of several years attention to his occupation as a woolstapler. The deductions which he has made, he trusts, will be authorized by the premises from which they are drawn, and though, they cannot always be supposed to arrive at the cer tainty of demonstration, yet he hopes'that they will always approximate to truth. And if, upon the whole, it shall appear that he has treated subjects. interesting to his countrymen, in a manner worthy ot their attention, his utmost expextation will be grati fied. SECT,.

Section I

Wool in General. VV E are so accustomed to consider this substance as the exclusive production of the sheep, and indeed as the peculiar characteristic of that tribe of animals, that it excites some degree of suspicion, lest the per son who first informs us, that these opinions are not well founded, should be only amusing us with tales, or trying the extent of our credulity. If by acci dent a sheep, which never produced wool, attracts our attention, we deem it an animal in whose forma tion nature has departed from her established course. Yet, with whatever suspicion such accounts may be received, it is a fact, ascertained beyond the possibi lity of doubt, that there are sheep, whose backs are as perfectly destitute of wool as those of a deer, or a greyhound. In every other respect, they are truly and properly sheep.

It is as impossible to class them otherwise, as it is to deny, that the different varieties of dogs belong to the same family, merely because one has a sleek, and another a shaggy covering. Most of those sheep however, which are destitute of wool, have some kind of coat. Sometimes short, stiff, opaque hairs start from their pelt, at considerable distances from each other, somewhat in the manner that that bristles do from the side's of the hog, and shew between them the fleshy colour of the skin; others have a coarse, butsmoother coat, whose silky lusture invites the touch, and which under the management of an eastern shepherd, assumes a compactness supe rior to that of our well dressed horses. Sheep of this description, are found in a large proportion of Tartary ; while those of a rougher cast, disperse them selves in Africa, in the East Indies, and the Chinese empire.

Another kind of sheep, if we distinguish them by the coat alone, bears a much longer and shaggy hair, placed not very thickly upon it, but hanging down in a close and waved staple. These, to the eye, seem to resemble in somedegree theoldlong-wooled sheepof the midland counties; but upon a close inspection, their covering is found to be decidedly a hairy substance, which concealsabout its roots, a fine short and downy wool. This, by means of instruments adapted to the purpose, is separated from the hair, and employed in manufactures. This variety of fleeces abounds in the north of Europe, in many parts of the Russian empire, on the shores of the Black. Sea, among the Tartars of Asia, at the Cape of Good Hope, and in South America. These fleeces differ very considerably from each other in the length of the pile, their weight, colour, and the porportion of short and silky wool, which may be separated from them.

In some, the pile is very long, and seems adapted to withstand the rigours of the Arctic winters. In others, it is better adapted to the milder regions by its lightness, and to the animals, which wander in search of food over wide extended wastes, whose saline soils yield but but a scanty herbage. It is not possible to state, from what we at present know of these flocks, any opinion of the average quantity of the softer sub stance which they yield. Perhaps it can scarcely ex ceed four ounces. The " hair" of this wool, i.e. the fineness or coarseness of the pile, tbe first object of a stapler's concern, is of a very inferior kind, such as we should appropriate to almost the lowest of purposes. Most of the other sheep, that we meet with, furnish that substance which we denominate wool, although the di versitj'of its properties, and of the pur poses to which it is applied, is much greater than is commonly imagined ; for almost every country, and every province, has its peculiar fleece, and its distinct manufacture.

These animals, producing a more or less valuable coat, abound in the western, and the southern parts of Europe; on the northern shores of Africa ; in Syria, and Persia ; and most probably in some parts of Tibet. They exist in Denmark, Swe den aud North America, being recently introduced there. It seemed necessary to give this general description of fleeces, not only to correct the common error of those, whose opportunities of attaining more cor rect information are very limited, but also to lead them to remark, that as some varieties of the sheep possess a covering which differs but little from that of other quadrupeds, so also, there are beasts, which yield a fur in many respects resembling wool, and which is used for precisely the same purposes. We allude particularly to the. goat, the camel, and the dromedary, in the East, and the vicuna in South America.

When these animals are stripped of that covering, which nature has given to them, it is sometimes called wool, and in reality possesses so many many of the properties of that which we obtain from sheep, that we are compelled to consider them as substances of a similar kind. It is not easy to point out the precise difference betwixt wool and hair ; for though, in general, when both are presented to us, we decide without hesitation, yet, in many instances, their properties so blend with each other, as to oblige the best judges to determine differently, and the same person, after a short inter val, will sometimes^ contradict his former opinion. In fact, it is not very uncommon to find filaments, which, in different parts of their length, exhibit both substances too visibly to be mistaken. This pheno menon, however, so far as I have bad opportunities of observing it, appears most frequently in the fleeces, which have received from culture but l.ttle alteration ; which approach nearest to the state of those obtained from sheep, of which little or no care has been taken since the period, when their first progenitors were turned upon the mountains, where the race has existed through such a number of successive generations, that their origin is now un known.

Such kind of hairy wool is so very common in the north of England, and among the rougher fleeces of the hilly tracts of Scotland, as to leave no doubt of the fact. It may easily be attested by taking the kemps, or coarse hairs with which it abounds, from the staple, and observing them minutely. Some times it will be clearly a hairy substance, about one half its length, and the remainder wool; in this case, the wool is generally finer than the other part, and is more inclined to assume a crumpled form, like a line drawn in very irregular curves. The hairy part is sometimes found at that end of the filament, which, at at the time of shearing, was nearest the skin ; not unfrequently at the other ; it has also been observed in the middle part of it. Conclusions upon this point, however, ought not to be hastily formed, for there are millions of fleeces in which no such appearance can be discovered, and those who meet with only such, perhaps may doubt the correctness of the statement.

Nevertheless, such kindsof filaments have been observed, and with proper pains may doubtless be found again, with sufficient frequency to convince us that there is a much nearer alliance between the two substances than has been generally supposed ; and that by some unknown process, while growing, they may be converted from one to the other. When we attend closely to the state of the staple, in many parts of the kingdom, we find that the points of it are very different from the other part ; a small portion is often much coarser, more brittle, and opaque than the rest, and is such as very few, who are accustomed to discriminate between the two kinds of substance, would scruple to call hair. But these points are precisely the portion of the fleece, which was left upon the back of the animal by the shearer, when he last performed his office.

At that period it was doubtless wool, for tbe part of the staple through which the shears passed to separate it from the sheep (and which is commonly called the leech of the fleece) is wool in the best state which that animal could pro duce it ; and yet we see that it has gradually changed its nature as it proceeded in its growth, so as, in the space of a year, to become a very different sub stance. This is another instance of transmutation, which deserves the attention of the grower, and points out the very intimate connection that subsists B • between between two kinds of filaments, which have generally been considered as totally distinct from each other. The cause of this gradual alteration we have sought for in the exposure of the pile to the coldness, and the moisture of the atmosphere, to the scorching heat of the summer's sun, and to the influence of the soil Upon which the animal reclines.

We have considered whether it might not be owing to the perspiration which ex udes through the skin, and mingles with the wool, or to the want of that yolk which, from the external parts of the fleece, is so easily washed off by the" showers, or whether it be not the effect of all these causes unitedly. At present we have not met with any rela tion of experiments which deride our opinion, and have no means of performing them ourselves in order to obtain satisfaction. It is obvious, however, that sheep which are kept in the richer pastures, and in good condition, do not yield a fleece with such hairy tops as those whose lodging is upon dry fallows, ;ind -which are obliged to travel over a large space, with a heavy load, in order to obtain their food. From the circumstance of the same animal pro ducing both wool and hair, in different parts of its body, which are sometimes separated from each other by a bold and regular outline, drawn by nature ; and as this line does not always occupy precisely the same portion of the skin ; and more especially as the two kinds of filaments are often observed to grow most intimately mingled with each other ; we may conclude that the fluid, or whatever it be which pro duces the one, does not differ much from the secretion which forms the other.

We find two kinds of hair, it is true, upon many other animals, as the mane and the tails of horses, which differ very greatly from tie covering covering of the other parts of their body, but then we always find them upon the same parts, and never iri termingled with each other over the whole surface of the skin. Hence, therefore, we conclude that there is in these parts, where each is observed to grow,. some peculiar secretion formed which is adapted to its peculiar production. But in sheep we sometimes find the whole head, and legs and belly, covered with a short stiff hair, sometimes enveloped in a close and thick wool. Some fleeces are quite pure from kemps, while others are very full of a short and brittle hair, which has been produced with the staple, and grown almost from the same root as its wool has done.

While attempting to illustrate the transmutation of wool, and the little difference that exists between that substance and hair, I alluded only to the British fleeces, because they fall more readily under the notice of every one who'wishes to inspect them. In these coats, however, the intermixture of kemps is considered as an accidental circumstance, and the proportionate weight of them is generally small, when compared with that of the whole fleece. But there are foreign breeds, in which, as we have already stated, these are more prevalent, and where, con trary to what is observed amongst us, the production of wool is considered as the surprising and accidental case. Probably in them we should find more striking objects to confirm or correct our opinions. At present I cannot help thinking that there is originally but little difference between the coat of sheep and that of other animals ; that it is only a fur of a particular species, and with properties which render it better adapted to manufactures.

The covering with which Providence, always at- B 2 tentive tentive to the wants of his creatures, has furnished most quadrupeds is peculiarly adapted to the cli mates which they inhabit. In those, where the thick and heavy coat would prove an incumbrance, we find even the sheep destitute of its usual fleece. On the other hand, from latitudes where the rigours of winter are morn severe we import those furs which contribute to the comfort and elegance of our own attire ; while the native, contented with the more common and less expensive produce of his foids, wraps himself in sheep skins, and blesses that hand which made their pile thick, warm andpon derous. Carefully examining the furs of these animals which differ most from the sheep in their disposition, their habits, and theirforms, we shall observe that they are generally composed of two very different kinds of hair, the. one straight, glossy, and very elastic; the other more pliable, curled in its appearance, and much softer to the touch.