The nature and properties of wool, illustrated : with a description of the English fleece

Preface

The small volume, now offered to the attention of the public, depends for acceptance entirely upon its own merit. If it posses 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 business . affords them, in communicating their observations 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 of taste would utterly discard.

The ii

The reader will perceive, that the author has not completed his original intention. Some hints are thrown out which indicate a design of including a decription, not only of the English fleeces, but also of the wool produced in Scotland and Ireland. It was found, however, that either the subject must be treated very concisely, or the volume enlarged bevond 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 of English wool. Should any palpable mistakes be observed, the author will be thankful for better instruction.

J. L.

Leeds, September 25th, 1805.

NATURE AND PROPERTIES,

S(c.

W OOL is an article very closely connected with 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 principle which renders it desirable, that we should obtain 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 excellencies which the climate, and the circumstances of the country will admit of, and that no limitation were setto 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 remuneration 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 community 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 valuable commodity, and the greater degree of excellency which it attains, so much the larger reward 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 employment, and gives them their daily bread, contributing 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 Jbr a considerable period, the workmen would fall an heavy incumbrdnce 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 poof. Fortunately, at present, the prevailing taste in Britain is for cloths of the first excellence, 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 portion 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 justify, 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 inattentive ; a charge, from which, I trust, their sous will be anxious to redeem their own character.

If the taw 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 prohibitions and penalties, they will nevertheless insinuate themselves amongst us, and too frequently become the objects of envy, especially if their superiority in ar.y respect be strikingly evident. By this means, also they silently sap the foundations of- our own manufactures, 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 unsettled. What indeed can that country expect, •whose inhabitants are perpetually wishing for the silent and secretintroductionof foreign manufactures, but that those who are employed in similar owes at home, will watch their conduct with a jealous eye, and be rfady on every occasion, when they think themselves aggrieved, to seek a less precarious mode of employing themselvesandtheir property ? W hereas, 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 obtained 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 permanent, 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 importation ; 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 retain 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 do not overtake us in the competition for perfection. Thus do our manufactures perpetually call upon those who produce the raw materia], to improve it rapidly, in order to render their superiority over foreign ones more decisive; that they may gain a firmer footing 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, prices lower, employment slackens, and discontent prevails amongst those who are first affected, and who are commonly too ill-informed todiscoverthe causeof 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 conceived how much a circumstance of this kind will affect the demand for goods, and the price of them.

These remarks apply tomanufacturesin 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 ages through which this valuable material lias been applied to some of the prime conveniences of life, and 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 state, 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 different 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 to promote, 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 gentlemenof large landed property, from which the 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 isnot very remote,

when

9 ’

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 the gratitude of 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 bis pow r er, the amelioration of the British fleece, and by no means pretending to a superior degree of information respecting its properties, or the improvement of w'hich it is susceptible, 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, w hich, in many respects, must be imperfectly executed. No one, at least to the best of his knowledge, has hitherto attempted to describe, the essential qualities of wool, — the circumstances upon which its adaptation to manufactures depends, the peculiarities of the British fleeces, — nor the number 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 num- „ ber ber of detached publications to be of general utility. Of all the assistance, however, which he could derive from 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

o

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 certainty of demonstration, yet he hopes that they wilt 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 of, their attention, his utmost expectation will be gratified.

SECT*

SECTION I. Wool in General

W 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 person 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 accident a sheep, which never produced wool, attracts our attention, tve deem it an animal in whose formation nature has departed from her established course. Yet, with whatever suspicion such accounts may be received, it is a fact, ascertained beyond the possibility 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 arc destitute of wool, have some kind of coat. Sometimes short, stiff, opaque hairs start from their pelt, at considerable distances frbm each other, somewhat in the manner

. that that bristles do from the sides 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 superior to that of our well dressed horses. Sheep of this description, arc found in a large proportion of Tartary; while those of a roughercast, disperse themselves 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 upop it, but hanging down in a close and waved staple.- These, to the eye, seem to resemble in some degree theoldlong-wooled sheep of themidland counties; butuponacloseinspection 5 their covering is found to be decidedly a hairy substance, which concealsabout its roots, a fine short and downy wool. 7 his, 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 weighty 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 substance which they yield. Perhaps it can scarcely exceed four ounces. The “ hair” of this wool, i.e. the fineness or coarseness of the pile, the 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, furbish that substance which we denominate wool, although the diversityof its properties, and of the purposes 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, Sweden and North America, being recent]}' introduced there.

It seemed necessary to give this general description of fleeces, not only to correct the common error *v of those, whose opportunities of attaining more correct 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 arepresented to us, wedecide 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 interval, 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 phenomenon, however, so far as I have had opportunities of observing it, appears most frequently in the fleeces, which have received from culture but little 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 succcssiyfe generations, that their origin is now unknown. 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. Sometimes 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

HHH 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

I 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 sulHcient 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 the 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

I wool in the best state which that animal could produce 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 substance. 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 exudes 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 relation of experiments which decide 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, and 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 producing both wool and hair, in different parts of its body, which are sometimes separated from each other by ahold 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 produces 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 ihe tails of horses, which differ very greatly from the

covering covering of tlie other parts of their body, 'but then we always find them upon the same parts, and never intermingled 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 fleeees are quite pure from kemps, while others are very full of a short and brittle hair, which lias 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, contrary 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 ; tiiat 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- 1* 2 tentive tentive to the wants of his creatures, has furnished most quadrupeds is peculiarly adapted to the climates 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 more 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 and ponderous.

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. Frequently they are very greatly intermingled with each other, and none of the more downy kind appears upon the surface, being greatly overtoped by the rest, corresponding exactly, in this respect, with that kind of fleece which is observed to be the production of sheep, in most countries, where it has been greatly neglected ; and the down, or wool, which may be obtained from both, is not only, very similar in its appearance, but capable also of being wrought into the same kind of goods, and by precisely the same process ; the best proof of their being not very dissimilar in their nature. There are furs too of another description, in which these two kinds of hair, instead of being mingled with each other, form a particular

portion portion of every filament. In this case, the point of it, or exterior of the pile, is generally more brilliant, brittle, and elastic ; that which is nearer to the skin more soft, curled, and woolly ; and the part where the transmutation. takes place, is commonly discernible and definite. To be convinced of this, no person need do more than examine, with common attention, the furs which are usually worn by the ladies; and he will also remark that, when they have been Jong exposed to friction, the brittle hair breaks off, and leaves the muff and the tippet of a ragged and woolly appearance, which totally unfits them for use. ’Tis then, however, that they have become the most proper for manufactures, and having lostthe longand unmanageable hair, they are reserved as a substitute for wool, and offer another,reason for believing that the two substances are very nearly allied.

When, from the notice of animals, which are so dissimilar from t lie sheep as the bear, the beaver, and the fox, we turn to those which bear some relation to it, as the mouflon and the goat, we shall not be surprised to find a much greater resemblance in their fleeces, The long shaggy hair of the latter, it is well known, is spun in the same manner as wool, and used as the common yarn fabricated from our fleeces ; and so very nearly are they alike, that it is uncertain, to this day, whether the celebrated shawls of Cashmire, though often examined, be wrought from a material which is produced by the sheep or the goat. The shaggy covering of the goat, it must be confessed, is very different from that which we find in most of our well attended flocks ; but in many parts of Asia, it appears that they feed together, and are said by some to produce a mongrel offspring, which B 3 bears bears a very exact resemblance both in carcase and in fleece to the worst kind of sheep. Even in our own island it has been maintained, by those whose opinion was determined (perhaps too hastily) by the similarity of their coats, that a variety of the sheep which extends itself very widely over the Highlands of Scotland, is indebted for its peculiarity to the blood of this baser animal.