Nature provides each of her creatures with exactly the kind of covering suited to the climate and the conditions under which it lives. In the extreme frozen north all animals are clothed with a thick, warm, fur coat; in the temperate regions the fur gives place to wool; and in tropical climates the animals are, for the most part, provided with a covering of thin, scanty hair.
Of all these animal coverings wool is by far the most useful to man. It is the peculiar, wavy, scaly characteristic of wool that renders it valuable for the manufacture of textile fabrics, and it is this same peculiarity which distinguishes wool from hair. Wool is usually classed according to the length of its fiber.
The short-fiber or short-staple wool is very wavy, and contains a large number of scales; the long-fiber or long- staple wool is less curly, has fewer scales, and at the same time it is coarser in texture.
In England sheep are reared with a view rather to their flesh than their wool, and, as a rule, English wool is inferior in quality to most of the foreign varieties. Manufacturers have to depend largely on importedmaterial, most of which is supplied by their own colonies, especially Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and India.
English sheep include, among the short-woolled varieties, the Dorsets and the South Downs. The latter are a small breed, noted for the fineness of their wool, as well as for the quality of their flesh; they are the mosthighly prized of the pure English breeds. Among the long- woolled kinds, the Cotswold and Leicestershire breeds are considered the best. In sedition to these pure breeds there are several well-known cross-breeds.
The average weight of the fleece of an English sheep isfrom 5 to 7 lbs., but the quantity as well as the quality of the wool depends entirely on the breed, the climate, and the soil and, therefore, the sort of food available.
Among the foreign breeds the merino sheep stands first for the excellence of its wool, alike as regards the fineness of its texture, its waviness, and the number of scales on its surface.
The true merino sheep is a handsome animal, the female as well as the male being horned. It was originally a native of Spain, but has been introduced into nearly every sheep-rearing country in the world. Wherever these sheep are bred they are highly cultivated, the principal objectbeing wool. The merino sheep of Saxony and Hungary are especially famous for both the quality and the quantity of their wool. The fleece of the Saxon merino ram is never less than 7 1/2 lbs. in weight, and it frequently reaches as much as 15 lbs.
These sheep have been introduced into England, and have greatly improved the English breeds. They have also been extensively introduced into Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa.
