The wool of which good broad cloth is made, should be not only shorter, but, generally speaking, finer and softer than the worsted wools, in order to fit them for the fulling process. Some wool-sorters and wool-staplers acquire by practice great nicety of discernment in judging of wools by the touch and traction of the fingers. Two years ago, I made a series of observations upon different wools, and published the results. The filaments of the finer qualities varied in thickness from 1⁄1100 to 1⁄1500 of an inch; their structure is very curious, exhibiting, in a good achromatic microscope, at intervals of about 1⁄300 of an inch, a series of serrated rings, imbricated towards each other, like the joints of Equisetum, or rather like the scaly zones of a serpent’s skin. See Philosophy of Manufactures, figs. 11, 12., page 91. second edition.
There are four distinct qualities of wool upon every sheep; the finest being upon the spine, from the neck to within 6 inches of the tail, including one-third of the breadth of the back; the second covers the flanks between the thighs and the shoulders; the third clothes the neck and the rump; and the fourth extends upon the lower part of the neck and breast down to the feet, as also upon a part of the shoulders and the thighs, to the bottom of the hind quarter. These should be torn asunder, and sorted, immediately after the shearing.
The harshness of wools is dependent not solely upon the breed of the animal, or the climate, but is owing to certain peculiarities in the pasture, derived from the soil. It is known, that in sheep fed upon chalky districts, wool is apt to get coarse; but in those upon a rich loamy soil, it becomes soft and silky. The ardent sun of Spain renders the fleece of the Merino breed harsher than it is in the milder climate of Saxony. Smearing sheep with a mixture of tar and butter, is deemed favourable to the softness of their wool.
All wool, in its natural state, contains a quantity of a peculiar potash-soap, secreted by the animal, called in this country the yolk; which may be washed out by water alone, with which it forms a sort of lather. It constitutes from 25 to 50 per cent. of the wool, being most abundant in the Merino breed of sheep; and however favourable to the growth of the wool on the living animal, should be taken out soon after it is shorn, lest it injure the fibres by fermentation, and cause them to become hard and brittle. After being washed in water, somewhat more than lukewarm, the wool should be well pressed, and carefully dried. England grows annually about 1,000,000 packs of wool, and imports 100,000 bags.
Wool imported into the United Kingdom, in 1836, 64,239,977 lbs.; in 1837, 48,356,121 lbs. Retained for home consumption, in 1836, 60,724,795 lbs.; in 1837, 43,148,297 lbs. Duty received, in 1836, £190,075; in 1837, £118,519.
Having premised these general observations on wool, I shall now proceed to treat of its manufacture, beginning with that of wool-combing, or
THE WORSTED MANUFACTURE.
In this branch of business, a long stapled and firm fibre is required to form a smooth level yarn, little liable to shrink, curl, or felt in weaving and finishing the cloth. It must not be entangled by carding, but stretched in lines as parallel as possible, by a suitable system of combing, manual or mechanical.
When the long wool is brought into the worsted factory, it is first of all washed by men with soap and water, who are paid for their labour by the piece, and are each assisted by a boy, who receives the wool as it issues from between the drying squeezers (see [Bleaching]). The boy carries off the wool in baskets, and spreads it evenly upon the floor of the drying-room, usually an apartment over the boilers of the steam-engine, which is thus economically heated to the proper temperature. The health of the boys employed in this business is found to be not at all injured.