To obviate this danger as far as possible each man opens the fleeces on
a table covered with wire screen, under which circulates a strong
exhaust current of air which is mechanically generated. Thus small
foreign particles and dust in the fleeces are drawn downward. When the
fleece is opened the sorter selects that part of the fleece which is
known to be the coarsest, _i. e._, the breech and a strip along the
center of the back, and puts this in one lot. Next he selects a narrow
strip along the side of the fleece, which is known to be the finest part
of the fleece, and puts this in another lot. Now the neck and the belly
are separated and thrown into their classes. If the whole fleece were a
fine one, and free from kemp, it would be sorted in the same way, but
different parts of the fleece would go into proportionately higher
classes. The lots which these sorters make are known to spin
comparatively definite qualities of yarn. Thus the low breech and the
back of most fleeces will not spin over No. 20 to No. 24 yarns, and the
sides of good fleeces are fine in fiber and will spin No. 40 to No. 60
yarn.
The quantity of mohair which one man can sort varies considerably,
according to the class of mohair which he is given to work upon. One
mill estimated that experts can sort between two and three hundred
pounds of domestic mohair a day, and that it costs about a cent a pound
to thus separate the fleece. After the fleeces are graded, the mohair
is ready to be sent to the mill proper for scouring and spinning.