The most valuable of the long-woolled fleeces are of British origin. A
considerable quantity is produced in France and Belgium; but the
manufacturers in those countries acknowledge the superiority of the
British wool. Long wool is distinguished, as its name would import, by
the length of its staple, the average of which is about eight inches.
It was much improved, of late years, both in England and in other
countries. Its staple has, without detriment to its manufacturing
qualities, become shorter; but it has also become finer, truer, and
sounder. The long-woolled sheep has been improved more than any other
breed; and the principal error which Bakewell committed having been
repaired since his death, the long wool has progressively risen in
value, at least for curling purposes. Some of the breeds have staples of
double the length that has been mentioned as the average one. Pasture
and breeding are the powerful agents here.
Probably because the Leicester blood prevails in, or, at least, mingles
with, every other long-woolled breed, a great similarity in the
appearance and quality of this fleece has become apparent, of late
years, in every district of England. The short-woolled fleeces are, to a
very considerable degree, unlike in fineness, elasticity, and felting
property; the sheep themselves are still more unlike; but the long-wools
have, in a great degree, lost their distinctive points--the Lincoln, for
example, has not all of his former gaunt carcass, and coarse, entangled
wool--the Cotswold has become a variety of the Leicester--in fact, all
the long-woolled sheep, both in appearance and fleece, have almost
become of one variety; and rarely, except from culpable neglect in the
breeder, has the fleece been injuriously weakened, or too much
shortened, for the most valuable purposes to which it is devoted.
In addition to its length, this wool is characterized by its strength,
its transparency, its comparative stoutness, and the slight degree in
which it possesses the felting property. Since the extension of the
process of combing to wools of a shorter staple, the application of
this wool to manufacturing purposes has undergone considerable change.
In some respects, the range of its use has been limited; but its demand
has, on the whole, increased, and its value is more highly appreciated.
Indeed, there are certain important branches of the woollen manufacture,
such as worsted stuffs, bombazines, muslin-delaines, etc., in which it
can never be superseded; and its rapid extension in the United States,
within the past few years, clearly shows that a large and increasing
demand for this kind of wool will continue at remunerating prices.
This long wool is classed under two divisions, distinguished both by
length and the fineness of the fibre. The first--_the long-combing
wool_--is used for the manufacture of hard yarn, and the worsted goods
for which that thread is adapted, and requires the staple to be long,
firm, and little disposed to felt. _The short-combing wool_ has, as its
name implies, a shorter staple, and is finer and more felty; the felt is
also closer and softer, and is chiefly used for hosiery goods.