Sheep's clothing

“ Short wool is employed in the cloth manufacture, and is, on that account, frequently called clothing wool. It should approach in colour as much as possible to white, as a clear white ground is required for all cloths that are to be dyed bright colours, as well as for those dressed white: grey or black hairs injure the fleece very much, even though few and minute, as they give rise to reddish spots where the cloth is stoved. Herefordshire sheep are entirely free from this defect, and are, therefore, reckoned particularly valuable for clothing purposes. ”

“ Their principal value, however, has been from the means they afforded whereby men in high latitudes have obtained warm clothing. Before the domestication of these creatures, peoples who had to endure the winter of high latitudes were forced to rely upon hides for covering—a form of clothing which is clumsy, uncleanly, and which the chase could not supply in any considerable quantity. Owing to its peculiar structure, the hair of the sheep makes the strongest and warmest covering, when rendered into cloth, which has ever been devised for the use of man. ”

“ Of all the services rendered by the sheep to the race of man, perhaps the most invaluable is that which is accorded in the gift of wool; and it is for the sake of this alone that, in many quarters, whole flocks, and even breeds, are reared and tended,—so great is the demand for it, and such the esteem in which it is held for the purpose of clothing the body and keeping it in warmth. ”

“ It is by the manufacture of wool into various kinds of clothing that many thousands of people, in different countries of Europe, are entirely supported and fed. In temperate countries the fleeces of sheep are shorn or cut off once, and in others, where the climate is warmer, twice in the year, the animals being previously well washed to cleanse the wool. The Shetland sheep, and some others, have the fleece pulled, and not cut off. ”

“ As already stated, the clothing of our wild sheep is composed of fine wool and coarse hair. The hairs are from about two to four inches long, mostly of a dull bluish-gray color, though varying somewhat with the seasons. In general characteristics they are closely related to the hairs of the deer and antelope, being light, spongy, and elastic, with a highly polished surface, and though somewhat ridged and spiraled, like wool, they do not manifest the slightest tendency to felt or become taggy. ”

“ Some sheep give a better quality of wool than others. The Merino wool is the very finest. The camel furnishes a beautiful soft fiber. Then, there is the angora goat of Asia Minor, which provides us with mohair. This is a lovely soft fiber resembling silk. Can you find this country on your map? Look for Peru and for Chili. The sheep there furnish the alpaca and llama wools.
Some wool fibers are long, and some are quite short. The length of fiber, or staple as it is called, varies. An average length is 7 or 8 inches. How does this compare with the silk or linen fiber? Is it as long as cotton? ”

“ While the tropical heats change the soft wool of the sheep into a harsh, scanty hair, unfit for clothing purposes, they cherish and ripen the vegetable wool, with its more slender and porous fibres, admirably suited for clothing in a hot climate, as the grosser and warmer animal fibres are in a cold one. ”

“ Woolen Clothing.—Woolen clothing, such as overcoats and fine cloth dresses and suits, is made from the wool cut from sheep. Enough wool can be sheared from two sheep in one year to make an entire suit of clothes. The raw wool is first twisted into threads and then woven by machines into cloth. ”

“ Neither men nor women wear much clothing. Their habiliments consist merely of a skin or two of sheep or goats, with the hair on or off, which they wrap loosely round the waist, or throw across the shoulders. ”

“ Their only other article of clothing was a lamb skin strapped round their loins. The women wore aprons of sheep skins, one skin being considered quite large enough, while behind they tied an ox hide, cut into the shape of a circular cloak. Above the waist they wore nothing, unless in very cold weather, when they also wrapped themselves up in karosses. The little boys were, and are, clad in nature's garb, pure and simple, until they attain the age of twelve, when they adopt men's costumes. ”

“ From flax of their own raising, too, and the wool of their own sheep, they are enabled to manufacture almost every article of clothing. Their houses, though generally built of wood, and only one story high, are whitewashed, and tolerably commodious. ”

“ The wool from some sheep farms varies on account of the differences in climate, soil, and breed of sheep. The sheep of southern England produce short and fine wool; while in the north, where it is colder, the wool is stronger and coarser. ”

“ This exterior polish varies much in different wools, and in wools from the same breed of sheep at different times. When the animal is in good condition, and the fleece healthy, the appearance of the fibre is really brilliant; but, when the sheep has been half starved, the wool seems to have sympathized with the state of the constitution, and either a wan pale light, or sometimes scarcely any, is reflected. ”

“ The wool should open on the back of the sheep in connected masses, instead of breaking up into little round spiral ringlets of the size of a pipe-stem, which indicate thinness of fleece; and when the wool is pressed open each way with the hands, it should be close enough to conceal all but a delicate rose-colored line of skin. The interior of the wool should be a pure, glittering white, with a lustre and liveliness of appearance not surpassed in the best silk. ”

“ The products of sheep are not merely useful to man; they provide his luxuries as well. The skin of sheep is made into leather, and, when so manufactured with the fleece on, makes comfortable mats for the doors of rooms, and rugs for carriages. For this purpose, the best skins are selected, and such as are covered with the longest and most beautiful fleece. Tanned sheep-skin is used in coarse book-binding. ”

“ The shoulder is finest in grain and most delicate, so the wool is finer in fiber. There is more wear and tear for the sheep at its haunches than at its shoulders, hence the wool is longer and stronger; about the neck the wool is short, to prevent the sheep from being weighted down while eating, etc.; the wool on the back becomes rough and thin, being most exposed to the rain. From the foregoing it will be readily seen that there is necessity for careful sorting, in order to insure obtaining an even running yarn, and subsequently a uniform quality of fabrics. ”

“ And then is it not the fact that some little amount of shade in the fleece of male sheep is considered, if not absolutely desirable, at any rate quite pardonable? A male sheep with a fleece as white as that of a ewe-lamb,—is he not considered to be, among muttons, somewhat insipid? ”

“ He ceases to be a linnet as soon as he is snatched from the woodland choir; and when, hawklike, we snatch the wild sheep from its native rock, and, instead of eating and wearing it at once, carry it home, and breed the hair out of its wool and the bones out of its body, it ceases to be a sheep. ”

“ Less numerous, but far more conspicuous, are the dressed-to-the-minute women who, like sheep exactly, follow every turn of latest fashion blindly and without the slightest sense of distance or direction. As each new season's fashion is defined, all the sheep run and dress themselves each in a replica of the other, their own types and personalities have nothing to do with the case. Fashion says: "Wear bolster cases tied at the neck and ankle," or "A few wisps of gauze held in place with court plaster," and daughter, mother, grandmother, and all the neighbors wear the same. ”

“ Fig. 389 is the pattern for Master Lamb's coat, which you are to cut from a sheet of white cotton wadding, opened through the centre to give the wooliness of the raw cotton. A sheep's wool does not grow long on its legs, so you need not wonder that the lamb is not provided with leggings. ”

“ All over the earth people are fond of mutton, or the meat of the sheep, while the wool is used wherever warm clothes are needed. In some cold countries the skin of the sheep, with its woolly coat, is used as a cloak and is found a warm covering. ”

“ The dress of these men is as simple as their fare. A wide shirt and loose trowsers of coarse linen, a high felt cap, and convenient boots of horse hide, a leathern girdle, a curiously worked tobacco-pouch of sheep-leather, with its accompaniments, are all that they need, besides a sheep-skin with the wool on, which serves both for garment, tent and bed. The linen garments become extremely dirty from long wearing, for when once on they are never taken off till they drop to pieces and are replaced by new ones. ”

“ Even those who were fortunate enough to have on a complete dress of coarse cloth lined with sheep-skin, the wool left on and worn next the body, and over all a large cloth shubb lined with wolf-skin, the fur inside, and a warm lamb-skin cap, their feet encased in boots lined with fur, found their sufferings very great. ”

“ And each day the little boy came to the bars and looked at the sheep and enquired how the wool was growing.
"I am getting along finely," the Black Sheep would answer, "for not one sheep in the pasture has so much wool as I have grown already." ”

“ Their garments are travesties on grace and comfort, and when not a pretence in quality are usually a bad imitation of a senseless style. An old sheep dressed lamb-fashion, especially if the old sheep is fat and over fifty, is hard to forgive. ”

“ The squirrel has socks and mittens, and a tail broad enough for a blanket; the grouse is densely feathered down to the ends of his toes; and the wild sheep, besides his undergarment of fine wool, has a thick overcoat of hair that sheds off both the snow and the rain. Other provisions and adaptations in the dresses of animals, relating less to climate than to the more mechanical circumstances of life, are made with the same consummate skill that characterizes all the love work of Nature. ”

“ To adopt the claim of counsel eliminates all inquiry as to whether an article is wool or hair, and leaves simply the question whether it is to be found on what may be called the wool-bearing animals or on the alpaca or other like hair-coated animals. Some sheep are wool-bearing animals; therefore the hair on the skin of the Mocha sheep is wool and must be classified as such. ”

“ It is argued that the same reasoning which brings worsted goods within the words 'manufactures of wool' would also compel the inclusion of goods composed of the hair of the camel and other animals, confessedly not covered by the phrase.
Doubtless, wool, considered as the sheep's coat, might be said to be the sheep's hair; and fleeces of the hair of the Angora goat, the llama, the alpaca, and other like animals, might be called their wool. ”

“ Many laudable efforts have been made to render the supply of wool more abundant, and to improve its quality, and there has been a considerable importation of foreign sheep, with a view to crossing on the native breeds. ”

“ The dress of the men is rather Eastern in effect, and consists of a long loose sleeveless garment woven from the undyed wool of the black sheep. It is open at the sides, is longer in the back than in front, and is usually drawn in round the waist with a belt. ”

“ Generally speaking, the best portion of a fleece is from the shoulders and side of the animal. The quality decreases towards the tail end of the sheep, the “britch” being frequently long, strong and irregular. The belly wool is short, worn and dirty, as is also the front of the throat, while on tie head and shins the product is short, stiff and straight, more like hair than wool and is liable to contain grey hairs. ”

“ For this purpose it goes through a process called felting, to unite or mat it into a firm substance. Felt is either made of wool alone, or of a mixture of wool with camel's or other hair.
The skins of sheep, after the processes called tanning and currying, are manufactured into a thin and coarse but useful kind of leather, which is much in request by saddlers, book-binders, and others. These skins, by a different process, are converted into parchment, which is used for writing deeds upon. Lambs' skins are made into gloves.
Every part of the sheep is advantageous to mankind. ”

“ None of them were in a very good temper this morning, although the sun shone so warmly and the grass was so sweet, and as they watched the farmer and his man [56] carry their wool up to the house in great bags, the old ram said, crossly,
"I hope they are satisfied, now that they have stolen from us all our soft, warm fleece."
"What are they going to do with it?" asked one of the sheep.
"Oh, they will spin it into threads and make coats for the men and dresses for the women. ”

“ The cows and mares travel in separate bodies. A certain number of these flocks, commonly those belonging to the same proprietor, are under the immediate management and inspection of an agent, entitled fattore, who accompanies them on horseback, armed with a musket, and better clad than the shepherds, who, both in summer and winter, wear the large sheep-skin jacket, and are in other respects provided with substantial though homely attire, including good strong shoes. ”

“ This process consists in sorting and classifying the fibers of the fleece. Not only do the various species of sheep furnish widely different qualities of wool, but different qualities are obtained from the same animal, according to the part of the body from which the wool is taken. This variation in some instances is very marked, and sometimes is greater than that which separates the wools of the different breeds of sheep. Hence the sorting and classing of wool become necessary for the production of good, sound yarn of even quality. ”

“ Evenness of fleece is a point of the first importance. Many sheep exhibit good wool on the shoulder and side, while it is far coarser and even hairy on the thighs, dew-lap, etc. Rams of this stamp should not be bred from by any one aiming to establish a superior fine-woolled flock; and all such ewes should gradually be excluded from those selected for breeding.
The style of the wool is a point of as much importance as mere fineness. Some very fine wool is stiff, and the fibres almost straight, like hair. It has a dry, cottony look; and is a poor, unsalable article, however fine the fibre. ”