SORTING AND CLASSING WOOL FOR THE PRESS.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1319, 27 September 1880, Page 2

SORTING AND CLASSING WOOL FOR THE PRESS.

(By " Pastora " in the Town and Country Journal.) It is a most important part of the business at shearing time, to sort apd .class the wool, as required fop and for this work a, skilful person, ought ! to be placed at tha wooitable, and as the various fteeces come before him for rolling, ans in the different woolbins, he , n>ust carefully remove all. skirtings . and ■atained points,-putting the'best pieces into No. 1: woolpack, and, the rest under the rolling table, which is afterwards carefully

screened on the table and put into Nn o I sack. The first will be No. 1 pieces t which the belly wool is added, it boin° shorn first. Care must be taken woolroller in assorting the fleeces in thi 8 way. Ewes are being shorn, say merinos* if there are any short furzy fleeces, which' chiefly come off aged sheep, such should be put in a bin together, and kept separate from the better class, and- baled in on lot. If the sheep have been properlv classed, separated and arranged in th proper order of sexes, and tho different ages, which ought to be done on all stations then there would indeed be very littl' trouble regarding the classification of th & fleeces at shearing time. As a rule I don't approve of mixed lots of sheep 0 f all ages and sexes running together - it causes a deal of trouble in drafting,' j* fact, it is nothing more or less than doing the work ovor and over again that should have been done by the first drafting and classing, according to ages, &c. ° jj y advice for shearing time is, keep all the, furzy fleeces of aged ewes together, keen, all the fleeces of maiden ewes to«ether keep all the fleeces of hoggets together* keep all the fleeces of wethers together' keep all the fleeces of the rams together' keep all the fleeces of cross-breds together' keep all the fleeces of black sheep together' and should there be any furzy fleeces amongst those keep them separate. It i a very awkward to have to mix any of the different classes of wool together in tha same bale. Though it is often done, especially with remnants, I think even with, remnants it is better to make pockets, i.e. half bales, than to mix up the bad nu'i good together. I also think it advisableto have the pieces scoured, which can ba done by your own men at a much smaller cost than employing a woolscourer; any person having seen and paid attention to the manner in which a woolscourer works will very soon learn how to do it. I'][ however devote another article to the subject with full description and diagram of the workings of that most useful and important part of preparing wool for the markets. To return to my subject, I advise that each woolbin be marked thus —ewes, wethers, hoggets, rams, crossbreds, black, inferior, so that as the man, at the table receives the fleeces, he will have no trouble in seeing where to place, them. Again, the boss, by glancing at, the bins, can see all the classes,, and ifc will be a better guide for the who can the easier arrange thoir order of pressing, than if the wool is all higgledypiggledy, as I have seen it. The pickers up in a sheariug shed should be well tauglit how to lift fleeces properly, without breaking or trailing, to the tables, and how to spread them for the woolroller; & good hand at it saves the man at the table, a deal of work, and when the shearing is fast, this is of importance for time, and how to keep the' belly and best pieces together in the proper bales, and tho sweepings for second class. . A picker-up not up to the business will often mix up the pieces, and put them into the wroag; bales; this must bo provided againsi bycareful instructions as well as showing. the> lad how to do it; " practice makes, perfect," and the practical part is th© moat, instructive. If tho lad sees the boss: class the wool-pieces a few times, he'lL very soon get into the way of doing it properly. This is merely a glance at wooll classing, which I hope may prove useful,, and I shall be pleased to see others, who are far better able to give information on the subject than I am, come forward and do so. As the wool commerce ia one of the* greatest staples of our New South Wales, every effort should ba made to keep up the quality of our wools for the markets. Get a good nams> for your wool, and you'll get a good price for it.